I'm Free!

That's right. As of yesterday morning, my jaw was finally unwired. For the most part, it was an okay experience. It felt a bit strange to be put to sleep again-- the nurse started an IV, attached me to all sorts of machines, and hooked my up to the oxygen again-- it brought me back to those days in the hospital. The dentist came in and we started chatting and the next thing I remember is walking up the stairs of our building to our second floor apartment. According to Doug, I was awake in the room when he was called back in there to talk to the doctor. Apparently I even tried to be part of the conversation, although they didn't understand a thing I was trying to say (I had a lot of gauze in my mouth at that time). Somehow, I walked out of the office, down the stairs, and to the car and don't remember a thing. A little creepy, if you ask me.
It sounds like the doctor is pretty optimistic about how things went. While I was asleep he tested the strength of my jaw and found that it was healing well. My bite lined up well too, so he's thinking that I will not need to have any more work done if I don't want it. We'll see him again next week, but it feels like a small answer to prayer. Yesterday Doug and I decided that we were going to celebrate this small step of progress in the journey of recovery. Even though it's difficult to put the painful thoughts and memories aside for a while, it was nice to just be encouraged and focus on the positive for a few hours.
If there is anything I've learned from this experience, it's to not take the small things in life for granted. Eating every meal though a straw for 6 weeks certainly teaches you this lesson, and there have been so many other realizations of how much we take our health and independence for granted every day. I remember so clearly how important those small steps have been to me throughout the past few weeks. Drinking my first glass of water after 3 days of no food or drink was glorious (I asked for it in the helicopter and was told to wait until we reached the Calgary hospital-- little did I know that it would be days before I'd be allowed to drink it!). I wept during my first shower in the hospital-- after 10 days of having someone else bathe you, taking a hot shower on your own is incredible. I can still remember how remarkabe it was to pick up my baby for the first time on my own without having to wait for someone to lay him in my arms-- finally I felt like a mom. The first time I was actually able to dress myself without help I ran into the kitchen to show Doug my accomplishment like a toddler anxious to show their parent their latest trick. Yesterday I actually shed a few tears the first time I realized I could lick my lips without having teeth in the way! Small steps often feel the most significant during the journey.
Thank you everyone for praying for me and my broken jaw. I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am to have this part of the healing process almost over.
For those of you who are curious, the first thing I ate was a piece of toast. Not too exciting, I know, but I sent Doug to McDonalds for me not long after. (Don't tell my oral surgeon).

Why not throw a few pictures of the little guy in? These were taken just this morning. He's irresistibly cute while sleeping.