DAY 11

Today is Day 11 and I woke up and only took regular tylenol along with my last dose of prednisone. I don't really feel anymore swelling. Sometimes I have pain or burning, but mostly it's just an uncomfortable feeling or sometimes a scratchy feeling. I feel like my voice comes and goes and I just have to be aware not to push it. I ate so much more food today. I ate mashed up meatloaf (without ketchup or salt), mashed potatoes, pudding, a chocolate banana smoothie, a yogurt, and water. I'm feeling more and more like myself, but know I still have a ways to go. The hardest thing today has been trying to force myself to slow down eating. Because my mouth and tongue feel better I'm rushing when I eat and I'm not ready or able to swallow as quickly or as pain free as normal and sometimes I've rushed it. I also tried to eat some corn, but found I felt it getting stuck in my throat and stayed away from it. I'm able to talk, but feel like my voice doesn't sound like mine quite yet. My throat looks to be healing more and more and I'm excited that I'm continuing to feel well and that I'm about (what I think) is half-way there! I love how smooth my cheeks and hair feel!

DAY 10

Night 9 I was able to sleep through the night, but I woke up in so much pain. I immediately went for my vicodin. Day 10 I was able to eat some more foods! I ate some shepard's pie ok and even had some frosting and caske! I was so happy and so hungry! My main food still were pudding, but I was happy to be expanding out! I also felt my scabs for the first time. I think I swallowed a piece on day 10, but that it then re-scabbed later. I think you can see it in the pictures. Day 10 I also moved off my recovery position on the couch and back into my bedroom since I could sleep through the night. I also started taking my vicodin about every 6 hours, even a little more and did ok. Tomorrow would be my last day of prednisone as well. I continued to get better at talking and I thought my tongue was feeling better. However, as I ate or especially when I tried to eat a banana my tongue immediately got sore and I couldn't move it very much again and therefore couldn't speak well anymore. I felt a exponential recovery effort coming, but still had to be careful not to push it too much.

DAY 9

Day 9 I really felt the prednisone was working. My tongue hurt to move, but it finally felt normal in my mouth. In my daily picture I also realized how much smaller my ulvula (thing in the middle hanging down) was. I felt I could feel and see progress and was so happy. I tried to talk more, but felt the more I talked the less I could talk. Day 9 my diet consisted of my usual swiss miss pudding, cold plain pasta, and I tried a smoothie without ice cream. I was able to swallow the smoothie ok, but it hurt and burned a little afterward.  Day 9 I finally slept through the night for the first time as well.

DAY 8

Day 8 I finally made my real first venture out of the house. The day before I left the house for about an hour to see a friend in town. I had a hard time talking and it was frustrating. I think it made me realize I wasn't feeling as good as I had convinced myself I was. Day 8 I went to a local hockey game. I started to be able to talk more normally, but only in a very quiet almost kid-like whisper. I could swallow water without having to think about it, but it hurt. I began to eat more puddings and jello. I also was beginning to become so hungry. It was probably a combination of not eating for a week and also being on the prednisone. I was dying to eat and I felt there was nothing I could eat. I went grocery shopping with my Dad and we spent close to an hour looking at ingredient lists. I never realized how many products have salt in them! I was also sleeping close to 4 hours at a time at this point, but still needing the vicodin every 4 hours. I continued to be on the prednisone.

DAY 7

Day 7 my redness in my cheeks started to decrease. I'm not sure if it was less lotion use, being more hydrated, a combination or something else. My tongue still hurt like hell and I was still very swollen and sore. However, I was able to start eating cold plain macaroni. I had about a 1/2 cup and it took me an hour, but I had it. I was able to swallow more water. I found myself spitting more and more as well. I also was dying to brush my teeth, but was advised to wait a week by many.

DAY 6

Day 6 I was able to open my mouth a little more for a picture. You could start to see my scabs form. In the picture you can also see how red my cheeks were. I wasn't feeling well. However, on day 6 I started to be able to eat again. I was able to eat two puddings! I finally felt like I was hydrated enough that I wasn't feeling bad side effects from the vicodin most the time and I was able to take a full shower without a problem.

DAY 5

Day 5 I was still extremely dehydrated, but was beginning to feel the effects of the prednisone almost immediately. Slowly, I was able to swallow more water. I still didn't eat anything on Day 5, but I was able to at least get water in me and suck on ice chips. The doctor had recommended chewing gum if I could to loosen my mouth, but I couldn't yet. I was still taking vicodin every 4 hours. I also started to feel my face be more flushed and hot. It didn't feel like the scarlet fever rash, but I was nervous maybe my infection wasn't gone. However, I was also putting on lotion as my skin was dry and wasn't sure if it was red because of the lotion. I decided to only use the lotion once every other day to see if the redness decreased. My parents were ready to take me to the hospital if the redness didn't go away or if I showed any other signs of infection. Luckily, I didn't experience other signs or symptoms and as the prednisone kicked in I began to feel more hydrated and less loopy from the pain medication.