Double Jaw Surgery - It's Done

One week ago today I had my double jaw surgery.

It's been a really, really tough week but I think I'm over the worst of it. In the meantime, whenever I look down this is what I see.

I have lots to share with you guys, but I'm off to "eat" and then go to bed.

Emotional Much II

Once in a while I have these really intense moments. They always involve music, I never know when they're going to happen, and it's always really positive.

Tonight I was walking home from work and the sun had decided to come out at the end of a cold, cloudy day. My iPod decided to play three of my favourite 80's songs in a row on a shuffle:

Automatic - The Pointer Sisters

It's my Life -  Talk Talk

Take on Me - a-ha

Once Take on Me came on, I was walking over the Johnson Bridge. Suddenly everything became clear, I felt totally euphoric and I knew that I was in the right place and doing the right thing.

No more doubts.

All the anxiety I've been feeling about my upcoming jaw surgery melted away. I know I'm in the right hands in so many ways:

1. Brad and my Mom
2. My surgeon
3. My orthodontist
4. Supportive work environment
5. Caring and supportive friends

I know I'm in good hands and I'll get through this.

Prepared. Sorta.

I've spent some time lately running around getting prepared for my big day. Keeping busy helps shut my brain up when it wants to torture me. Two weeks to go.

Appointments with GP and surgeon (next week is my last orthodontist visit), bloodwork, stop at the drug store to fill a whole bunch of prescriptions - to name a few of my chores. This week my surgeon gave me a cheery party bag full of stuff I'll need when I'm recovering.

I have a notebook for when I won't be able to talk - I treated myself to one from Regional Assembly of Text. I have medicated lip balm, ice packs, ear plugs for the hospital, tons of dental wax...the list goes on. 

I was rummaging through everything my surgeon gave me - ice packs, jaw bra*, mouth rinse etc. I'll be eating strictly liquids from a syringe for the first few weeks. So he gave me a syringe and included a clear plastic tube that I can attach to it - kind of like a long straw.**

I did a double take when I noticed this on the sealed bag the tube is in:

It's a rectal tube?! There is even a small package of lubricant in there with it! 

Seriously?



*Who comes up with these names?
**No sucking from straws allowed for a long time. I think it will be more like an IV drip.

Pender Island II

We went to to another cabin on the weekend!

We found this place on VRBO. It was fantastic!! We were surprised to see it has only been operating since June. 

We'll be going back here for sure. It was the perfect weekend getaway for two. I could easily stay here a week or longer.

We had breakfast in the sunshine and a yummy bbq moonlit dinner outside. We went for hikes, sat on beaches, checked out the farmer's market and read in the sunshine on the deck.

We drank wine and port and ate Cheezies - I realize these are on the opposite ends of the spectrum but they are also both on my list. We didn't eat them at the same time.....what do you take me for?!

I'm getting more and more emotional as my surgery approaches. For some reason the thought of French Beach brings me to tears. I bought a bracelet at the farmer's market on Pender which I'm not taking off until they make me - I'm clutching at anything that brings me comfort.

I started When God was a Rabbit and put it down after 75 pages. I have zero tolerance for crappy books these days. I was glad to see Christielli agreed with me.

Luckily there was a bookstore on the island that we had visited on Friday afternoon. I bought a potentially good page turner so started that instead. I always pack back-up books so it wasn't like I had nothing. There are also the 14 books on my iPad....

One more thing to do this summer - Seattle. I can't believe I'm only at work another two weeks.

French Beach

When we were planning everything that we wanted to do this summer, camping was pretty high on our radar.

Remember this? I wonder if those guys ever got their well deserved chainsaw enemas.

We finally replaced all our camping gear so nothing was stopping us. We chose one of our favourite places, French Beach. 

I couldn't wait to see the trees and just sit quietly near them. I had an extreme urge to just be in nature. It felt amazing when we got there to sit in the sun and have lunch. And lunch was fairly typical - pre-cut goodies with Hawkins Cheezies and beer.

Who wouldn't want to curl up and fall asleep in this tent?! This is the first time I used my new sleeping bag and it was fantastic.

We spent a few hours on the beach, always so relaxing and gorgeous. French Beach isn't a typical sandy beach, it's covered with lots of big smooth rocks with a small sandy beach when the tide is out. I love it, it's such an interesting place.
 

That night Brad convinced me to walk down to the beach. It takes convincing because there are werewolves and it's scary and my flashlight sometimes plays tricks on me. The only thing we saw were bats and actually they were pretty cool.

When we were down there, we looked back towards the campsite and saw this.

You know how your brain fires a thousand thoughts a second? Well, in that second we both thought the forest was totally on fire. The moon was a super moon - 30% brighter than normal. Unfortunately because of this it didn't seem worth it to get up in the night to see the meteor shower.

