My first apple

Today, after coming home from class, I ate my first apple!!

It's not like it sounds.. YES, I have had an apple before. Apples are such a common fruit I would be in disbelief if someone told me they had grown up in the US and never tried an apple. Today however, was my first apple since having jaw surgery!

It's amazing how we take the simple things in life, like eating, for granted. Last May I had lower jaw surgery and after, spent six weeks on a liquid-only diet. It wasn't a struggle trying to stay away from food like someone might experience when dieting; there was just no way I could have managed to chew something if I had tried.

Immediately following the surgery, I was almost unrecognizable. Between the swelling and bruising it took me a few weeks to become comfortable enough to leave the house and go back to work. To make matters worse, the feeling in my lower lip, cheeks and chin was missing. Sometimes, I was told, nerves are damaged and the feeling never does come back but in most cases it takes anywhere from two weeks to one year to return. In the mean time I focused on digesting enough liquids in order to not pass out each day and flipped through a recipe book of suggested "meals to blend" that I would never end up trying. To me, certain foods should be separate and whole. Blended pizza, chicken salad, pasta and even MEATLOAF did not sound like any considerable options.

Following the six weeks of my liquid-only diet, I graduated to a soft-food diet. Eating was never the same. I couldn't open my mouth as wide and chewing was awkward and sometimes painful. My insecurities were at an all time high. Not only was eating almost impossible but eating in public was out of the question.

Very, very gradually things got easier.

The beginning of December I ate my first sandwich. The estimate was 6-8 months until I would be able to bite into a sandwich and it was right around that time when I finally did. I will admit, I went to Subway three times that week! About three weeks ago I experimented with eating carrots and celery which went surprisingly well!

That brings me to today. I ate my first apple. Granted, I still have to be a little more careful when biting and chewing but being able to eat an apple makes me feel normal once again.

In addition, the feeling is about 90% back now and last night I was able to FEEL my first kiss since May.