Journal entry by Ashleigh Vander Meulen —
Man, is it hard to find time to update people when you are a full time stay at home momma to a very active (almost) 5 month old. Tomorrow at 8 am I finally get jaw surgery for the TMJ I have on both sides of my mouth. We have been waiting for this day for over a year & I can’t believe it’s finally happening. With that, I could use a lot of prayer as I go into this. I have already been reminded of past trauma with scheduling this surgery. I’ll have to be on lots of medication, and a soft food diet for a while. I will have similar pain & exhaustion, so my mental health has been all over the place as of late. This will be my 6th surgery that I have had in the past 2 years (plus birth) and my body is tired with tons of scars. After surgery, I will start months of PT for my jaw and I will have to wear a jaw splint every night. Hopefully soon I will be eating anything and everything I want and not have to worry about my jaw being able to open far enough. I am currently at a 23 millimeter opening and a normal opening is around 45 (just to put things in perspective). Prayers are much appreciated as always! The biggest praise right now is that this is happening!! love you all so much!
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