Recovery Day 58

   Hey guys whats up! Just decided to put some before and after pictures today and share a little bit of my college experience with you guys! I just want to say you guys have not gotten the full college experience until you move away from home it is a totally different monster that involves hunger pains and some home sickness (not to mention forgetting to do laundry). It is an experience that i recommend everyone to try! It also, believe it or not, helps with school! Thats what everyone living here is here for! It gives you the feeling of being totally independent and doing your own thing! There are some drawbacks like the whole food thing but you'll eventually get into your own little routine!  I have class Monday thru Thursday, i take a shuttle to school every day, its a quick 5 min ride to school.

   Thats where i wait for the shuttle, and in the distance you can see the school just a little bit so its not event that far. My earliest class is at 8am and the latest i get out is at 3:15pm so its not that bad. The apartment complex has a pool and a nice little 24 hour gym. Now onto my little pantry where i keep the majority of my food.

   That right there is my little humble pantry as of two days ago, i have been trying to keep clear of junk food now, so i ate all of it in one weekend hahaha. I do also have a mini-fridge in my room that has mostly drinks and yogurts!

   Food is definitely one of the things i miss the most. I was sitting in classical mythology the other day dreaming about green chicken enchiladas. It gets bad hahaha Cravings come and go but it isn't too bad after a while. Thats the biggest change i have noticed is having to restock on groceries. I was so used to waking up saturday mornings and having the fridge restocked and now i am the one that has to be aware of what is needed.

   The progression above is Day 0, Day 7, Day 14, and Day 58 i believe! So yeah the swelling is of course very hard to see now. I would say the surgery was a major success! The doctor says i still have some swelling that needs to go down and some parts that are still going to move just a little but all in all i am overjoyed with these results! So guys as always thanks for reading, this is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out.

Recovery Day 53

  Guys i decided to blog because i had an awful experience today! I decided to shave my whole face for the first time since surgery and holy crap! I couldn't feel certain parts of my face and it was so scary and surreal shaving it! I couldn't feel anything! It didn't even feel like i was shaving and i didn't know if i was putting too much pressure or if i was about to cut skin. It was a Bottom 5 Experiences of my life without a doubt. You have not become a man until you shave your face while it is numb. I wanted to cry, i didn't cry, but i sure wanted to. Good news is i did finish shaving without hitting the jugular. Here are the pictures!

   The main reason i shaved was because i wanted to see the scar lefts behind by the incisions on both sides of my jaw. The reason for those incisions was to take a little muscle out and put it in my lip. Im really happy with how everything turned out but i am not looking forward to shaving again! :( This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out!

Recovery Day 50

   Hey guys so i am little over the halfway mark and there haven't been any real changes since i last blogged. I finally got to see my doctor on Monday and he said things are going awesome and better than expected! I don't have to make an appointment until January so thats good news! Seems like everything is all coasting until everything is finally healed. They replaced all my broken brackets and now the rest of the job is left to my braces. I have to be back in El Paso in about a month to get them adjusted. Food wise i am eating a little of everything but i do avoid certain foods that piss me off because they take so long to chew hahaha! One of the biggest changes i would say is the image i have of myself. I never thought it would affect me this much. I am not myself yet, what i mean is that i am not the same Juan from few months ago. I feel more quiet and a little more laid back. I feel very insecure about my face even though my friends tell me i look good. Its weird having the same face for 20 years and then just having a totally different one overnight. I was always used to being the loud one in class and now i am the quiet one. I am not used to looking like this, my doctor said it will probably take a whole year for me to feel completely comfortable with myself. I know eventually i will be back to how i was before.

   On a brighter note i had a good day today, the only bad thing about going back home is that it feels like i mess up the rhythm i have over here. I do enjoy school, and it is becoming a lot more interesting. Today i had the chance to meet radio host Glenn Beck, i have never been too much into politics but it does intrigue me a little. I am pretty sure if i looked into it enough my interest would grow and i could handle myself in a conversation. My friends David and Celeste are very much into politics to the point where they have decided as of now to become Political Science majors. So i will definitely be trying to inform myself  a little more over the next few months.

