...sleep.
Each sleep attempt is a new adventure. While I have yet to post the "Rested" experience, I can post "Worse" and "Same." It seems like the biggest challenge is simply staying asleep long enough. When my head hits the pillow, I'm out for four to five hours, waking between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. Rarely, I'm able to fall back asleep. When I do fall back asleep, it's very fragmented, with many awakenings. Prior to the MMA, I had the same sleep patterns. The problem still seems to be in my head. I've spent the past few weeks trying to go to bed relaxed, leaving my daily stress away from the bedroom.
Here's the latest recovery update:
1) Chin - significant numbness reduction. Lots of electrical sensations when touched
2) Teeth - more sensation on bottoms, but many teeth still lack any sensation other than pressure
3) Jaw popping - not as much. I've suspended the stretching exercises, and am trying to chew evenly on both sides
4) Gums - still pretty numb
5) Wake up with a "clenched" jaw - this one is quite strange
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Eating & Popping
As my jaw recovers, I've shifted to a soft food diet. At first things seemed to be going pretty well. Now, however, I've developed a "popping" discomfort where my upper and lower jaws meet.
At this point, I've stopped taking all sleep and surgery related medications. As my body adjusts and tries to establish its natural sleep patterns, my sleep has been fragmented and interrupted. Within the next couple of weeks, I expect a normal sleep pattern to emerge and experience the benefits of a good night of sleep.
As far as the surgery healing goes, things continue to improve. My chin is still quite numb with the expected "tingles" indicating the nerves are regenerating. The chin pain is gone, but when I eat or drink anything that's not ambient temperature, my chin feels like there's some food or liquid dribbling (which turns out not to be the case). My teeth are a little sore and I have an unusual sensation where the upper brackets remain. My upper front teeth and the forward part of the roof of my mouth are still completely numb.
My speech has improved dramatically, but by the end of the day, it's quite hard to enunciate words properly. Perhaps the jaw mobility exercises will help.
At this point, I've stopped taking all sleep and surgery related medications. As my body adjusts and tries to establish its natural sleep patterns, my sleep has been fragmented and interrupted. Within the next couple of weeks, I expect a normal sleep pattern to emerge and experience the benefits of a good night of sleep.
As far as the surgery healing goes, things continue to improve. My chin is still quite numb with the expected "tingles" indicating the nerves are regenerating. The chin pain is gone, but when I eat or drink anything that's not ambient temperature, my chin feels like there's some food or liquid dribbling (which turns out not to be the case). My teeth are a little sore and I have an unusual sensation where the upper brackets remain. My upper front teeth and the forward part of the roof of my mouth are still completely numb.
My speech has improved dramatically, but by the end of the day, it's quite hard to enunciate words properly. Perhaps the jaw mobility exercises will help.
Monday, July 13, 2009
More Exercise
I saw my doctor today for a quick check-in/up. He's said that it's time to start exercising my jaw muscles to improve jaw mobility. In no time at all, I should regain complete vertical range of motion. We did not discuss exercises to improve lateral movement. In addition, he said I can advance from mush/mashed foods to soft foods. While I'm not ready to give up the comfort of the Magic Bullet, its days are numbered.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
PB&J
Sunday, I got a bit more adventurous with my eating. I had my first PB&J sandwich . It was so good, that I had 3 PB&J sandwiches - each one carefully cut in quarters. The crusts were more than I could handle. PB&J was one of the food highlights at the rest stops for the bike ride. The other good options were energy gels and Gatorade.
It was amazing to see all the people who battled and are battling cancer as well as those honoring and remembering those afflicted. It was beyond words as we all clawed our way up the nasty climb 70 miles into the ride.
Here's a picture of me with my new toothy grin. I'm smiling because there were many kind people on the course motivating all of the riders as well as many riders who created a nice draft to fight the head winds.
Also, thanks for all the very positive comments and support on the blog- it's very much appreciated.
It was amazing to see all the people who battled and are battling cancer as well as those honoring and remembering those afflicted. It was beyond words as we all clawed our way up the nasty climb 70 miles into the ride.
Here's a picture of me with my new toothy grin. I'm smiling because there were many kind people on the course motivating all of the riders as well as many riders who created a nice draft to fight the head winds.
Also, thanks for all the very positive comments and support on the blog- it's very much appreciated.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Insane!!!
For all the folks following the Tour de France, what was Contador thinking on the final climb of Friday's stage??? Sure, he wants to win the race, but he can't do it without his team. Madness...
