July 16 - The scab on my thigh peeled off. Yay! I think that particular wound site is now complete in its healing. It's such a perfect 3" x 2.5" rectangle! I told Patilda I was going to let it rest for a couple of years and then see if I can get a quote tattooed inside of it or something. Seems a shame to let such a perfectly symmetrical blemish go unadorned!

Yesterday I maneuvered my 'tongue' around a bit and managed to close my teeth together for the first time in 2 weeks. This is seriously exciting because you have to think eating can't be too far off now, right?? I was told it would take 3 weeks for a majority of the swelling to go down so I currently have my sights set on eating some real food next Monday. Of course, the doc also said it would only take 2-3 days for the trach hole to close when in reality it took a full 7 days. Based on that, I probably shouldn't be getting my hopes too high. <sigh>

Meanwhile I'm dreaming of food. Last night it was bacon and it was so, so good! Normally when I stop smoking, I dream of smoking every night. It has been 4 weeks since I stopped smoking and I haven't had any dreams. I think it's safe to say I am much more passionate about food than I ever was about nicotine!

Both doctor appointments land on Wednesday this week. The only question I can think to ask is a question that a number of people have asked me....is there any physical therapy involved in this? My thought is no. I haven't lost any functionality in my left arm so there's nothing there to rehabilitate. I'm wondering about my neck though. I currently have very limited turning ability due to the stiffness in the incisions. Does that go away on its own or should I be working on some stretching exercises?

That's all I have for now. Today is a shower day which is SUCH a fun project. Then I'm going to start to read Fifty Shades of Grey since it's all I've been hearing about for the past few months............