   This weekend while i was back home i went with my mom to visit one of her customers who works at the hospital i was at. The conversation we had eventually led into the topic of bullying. Guys i have to say bullying is a major issue, i will admit i was selfish with bullying as in i only thought about myself when it happened. I do remember being bullied as a child and its not one of my favorite experiences. The reality is millions of kids are bullied each and every day. It is ridiculous, its all over the place! It is a HUGE issue and i think it is one that can be easily handled. If you guys ever run across someone who needs a friend or is in a tough situation not even necessarily bullying but just in a tough spot just give them a smile or try to befriend them. It bothers me a lot when someone is being bullied or being laughed it for a very immature reason. I have never stood up for anyone or said anything to stop the bullying and i don't know why i kept my mouth shut. I really do regret that. So remember guys just smile and you never know you might just make someones day! It is that easy! This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now!

Recovery Day 42

   Hey guys, i am almost to the halfway point of the 90 day recovery of my jaw. Things are starting to go back to normal. My diet is looking more and more like my old one. My teeth feel very strong and my jaw is getting more mobility every day that passes. I feel insecure about my face even though it looks normal. Doctor says i am not used to my face looking how its supposed to hahaha I am  still numb in my bottom lip and under my nose! I can fit around 2 and half fingers in my bite, just half a finger to go! I can sleep however i want now there is absolutely no pain, at all! Today i decided to post some pictures of my apartment!

   Thats my room its pretty basic but i have my own bathroom and my own mini fridge so life is good in here hahaha I have a big window next to my bed so i get tons of light in here! I spend the majority of my day in here unless theres a football game then i go to the living room!

   The only complaint i have on the living room is the leather couches are so uncomfortable but hey better than nothing! Everything is pretty boring in here for now but we definitely have to decorate since we will be staying here at least a year! 

   This is the kitchen, i didn't start using it until this week! Its been all ramen and frozen pizzas. Oh and the awesome thing they call hamburger helper! Hopefully when i come back from El Paso next week i can buy better groceries and start cooking more!

   This is a random picture i took of the library, so yeah this is the library hahaha When you walk in it looks more like a food court. They have wings, subway, chick-fil-a, sushi, smoothies and a pizza place in there! I was pretty bored yesterday so i made a sequence of pictures through the whole recovery process and i think it came out pretty cool!

      Im FINALLY looking a little normal hahaha Im very happy with the results so far so i am just looking forward to the next few months and getting on with my life! Its all been worth it, definitely worth it! As always guys good luck to anyone who is going through this and thank you to everyone who reads this blog :) Ill try to post after my doctors appointment! This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now!

  

Recovery Day 34

   Hey guys sorry for not blogging in so long! The first week of school was pretty good! My classes are good and i really like all of my teachers! I also only spent $150 on all my textbooks which is a huge win! The bus ride to campus is really short so i don't think i will ever have problems getting to school on time! Lately all i have been doing is watching college football and playing Madden! I am really looking forward to the NFL season though! Just a couple more days! Now my face is doing fine but i feel like my face has lost quite a bit of weight, the numbness is the only thing that is left that i can notice! I am pretty sure there is still some swelling but at this point i can't even notice it! Eating has been getting a lot better, its mostly just getting used to chewing with a whole new mouth! I am slowly starting to drink out of cups but i still prefer my straw! Also it takes me a while to eat a whole plate of food, I'm talking about 45 min for a breakfast of eggs and pancakes. The pain is non-existent, I have been pressing on certain parts of my face and no pain whatsoever! I am doing more jaw exercises to help me have a bigger bite!

     Now onto the very depressing news that i came to realize this morning and has had me devastated for hours on end to the point of assuming the fetal position and crying like a 5 year old school girl. I have lost a TON of weight, and I am talking on my face and everywhere and all of my mass is gone. All of my hard earned muscle and strength is gone. My friends have started calling me skinny Juan and my life  is officially over. .....Just kidding guys but i did lose most of my mass which means i will have to rebuild my body again...which means more before and after pictures...yaaaaaay! I would like to thank my very good friend Jose Guillen for these pictures.

   So there you guys, i am seeing collar bones and its all down the drain. Oh well i'll just start over again hahahaha As always guys thank you for reading and to anyone who is thinking about getting this procedure done, don't even think about it just do it! It'll be worth it! This is Juan "The Skinny Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now.