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This afternoon, I dropped by my surgeon for my 3 week checkup.  He was quite pleased, my healing is coming along well, my bite is excellent, I’m keeping my mouth clean.  The nurses and other staff were more than pleased.  They were amazed.   The nurse indicated that I looked like I much farther along in my healing process, much father than the mere 3 weeks I’m sitting at now.  It’s my vampiric healing abilities.  Or perhaps my X gene, like Wolverine.

This evening, I attended Roxy and Jessies House of Dolls variety show for the first time in 3 weeks.  The show opened with The Royal Knights, a drag king troupe from tacoma.  They did a great job, with a few pop numbers, a few hip-hop numbers, and even a country number.   After a break, they started the Superstar Diva Contest.  Really great performances by all. 
One thing was missing, of course.  Bellydancing.  Specifically me.  I’ve probably another month of recovery before I can think about performing.  I do miss it, but one good fall and I could find myself in quite a bit of trouble. Not to worry though, I’ll start practicing soon…

For my first post, I’ll describe some interesting events of the last few weeks. 2 and a half weeks ago, I went in for orthognathic jaw surgery.  Prepare for the gruesome details…. Dr. Bloomquist separated my upper jaw from the rest of my skull, just under the nose, and moved it sideways and untwisted it a bit for the upper part of my bite correct.  And he moved my chin and lower jaw forward to correct an overbite. Gruesome, but not as gruesome as the first day after.   Honestly, for the first two days, I questioned my decision to have this work done.  It was not a pleasant time.  The pain was under control with medication, of course.  But the swelling, stuffiness, and the simple amount of blood coming from my mouth and nose.  That is not something I want to go through again.  I looked like I’d kissed a baseball bat at high speed.  
For days, my nose slowly dripped blood, the result of a breathing tube forced through my nose, around my sinuses, and down my throat.  My face looked like a peanut.  I was stuffy, making breathing difficult.  And I couldn’t move my jaw, as it’d been rubber banded together. Often, I’d feel panic rising as breathing became more difficult, due to swelling, or the bloody spit collecting in my mouth.  That feeling of panic was the worst part.
On the positive side, my bite looks good now.  I’m healing fast…well…very fast, with my wolverine like healing ability.  As I now have titanium hardware in my mouth bolting my upper and lower jaw into place, I’m slightly more cyborg than I was before. The liquid diet over the last few weeks resulted in 10 pounds weight loss.  It’s really hard to get and keep calories and protein. Finally, after 2 and  a half weeks, I’m starting to feel more like myself.  The swelling has gone down significantly, and today I was able to eat crackers dipped in soup.
Finally, I get to look forward to a straight smile, and the ability to floss without difficulty.  And perhaps I’ve delayed some TMJ.   Was it worth the $9k price?  I hope so.  I’m optimistic.