I thought it would be fun, in the sense of “oh my gosh that’s a little horrifying,” to track the evolution of my face as I recover from my crash.

Before we get there, a quick update: I feel decent. Different areas hurt at different times, but with nothing worse than a lot of scrapes, I expect to be able to get back to normal activity fairly soon. Sleeping is difficult because I normally sleep with my face in a pillow. (Also, it’s smoky and hot; our house is about 85 degrees inside.)

I have yet to take my bike in to the shop for a thorough inspection. If Swift is damaged, she may be out of commission for a long time. I hope she’s no worse off than I am!

Wednesday

Crash day. Call it Day 0.

Thursday.

Day 1 post-crash. At dinner Benji sat on my good side and every time I turned to look at him, he shuddered and pointed for me to look away.

Also, we had a couple unavoidable appointments, and I had to wear a face mask over that mess. It was super unpleasant.

Friday

Day 2 post-crash. Feeling slightly less like death warmed over.

Saturday.

Day 3 post-crash. Definitely less swollen, but my jaw still doesn’t want to open and close without pain.

Also, here’s the remains of one of my favorite summer jerseys:

I can always get a different jersey, of course, but I just really loved the comfort of this one – it felt like wearing pajamas – and the style was right up my alley. Sadly, I can’t find an exact replacement. Oh well. I’m keeping this one for a bit, a vivid reminder of this experience.