I CAN OPEN MY MOUTH AGAIN!!!
DEAR GOD IS THAT PAINFUL!!!
It’s now 24 hours after they released the bands holding my mouth shut and about all I can say is I want to talk much less than I did yesterday. I’m starting to get a lot more movement in my jaw, but dear freakin’ God, that hurts like a **** (insert expletive here). See, I knew this was coming, but very little can prepare you for when the pain comes. When it comes, it’s completely unexpected and extremely painful. What’s worst is at the moment I can’t put my finger on exactly what sets off the pain.
Only problem with healing fast is that you get the all the recovery pains that much more quickly as well. The good news is that as long as my bite stays normal, I won’t need to have my mouth forced shut again. The bad news is that I haven’t used those muscles in two weeks and they are about as stiff as a redwood. The doctor says that I have to work on my flexibility, which means talking and opening and closing my jaw. Although when I do that, I never know when my muscles on either side of my jaw will seize up hard. When that happens, I have an involuntary reflex where I immediately move my hand up to support my jaw.
The other problem comes when I try to sleep. I pretty much can only get a good night’s sleep when I’m laying on my side. When I do that, my jaw slides just a little, which stretches the muscle holding it, and then if I move at all, I wake up to a massive amount a pain and a jaw that takes a good 10 minutes to relax and go back into place. Only problem is that this happens every 2 hours… so I’m back to trying to sleep on my back which as of yet hasn’t particularly worked.
Anyway, on with the rest:
Diet: Feels like I’m eating a ton of mashed potatoes, probably because I am. Still going through a ton of smoothies and other good stuff, so the weight has stabilized for now. Energy is doing pretty well as well. I’m tired now, but that has much more to do with an awful night’s sleep last night.
Mood: Determined… There’s no other way to put it. After 24 hours I’m able to see a little bit of space in between my front top and bottom teeth, so that’s a heck of a lot of improvement. On the other hand, there’s no way for me to know when exactly the pain will come, which is a bit scary. All I know is that if when I’m talking, it’s gonna come. Not sure when, but I know it’s gonna come and it’s gonna be pretty damn painful.
Justice: Well, I’ve sent an email to the embassy asking for assistance, and as of yet haven’t heard anything. Seung Hee talked to the officer in charge today, and he said that the guy is really trying his best to escape. Which in my mind means that if they know that much about him, how come they haven’t been able to pick him up? They’re asking me to be patient… well that’s a lot easier on a full night’s sleep and a jaw that doesn’t feel like it’s trying to separate itself from the rest of my face.
Oh and if you’re wondering if they’ve given me any painkillers for my jaw… well take a wild guess. I kind of feel like Korea subscribes to the “cold turkey” method of recovery. I know it supposedly works for quitting smoking and I know it’ll work for me, but man, it’s not a whole lot of fun. As long as I can make it through the next couple of days, the pain will subside and talking will get easier. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel… it’s just that the way out requires a fair amount of pain.
