Out and About

This marks the first day where I spent a large portion of the day outside of the house. Had lunch in Berkeley with my younger half-brother, Sam, and his girlfriend, Gina (who's visiting from New York). They had pasta, and I had a yummy peanut butter and chocolate milkshake - which I drank from the cup directly. God it tasted so good! It feels so much better now that I no longer have to use the syringes. My zip 'n squeeze packs still haven't arrived. I wonder how much longer it'll take?

As soon as he saw me, Sam said that my face is still very much swollen. "If I didn't know you, I'd probably think that's just how you look. But I KNOW you. Your face is still puffy. Plus, you've lost so much weight, so it's even more noticeable since it's a bigger head on a smaller frame." I showed him my chipmunk photo to prove that it's a LOT better now. He exclaimed - "Wow, I wouldn't have even guessed that it was YOU!"

By the way, the photo of me in pink WAS over-exposed. Sam thinks I look more swollen than that, and I agree.

The photo on the left was from Thanksgiving last year. See the difference? :)

Sigh. I can't wait to deflate completely. It's a long wait. Some articles online say it could take up to 6 months. Six months!!

But, I suppose as time goes by, this would weigh less and less on my mind. After all, there are plenty of other things to focus on - for instance, simply living a life. Work. Social events. Friends. Museums to check out. Books to read. Cities to visit. Food to savor. Oops. I'm back to square one.

The World's Dorkiest Smile

I'm smiling more now because it doesn't hurt my upper gum anymore.

Another day without pain killers, not even Tylenol.

Spent two hours in Berkeley this afternoon. Bought fresh raviolis, salad, and a slice of tres leches cake for Doug, and some rice pudding for me. Got a new pair of jeans at Anthropologie. Woohoo! All the store clerks were super nice to me, and extra friendly. Surprisingly, I never had to repeat myself - they all understood me perfectly even though I was mumbling through rubber bands, a splint, and clenched teeth. The only time anyone really couldn't "guess" what I was saying was when I ordered the tres leches cake. The poor guy had to come out from behind the counter to see exactly what I was pointing at. Tres leches! LOL. The only person that asked what's going on with my face was the cashier at the Italian deli. He said - "Why did they bind your jaws?" "Oh, I had jaw surgery." I said. For a split second there was a hint of horror in his face, which quickly disappeared when I smiled - and he smiled back. Coolio!

Doug and I stayed at home for Valentine's Day dinner. I boiled the raviolis for him, and he made a delicious milkshake for me, with rice pudding, vanilla ice cream, and a banana. I drank it from a bowl (no more syringes!!). Just perfect.