Choo choo, calling Passenger Caboose for June Train

[Guest guest]

My dearest Caboose,

Well it looks like your departure date is fast approaching! You know

it's funny because since you ended your time warp and hit the 10 day

pre-op time zone time has been flying for me too, almost as if I was

coming in for surgery with you! And I suppose I am because I will be

there in spirit holding your hand all throughout the process, ya

hear me?! And if you feel a little tear of fear creep out of those

eyes I'll be at hand with a hanky to wipe them away. I actually had

a wee little cry on the OR table as they were putting me to sleep.

It was the first time that i cried pre-surgery and I guess the only

time I allowed myself to realize that I was scared. Well needless to

say I survived and it was NOT BAD AT ALL!! And you will survive and

excel at this ordeal too, I'm sure!

So when do you find out whether your jaw will be segmented or not?

Only on the actual day of surgery, on Tuesday? I'll keep my fingers,

ears, arms and legs crossed for you until then that they are able to

do surgery without segmenting your jaw in 3 and therefore allow you

to be as Carol says, sans splint!! Whooohhoooo!

I went out last night for my first official dinner post-op. I had

dinner with my mom and one of my close friends at a Moroccan

restaurant. I adore Maroccan food. Anyway, it was sort of torturous

because I couldn't order a lot of the stuff I wanted but I did have

my beloved houmous (scraped it into my mouth with a fork) and I

ordered a saffron, peas and tomatoes risotto. Delish!!! Love having

all these new flavors again. By the way, for the first few days post-

op I recommend using a baby spoon because since your mouth will be

numb you won't feel anything and I wouldn't want you poking yourself

by accident. Ouch:-( Also, I'm sure you have all of the below but

here's a quick list of stuff I couldn't have lived without post-op:

Aquaphor for chapped lips

Cu-tips to clean nose with since you can't blow your nose (grosse I

know but it really helped me)

Humidifier to help you with breathing

Flonase and Afrin to spray into nose

Tissues galore

Blender (I know your mom is bringing the mother of all blenders)

Baby toothbrush

Peridex mouthwash

Lots of comfy pillows to fit around me in bed or on the sofa

Whiteboard and markers

iPOD or any music playing device

Computer!!!

Face cleaning products (my skin was and still is very icky post-op)

An assortment of ice packs to put on your face (I had a bag of

frozen peas, a medical ice pack and one of those face masks that you

can put in the freezer to freeze and then cool your face. I would

alternate between the different bags whenever I would ice)

Face cloths to soak in hot water to do hot packs on my face (I only

started doing this after 10 days to help with the swelling. ALWAYS

confirm with your doc. first before doing this)

Arnica cream

Lots of yummy juices to drink

A variety of recipes for stuff to blend up

Plastic cups to drink out of

Baby spoons

Paper napkins

Mmmm that's all I can think of for now but I'll email you more

options when I think of them.

Now as for this weekend you are under strict orders to EAT YOUR

HEART AWAY and enjoy yourself as much as possible!! The June train

is happily waiting for you an mini-rascal before it departs

definitely to the other side!

Sara xx