Never assume that you’ll get your stitches removed on suture-removal day. One never knows.

I thought I was going to have pics of my new Frankenstein gums today after getting my stitches removed, but alas, the stitches are still there. The doctor said that we need to leave them in for one more week.

Luckily, I took a selfie this morning before leaving the house, so you can see the eagerness on my face. Bright daylight! Exciting day!

Before the appointment:

Feeling human

After the appointment:

Feeling ghoulish, and not in a good way

I took this one a couple of hours ago in the low-lit kitchen, the room darkened under late-afternoon rain clouds and me in one of my favorite tees (courtesy of Reviewbrah at TheReportOfTheWeek).

It’s a total coincidence that I’m wearing this t-shirt at home today, I’ll have you know. I admit to wearing the same at-home outfit for as many days as cleanliness allows so as to minimize laundry. This also makes getting dressed a no-brainer: I just grab whatever’s hanging on the rack in the bathroom. This is the tee I put on yesterday, so this is the one I grabbed when I got home from my appointment. It’s a coincidence, but yeah, it fits in more ways than one.

At any rate, I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m no longer on methotrexate, and I went off of my hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) specifically for this surgery, because that medication supposedly does its thing by way of messing with the immune system in autoimmune patients (I have an over-active immune system, aka autoimmunity)… but maybe the Plaquenil hangs around in the system for some length of time. I don’t know. Inexplicable shit happens with autoimmunity, which is one reason why we put off this surgery for so long.

The doctor had initially cautioned that autoimmunity could complicate the healing process, so here we are.

No doubt this can and does happen to people with non-berzerko immune systems, too, though, right? Healing-times vary from person to person; some people may take longer to heal for no reason at all.

More soup for me, then! Good thing I love it! I’m going to find some new recipes and discover some insanely delicious soups I never would have found were it not for this surgery. Maybe I’ll report back on my yumtastic findings so you guys can enjoy them, too.