November 12th, 2007 

By now I've regained much of my strength & energy, and almost back to normal as far as functioning goes.  However, I'm still going to be dealing with the remaining healing issues for some time yet.

Having been through sinus surgery before, I know it will take another 2-3 weeks for the swelling inside my nose to recede.  My mouth is now able to chomp down on things like popcorn and chips, but the ability to swallow them is a bit awkward.  I find I need to cover my mouth when eating, as the ability to eat with my mouth closed is harder.  My upper lip by my nose is very stiff where an incision was, and the muscles behind my upper & lower lips, and on the sides of my mouth are also stiff which make it tough to move food around.  My tongue can make the usual movements, but I find I use my tongue to push food through my mouth, and many such movements are not physically possible or would hurt to do so.  It gets better each day, but I'd guess another 2-3 weeks for that to seem normal again too.

The bruising has been minimal since the first day, and I only have a mark under each eye, and on one eye lid.  I had some reddish blemishes on one cheek, but by now, I just have small marks under each eye and eyelid.  I expect they'll be gone in a weeki.

There are other areas of my face and scalp, where I don't have any feeling.  FFS does mess with a number of nerves and some can take 1-2 years to regain functionality.   As of now, most of my nose, small parts of my face, my right eyebrow & forehead above it don't register any sensation of touch.  The middle of my scalp is all pretty much dead for now too, which means I need to be carefull with drying or curling my hair, as well as brushing it too, since I can't feel the heat.  The incision for my hairline goes back down each side of my head and buried under my hair, and I need to be carefull of that too.  This incision is raised up a little bit from my skin and I'm guessing it could be a month or two before it's all settled back in smooth with the rest of my head.

Finally, there is still swelling around my cheeks, chin & jaw.  It's not quite so noticable, but people who saw me even 3-5 days ago, can see a reduction in the swelling.  Overall, I can expect my new normal look for my face to be there in 2-3 months.  I've seen plenty of pictures from previous patients, and it really does take until the 3rd or 4th month after surgery to achieve the final look. 

So tonight I return to my tutoring after missing the last 3 weeks.  I did not tell them anything other than I had surgery and would be back today.  It will be interesting to see if I get any reaction.  Only a few people have seen me more than once there, and having been this long, I suspect no one will say anything, although they might think something is different. 

Some people have not realized right off that I had anything done.  They just thought I looked better somehow, then they remembered my surgery.  I think that I'll still be recognizable to people who haven't seen me in a few years though.  They may not be able to put a name to my face, but they'll suspect they should know it.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.