I woke up this morning with noticeably less chin numbness and pretty much pain free. It seems that the saying "three steps forward, and two steps back" really applies to MMA recovery. While the surgery healing seems to be on track, the sleep recovery has been at a standstill, and perhaps somewhat of a regression in the past few days. My sleep debt must be much bigger than originally anticipated. Using the mortgage analogy, I'm so early in the amortization schedule, that I have yet to pay down any principal and benefit from owning more sleep equity. Perhaps the recession has a bigger impact than originally anticipated, and my sleep debt is underwater, only to face foreclosure and sale to the lowest bidder.
I woke up this morning with noticeably less chin numbness and pretty much pain free. It seems that the saying "three steps forward, and two steps back" really applies to MMA recovery. While the surgery healing seems to be on track, the sleep recovery has been at a standstill, and perhaps somewhat of a regression in the past few days. My sleep debt must be much bigger than originally anticipated. Using the mortgage analogy, I'm so early in the amortization schedule, that I have yet to pay down any principal and benefit from owning more sleep equity. Perhaps the recession has a bigger impact than originally anticipated, and my sleep debt is underwater, only to face foreclosure and sale to the lowest bidder.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Scrambled Eggs and Soft Ice Cream
Given all the yummy choices of airport food, the soft ice cream and scrambled eggs called to me - just not at the same airport or meal. I'm back on the road this week, and arrived at the airport really hungry. Knowing that I wouldn't be eating the peanuts on the flight, eggs seemed like the next best choice (it was mid afternoon). Upon arriving in Las Vegas to make my connection I was still hungry and knew I could manage the soft ice cream - chocolate.
A good nights sleep still eludes me - yet I'm hopeful. Similar to last week, the most significant energy changes have been related to exercise. I have more endurance, strength and quicker recovery than before the surgery. In trying to get ready for the LiveStrong ride this weekend, I've been riding about 100 miles a week for the past couple of weeks and so far so good.
Last night/this morning I woke at 4:30 a.m. and that was it for the night. There will be some good nights, and some nights that could be better. I just won't be able to predict them in advance. In general, I'm still sleeping about 7.5 hours a night.
My teeth seem to be the most noticeable in the recovery this week. I can feel both the upper and lower back teeth come together when I bite down. Sometimes the bite feels lopsided - like the right side meets before the left side. Other times, everything is normal. The less I think about what's going on, the more "normal" it feels. The front teeth are numb, and the gums are pretty sore. The good news is that the gums are regaining their sensation on both top and bottom.
The chin pain seems to be stronger at the end of the day. I thought that it was pretty much gone, but over the weekend, it increased. I'd like to believe that it's just the nerves waking up.
My speech still hasn't fully recovered. There are a few tricky sounds (mainly the "s"). By the end of the day, it's really hard to speak. I have not had too much jaw pain, just a challenge in speaking clearly. Given that the lower lip is still numb, I don't think that I have full muscle control to form all the words properly. I return to the doctor on Monday, and perhaps I'll start to do exercises that redevelop the facial muscles that atrophied.
A good nights sleep still eludes me - yet I'm hopeful. Similar to last week, the most significant energy changes have been related to exercise. I have more endurance, strength and quicker recovery than before the surgery. In trying to get ready for the LiveStrong ride this weekend, I've been riding about 100 miles a week for the past couple of weeks and so far so good.
Last night/this morning I woke at 4:30 a.m. and that was it for the night. There will be some good nights, and some nights that could be better. I just won't be able to predict them in advance. In general, I'm still sleeping about 7.5 hours a night.
My teeth seem to be the most noticeable in the recovery this week. I can feel both the upper and lower back teeth come together when I bite down. Sometimes the bite feels lopsided - like the right side meets before the left side. Other times, everything is normal. The less I think about what's going on, the more "normal" it feels. The front teeth are numb, and the gums are pretty sore. The good news is that the gums are regaining their sensation on both top and bottom.
The chin pain seems to be stronger at the end of the day. I thought that it was pretty much gone, but over the weekend, it increased. I'd like to believe that it's just the nerves waking up.
My speech still hasn't fully recovered. There are a few tricky sounds (mainly the "s"). By the end of the day, it's really hard to speak. I have not had too much jaw pain, just a challenge in speaking clearly. Given that the lower lip is still numb, I don't think that I have full muscle control to form all the words properly. I return to the doctor on Monday, and perhaps I'll start to do exercises that redevelop the facial muscles that atrophied.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
