A little better each day

I woke up this morning feeling well enough to venture out of the house, which meant a visit to Coffee Garden was in order. It was nice to meet up with friends for a few minutes of conversation (limited due to the lovely splint I have to wear in my mouth for the next 5 weeks...I sound like the sister on South Park when I speak). But it was awesome to realize that the hardest days of recovery are now behind me!

Day 3:





















Day 4:





















Day 5:










































Today (Day 8) I was able to remove my bandages and I was SO excited to see how minimal my scarring will be. The doctor warned me that I could expect up to 2 inch scars, but he would do his best to "tuck" the stitching into my ears in order to hide the scars. Well, he did an amazing job! This photo is blurry, but you can slightly see the scar line:






















I start my eight weeks of physical therapy on Thursday. I can already open my mouth more than I could prior to the surgery, so I'm excited to see how much life will improve once I'm fully healed and no longer have to live with pain, headaches, muscle aches, etc.

Recovery Mode

My jaw surgery went very well on Monday. After waking up, the worst pain I was feeling was in my left eye. Turns out that I somehow scratched my cornea while under anesthesia. So, besides wearing my very sexy "Jaw Bra", I have also been sporting an eye patch for the past couple of days. Arrrgh Matey!

I woke up this morning to a lot of swelling and pain. The doctor said that tomorrow through Saturday will most likely be the worst days to get through. Luckily my pain meds are helping and I've been able to sleep a lot.

Thanks to everyone for your emails, texts, visits, etc. I appreciate your help, love and support!

Farewell, Jim Carroll - Thank you for the inspiration

Today is a very sad day for me, as I learned this morning that one of my writing heroes has passed away. Jim Carroll was an amazing poet, lyricist and musician who's writing I stumbled upon in my teen years. His autobiographical tale, The Basketball Diaries, quickly became one of my favorite books when I read it in 9th grade. Though our lives were extremely different, his writing style spoke to me and made me feel as if reading his words were like conversing with an old friend. When the book was made into a movie in 1995, I was afraid that the film may not live up to the book. However, I was very wrong. The film turned out amazing, mostly due to the fact that Jim sat on the set and assisted the director and producers with every scene. The young actors in the film all praised him for helping them achieve such notable performances.

Aside from The Basketball Diaries, Jim wrote astonishing poetry full of raw, unfiltered emotion. His "Fear of Dreaming" collection is a treasure. Many of his poems were turned into lyrics when he formed the Jim Carroll Band. The little punk rocker in me will always adore his albums, "I Write Your Name" and "Catholic Boy."

Mr. Carroll - Thank you for all the inspiration. You left a mark on this girl that will never fade.

Friendship