The next morning we had a yummy breakfast which included coffee in enamel mugs. So. Damn. Good. Holy crap it was awesome in every way.

I feel strangely recharged and more energized since we got back. Like I've been reacquainted with an old friend. I wish we had more time to go again this summer.

Cramming

We find ourselves trying to cram our entire summer into the time between now and September 3rd.  So I've started lists of 'Things To Do' and 'Stuff to Eat'.

Some things on my 'Things To Eat' list:
- all this wine, port and cider from wine tastings we did a week ago
- Foo
- about 20 grilled cheese sandwiches
- Hawkin's Cheezies

Some things on my 'Things To Do' list:
- wine tastings (check)
- Seattle
- camping
- coffee/drink dates with all my buddies

Then there are the ultimate decisions:
1. What is my last meal at home? (Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich)
2. Where to go for my last meal out? (I have no idea.)

So remember when I went gluten/dairy free for a year?  The other day I realized that I could possibly be facing three months without food. Gluten/dairy free will be a breeze compared to what I have in store.

Tess

This why I love Thomas Hardy:

The gray half-tones of daybeak are not the grey half-tones of the day's close, though the degree of their shade may be the same. In the twilight of the morning light seems active, darkness passive, in the twilight of evening it is the darkness which is active and crescent, and the light which is the drowsy reverse.

I decided to re-read one of my favourite books.

Do you ever read something and have to pause because it's so well written, or it touches your soul, or is such a good story you can't go on until you take a breather? I wish every book was like this. 

The first and only time I read this, I threw it across the room after I finished it. Seriously. If you've read the book (or any Thomas Hardy) you likely understand.

This is also why I love Thomas Hardy:

She thought of the child consigned to the nethermost corner of hell, as its double-doom for lack of baptism and lack of legitimacy, saw the arch-fiend tossing it with his three-pronged fork, like the one they used for heating the oven on baking days......

 
My old friend C. who shares a love of Hardy used to wonder what the hell happened to him?! All of his characters are doomed from the start. He is the original Tom Waits and I love him with all my heart. 

T-Minus 41 Days....

I have a surgery date. It's September 3rd.

I'm having lower, upper and chin surgery. In other words: the works.

I'm nervous as hell. Especially after reading through the +/-50 pages my surgeon sent me....

I will be in the hospital for 2 nights if everything goes well. My jaw could be wired* shut for up to ten days. I will likely/possibly have lots of: nose bleeds**, drooling, bruising, weight loss, numbness, blood in my mouth, swelling, muscle spasms, ice packs and sad feelings.

I will have no: solid food***, good sleep, energy or coffee for a while.

My mom arrives the day after my surgery - I would be freaking out if she wasn't coming to take care of me for the first two weeks.

I have never had a nose bleed. (I know right?!) I've never gone more than a couple days without coffee. I'm scared about feeling nauseous with a jaw that's wired shut...I could go on.

There is a lot of good information to go through including smoothie recipes. I appreciate that. What I won't be doing is 'blending up cheeseburgers and pizza'.

I'm not on Fear Factor.



*Likely not wires but super strong elastics attached to my braces.
**Common with upper jaw surgery.
***Apparently I have to not only blend food up, but also strain with a fine mesh strainer until it's literally liquid. No seeds, fibres or anything that can get stuck in an incision.

House of Leaves

So I tried again. It didn't go well.

I was so excited to read this. It was supposed to be super creepy, I loved the idea of the story, it's written in a new an interesting way and it was raved about online.

There were a few moments of creep, but it wasn't enough to keep me engaged. The way the book is written is strange - which I was actually enjoying in the beginning. I liked the footnotes that went on for pages, or the nearly empty pages and meaningless references.

There are two stories going on at once. One was the creepy story about the house and the people who were living in it - this is the part I was getting into. The other was based on the guy who was writing the footnotes....

...and it was all about how he screwed lots of hot babes and went to work and had panic attacks.

Yeah.

Then the creepy story just got....boring. I closed the book, took it back to the library and found this great review on Good Reads. Here is a portion.

Well said.

Fox Quilt Complete

So cute!

This quilt came together without a hit- wait. There was a hitch. I didn't buy enough fabric to make the back just solid polka dots - which is what I wanted.

But the back turned out cute anyway.

Don't you love the obligatory husband-holding-up-quilt shots?
 
I have sewn almost all my quilts this way - with two top-stitches on either side of the seams and I like it but I'm sick of it. This photo is one of the more 'perfect' looking intersections too, not all of the quilt looks like this - oh not nearly!

I would love, love, love to make a hexagon quilt next, but I have no idea how. I also have strong suspicions that I don't have nearly enough patience. 

I should take a course.