Today, I cooked for the first time since the accident. I made Tamarind Lentils from Veganomicon. Of course, I have to throw them in the blender and water them down before I could consume them, but it was nice to have a home-cooked meal, and nice to be able to take control of the sodium level in my food. I think I made enough so that I’ll have some leftovers to eat when I’m actually able to eat again.
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A curious reflex
17 AprA little bit earlier, I stumbled while walking up some stairs on one of the footpaths in my neighborhood. I was surprised to feel my mouth reflexively try to open. Of course, the wire kept my mouth from actually opening, but it was enough to make me shudder at what might have happened if I had actually fallen.
I do wonder what good this reflex does. From an evolutionary point of view, it’s hard for me to imagine how it might have come about.
One week check-in
15 AprToday marks one week since my mouth has been wired shut, and I commemorated the occasion by returning to the oral surgeon’s office for a check-in appointment. The oral surgeon looked in my mouth briefly and was impressed by how clean it was. He then started talking about eating. He told me that it was only two weeks before I could eat again, but added, “You are going to lose some weight.” He asked if I had been using anything like Ensure or Carnation Instant Breakfast. I told him that I hadn’t, although I didn’t tell him that I was vegan. I wasn’t particularly worried, because thanks to UPS online tracking, I knew that my supply of Vega had been delivered to my door while I was in the office.
I’ll be returning to the oral surgeon in two weeks to get the wires removed.
Tea
13 AprAt the math department tea today, I drank lemonade from a cup without a straw. This was the first time I drank from a cup since the accident. I might have been able to do as early as Friday, when I had the two stitches removed from my lip, but this was the first time I had any reason to try.
There were white corn chips at the tea, and I found myself craving these. I had no interest in yellow corn chips; I specifically wanted the white ones. Of course, the matter is of no practical importance given that I can’t open my mouth anytime soon.
Muir Woods
12 AprToday, my brother and I went to see Muir Woods, but we encountered a couple of injury-related problems early on.
First, shortly after we left, I found that the flexible foam bandage on my elbow had come off. I don’t know if I’ve ever been satisfied with the way one of those bandages stuck. It seems like they always come off. Fortunately, we passed a pharmacy shortly after passing through San Rafael, and so I was able to purchase a box of better bandages.
When we got to Muir Woods, I was hungry enough that I wanted some of the smoothie I had made before leaving. Unfortunately, I discovered that I had left it at home. Luckily, the concession tent at the edge of the parking lot sold little boxes of chocolate (and only chocolate) soy milk. The price, naturally, was excessive, but it held me off until we got home, if only barely.
Shopping
11 AprMy brother has come to visit and drive me around in a rental car for a few days. Our first trip was to Whole Foods, where I bought some canned soups, soy yogurts, rice milk, and chocolate soy milk. The chocolate soy milk is just to make things a little bit more interesting, and the rice milk is so that I won’t be drinking several smoothies a day with soy milk, soy protein powder, and soy yogurt.
Thereafter, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond, where I purchased a strainer, which I plan to use to remove particles that are too big to blend from my soups. In buying the strainer, I also hoped to be able to remove the oatmeal from the smoothie I made the other day. Also in Bed Bath and Beyond, I found that there were towels on sale, so I purchased a couple. For reasons I don’t understand, I intended to buy two towels in different colors, but somehow I managed to inadvertently choose two of the same color without noticing that they were the same color until after I had checked out.
Upon my return home, the strainer did prove successful in removing the oatmeal from the smoothie.
A drug-free me
11 AprYesterday, I struggled mightily to stay awake in my classes. At first I thought this was just because I stayed up late Thursday night, but then I began to wonder if Vicodin, which I had been taking twice daily, might have been playing some role. When I was in the office, I thought that the only side effect on the label was dizziness, but it occurred to me that it might actually have been drowsiness, and I had misremembered or misread.
When I got home, I checked the label of my container of Vicodin, and sure enough, it warned that the drug may cause drowsiness. I wasn’t experiencing much pain, so I decided I’d try to stop taking it.
