cavitation surgery recovery, vascular compression investigation, and wandering OKC!

It's been three glorious weeks since my first cavitation surgery. I'm definitely not fully healed, but there has been progress. The swollen bump on my lower jaw dissipated around the two week mark which I was happy about. It's still a little tender, but not very bothersome. The actual cavitation sites are still sore and the back of my jaw is achy. I can fully open my mouth now, but it turns out if I yell it does hurt. So yelling is off the table I guess. haha  I've still been trying to do red light therapy each day. I have the urge to do ice and heat at times. I can chew on both sides of my mouth, but still favor my left side. So that is going to be fun after this next surgery. I think I've been clenching my jaw again in my sleep these past few nights which does not help matters. I'm going to go on a limb and guess that I'm subconsciously a bit anxious for surgery. I'm going into it preparing for it to be like last time, but also with a side of hope that it's better since it's just one cavitation which is on my upper jaw rather than lower. In my mind, that might make a difference, we will see though. Though it sucks doing two surgeries, having it all done at once would have been brutal. Since I have hEDS, it's possible that I'm also healing slower than someone else might. As for other changes, I have had some reprieve from brain fog which makes me so very happy. It is much easier navigating the day and work when I don't feel so bogged down. My mood has also been better because of this. After several days I realized I hadn't thought about death at all. That's a huge win. I did catch a cold end of last week so that has been trying to take me down on top of everything else. Otis was home sick for 5 days a week ago and the other two have had coughs, so I was bound to catch something along the way.

I haven't said much about my vascular compression situation. Partly because it's a lot to take in and partly because there are a lot of unknowns yet. I consulted with one surgeon in Connecticut via a phone call. And the other surgeon we just took a road trip to see in Oklahoma City. Most of you won't know what any of this means, at least I know I didn't up until a few months ago. I will go into more explanation in the coming weeks/months. But for now I have to do more testing to get a full picture of what I all have going on. Most of this will happen in January I believe depending on scheduling availability. Most of the tests I'm able to do in Minnesota, but I'll have to make one more trip back down to Oklahoma for a few of them. That's because the surgeons prefer to do the angiogram/venogram themselves since they know what they are looking for. I actually found this to be comforting. What we know right now is that I do have some vascular compressions and that is causing my pain and issues with my gut. What we don't know is how bad it is and what all needs to be done to fix it.

Ben and I made the best of our short trip to Oklahoma by squeezing in an extra day between driving to have some fun. I'll be honest, after a full day of driving I woke up Sunday morning feeling like trash. But after a hot shower and a latte we made our way outdoors. I can do a lot of self motivating, but there's a good chance if Ben hadn't been there I may have laid in bed half the day. haha  Our first stop was the botanical gardens. HIGHLY recommend! It's beautiful just wandering outside. And a trip indoors is a real treat. The added holiday arrangements made it even better! They also have the best gift shop, if you're into that sort of thing. After that we wandered to the ice skating rink, because it's straight out of a Hallmark movie. Which meant I needed to partake of course. Though once we got there I did hesitate and thought about passing. I actually haven't ice skated since I was about 4 and I was achy and exhausted. Buuuut, Ben walked right up there and paid for skates! And oh my gosh was it magical. Was I clumsy? yes! Did I care? no! Honestly, being out there was how I feel when I'm dancing. Just free. After that we went back to the hotel to rest.

But first, coffee!

We someone else taking photos here, so we followed suit.

Aww! We so cute!

The exterior of Crystal Bridge Conservatory in Myriad Botanical Gardens

I'm moving at about 1mph!

I thought these were so fun! All kinds of different scents.

That afternoon we made our way to Factory Obscura via their downtown trolley system. Ben made sure to put on shorts because the temps were over 60 and he thought it seemed silly to not take advantage. Factory Obscura is an immersive art installation. It's wild! I will say that doing it with nausea and a headache is not ideal, but I managed. I had to skip the trippy glasses they give you. You must get into a child-like mindset to enjoy the experience. This is not an issue for Ben and I. After we left we made our way to a restaurant across the street. I suddenly was craving NACHOS! I was a bit hesitant about it because I didn't want to feel awful, but I also just needed to eat. They were SO good! Towards the end of our meal I looked on the map for coffee. I was in luck as there was one nearby. Since we needed to cross some railroad tracks to get there I decided Ben and I should snap some senior photos ;) I still need to pull out my original railroad senior photo for a nice side-by-side. I appreciate that Ben humors my whims! After coffee was purchased we made our way to the memorial site. It was just as beautiful as I had remembered it. And even more breathtaking at sunset during the holidays. I was definitely very tired by this point from all the walking. But I was doing okay after eating, which was a relief. It's not always the case and it's honestly a crapshoot as to how it's going to go. I rested while Ben took photos and then we wandered towards Bricktown. 

Inside Factory Obscura! They also gave us a clipboard with a scavenger hunt.

More Factory Obscura

S&B's Burger Joint - the interior was so fun!

Oklahoma City National Memorial

I'm not sure why we kept walking at this point. Probably should have hopped on the trolley or rented scooters. But sometimes in the moment I pretend I usually walk multiple miles in a day and it's nbd. So we carried on to Bricktown and admired the lights and the murals along the way. Bricktown is like a mini version of San Antonio's River Walk. Right now it's lit up with pretty lights. I'm not sure what it's like in the summer. There are lots of bars and restaurants along the water. They also have boat rides, which weren't available when we were there. We rented a scooter and made our way back towards the hotel. The electric scooters are everything I hoped. SO FUN! We ended up back in the park by the botanical garden. Ben stopped to take photos and I wandered off because I was cold, had to use the bathroom, and really just wanted to sit down. We eventually found each other again and I suggested going to Flint, mostly because I could see a fireplace through the window. Flint is right off the lobby of Colcord Hotel. Holy cows was the lobby incredible. Best hotel holiday decor ever! We got a drink and an app, they were delish.

The lobby of Colcord Hotel in Oklahoma City.

Anyhow, back to the present. Off to surgery #2 I go!

Love you!

Ash

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