I haven’t taken Vicodin since yesterday morning, and so far everything is going well. I don’t feel tired, but that may well be because I slept better last night. The most noticeable difference when I woke up this morning, though, was that I was able to talk reasonably well. My speech is still far from normal, I think that most people would find me comprehensible. I do struggle with certain sounds. For example, I can’t pronounce the “th” sound, so I have to use the “d” sound as young children sometimes do.
For the first time, I feel genuinely hopeful that I’ll be able to teach my classes next week.
In all fairness, I don’t know if my ability to talk has anything to do with my newly drug-free status. It may well be that it’s just a consequence of my mouth being a little bit less swollen. However, I do think it’s very much plausible that a narcotic like Vicodin would make it harder to exercise the relatively precise control required to speak clearly.
Stitch removal
10 AprAfter my morning classes, I went to University Health Services to get the stitches removed from my lip and my chin. After waiting in the lobby for a short while, I was seen by the triage nurse, who I’ve learned is responsible for prioritizing patients based on the severity of their conditions. The triage nurse today was actually the same nurse who had bandaged my wounds on Monday, so she was somewhat familiar with my story. On Monday, though, I had been able to talk reasonably well, but today it’s very hard for me to convey information to other people, so I was relieved at not having to repeat my whole story.
I was kind of annoyed when the triage nurse asked how I was going to get enough food with my mouth wired shut and then added “You’re already such a little guy.” I’m about 6′ 1″ tall, and I weighed 155 pounds when I stepped on a scale during spring break. I certainly don’t consider myself to be big, but this was the first time in a long time that anybody described me to my face as “little.” I could afford to lose ten pounds before I’d be classified as underweight. The remark seemed particularly inappropriate coming from somebody who was supposed to be giving me a medical evaluation. I mean, if I had stepped on a scale, then it might be appropriate to bring up my weight, but I think it’s reasonable for me to expect the nurse not to make uninformed comments on health-related issues. I know she meant well, but it still seems inappropriate to me.
After the triage nurse, I was seen by a doctor and a nurse. I was amused that the doctor who looked at me asked if my bicycle was damaged. I did my best to tell him that it wasn’t even scratched, although I haven’t cared enough to look at it. The nurse took out the stitches. She had a fair amount of trouble with this because the thread on my chin was the same color as my facial hair, which I’ve been unable to shave since the accident.
I went into UHS hoping to ask somebody whether I should be concerned about the pain I’ve been experiencing in my left ear. I think it’s probably just swelling around the site of the fracture, but I wanted to check. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to communicate this question to anybody. Looking back on the visit, it seems like somebody should have recognized the obvious difficulty I was having in communicating and offered me a pen and paper to write down my answers. On the other hand, perhaps I should have brought my own pen and paper.
The newly wired life
8 AprMy mouth has started to feel sore, but I’m not too worried because my mouth used to feel this way all the time when I had orthodontic braces and went in to have them adjusted. My tongue is adjusting to having wires on the bottom of my mouth. I don’t really understand how this is possible, but I haven’t been able to find any wires on the top of my mouth.
The oral surgeon called this evening to check in with me, which was nice. He was able to understand me, which I found impressive (he said he had plenty of practice). He repeated some things which he had apparently told me earlier when I wasn’t alert enough to remember them. He told me that the procedure went well and that he was able to get the bone exactly where he wanted it. He also talked to me about the Zip-N-Squeeze bags he gave me for taking in purees and liquids. I actually haven’t tried to use them yet; I’ve just been drinking through a straw.
One consequence of having my jaw wired is that I now have to crush my Vicodin tablets before I take them. This certainly isn’t a difficult task, but I’ve found that whatever I take it with tastes very bad.
There is some good news, which is that I can now tilt my head back without any pain.
Nightmare scenario
8 AprLately, I’ve become worried about the possibility that my blender might break. Mine is definitely a low end model, and even when I bought it, I saw several reviews complaining that it hadn’t lasted long. I’ve only had it for a couple of months, but it’s going through a period of heavy use. If it does break, I’ll probably be able to replace it eventually, but until then I’ll be on a diet of soy milk and soy protein powder. I’m certainly not afraid of soy, but I prefer to avoid the whole monoculture thing.
Shock and Jaw 