Day 113 - Where has the time gone?

Wow, where do I begin?

These last few months have gone so fast - I mean it's almost Christmas!

I'm a bad Blogger - I haven't blogged since 19th September!

I've been busy, living away from home in my new shared house (yay), studying Forensics; looking at lots of dead bodies, and of course, going out and having lots of photos taken- from ANY angle ;)

Halloween! I carved my first pumpkin all by myself (my mom usually scoops out the seeds!)

It's Jack Skellington 

I'm still so happy - and generally content with my jaw, I don't shy away any more!

But first, here's my new room!! It pretty much looks like my old room now that I've moved all my paintings and posters in to it!

I love this house, it's so nice :) It's an old house which had been modified inside and we're the first people to live in it since so it's all nice and fresh. Floor space! I've been craving it since I moved out in 2010 for uni but came back to find my brother had taken my room leaving me with the box room. 

New Additions! 

Tom and I got some mice :) They're currently residing on my bedroom floor as I don't have a table to put them on, but they're cute to watch. we named them Bubblegum and Rainicorn - from Cartoon Network's Adventure Time :)

JAW STUFF

-I'm still pretty distressed at times with the sensation I get in my chin and gums, they're still really numb...but not numb enough to ignore. I get lots of itching, not tingling, the tingling was easy to deal with, but this can sometimes be unbearable.

-My chin is maybe over-sensitive? For example, I get spots, and if they were on my chin and I used a face scrub or even if I tried to 'pick' one, the pain is excruciating  Sometimes just scratching my chin in a 'normal' way can bring me to tears and I'm not sure if I should tell my doctor this?

-my gums are still numb, but brushing my teeth causes a lot of pain/sensitivity. I use appropriate toothpaste, but the discomfort is still there. It means I'm unable to brush my teeth for as long as I should.

-My jaw clicking/locking only happens very very rarely now, not when i eat, or talk and not even when I yawn. I find it happens when I'm stressed or tired, but even then it's a tiny click compared to what I experienced for years, so I'll take it.

-Retainers, they're fine - gives you the most awful taste/breath in the morning! But if it keeps all this lovely dental work in place then  it's worth it.

*Retainer tip!

Although the ortho told me I can use soap to wash my retainers, I couldn't bare the thought of soap in my mouth, so I've only used luke-warm water and my toothbrush to clean them and so far mine still look clear without using any products like 'retainer brite' as of yet.

All in all I'm enjoying everything more now. I probably still think about surgery everyday, probably because I can still feel the bumps of the metal fixes on my jaw when I'm holding my head up on my desk during 9am lectures! 

So, I'll try and be a better Blogger, I've still been looking at all your posts and watching your progress - Natasha! So happy you've finally had your surgery! I hope it's given you what you wanted.

I'll be sure to abuse you with photos again soon!

x

No news was good news/ 2 years with braces

Many people dislike Mondays, but for me, the last couple of weeks, I've wished the weekend to be over so that Monday will come and I can call the hospital to find out if I have a date to meet my surgeon. I call so often we're on first name terms now.

Well for 2.5 seconds, today felt like my big break.

The Receptionist told me 'oh, yes actually you do have an appointment!'
'Oh thats brilliant, when is it?'
'May 2nd'
'.......'

May 2nd. Just to meet with the guy, then god knows when my surgery will be. I actually cried a little once I hung up.

So I called my surgeon's secretary and begged her to find out why this is taking so long - I don't understand how last year they were certain it would be January, then this year they've assured me it would be March.. and now possibly not even May?

Today also marks the 2 years since I've had braces, and if the date for my appointment is anything to go by, I've got another good 5 months with these attached to my face. If you're a blogger who reads my rants regularly, you'll know that a common complaint of mine is people mistaking my age due to my braces. But it's not all bad - as yesterday, bowling with my family, I passed as a 15 year old and got a child's ticket! knocked 6 years off me!

All in all, not a good start to the week. The secretary said she will gather my case file and speak with my surgeon and get back to me within a few days. I'm praying for good news.

Also, May is exam time - just my luck to have my face broken then.

Hope your weeks start off better, have a good day, bloggers!

What would I do without you guys? :)

 [Corrinne & Cassie, Thank you both for your words, you've snapped me out of my selfish mind set that day!] 

Hey! sorry for the late reply (but not really cause I had the best night ever, but that's for another time ;p)

As you know by my recent rant that I'm not happy with the speed in which things are going at the moment and feel I'm being strung along!

I called up and explained to them what the problem is and why I'm concerned. They then got the locum doctor to call me back, and he said he's happy to NOT see me (you and me both, pal) but I insisted that the gap I had before was less than this when they told me it had postponed my surgery! so I'm scheduled another SOS brace appointment for next Thursday at 9.10am.

Apparently I'm still on the waiting list for the joint clinic to see my surgeon, and they don't have an answer for how long this could take. But in the mean time, I'm just gonna keep holding on to all of your kind words of encouragement and just know that I'm not alone!!!

I seriously don't know where I'd be without this blog, without you guys, and I know we're all doing this for our own reasons, but we're all going through pretty much the same crap each day in the hope to achieve this. When I look on the bright side, yes, these past 2 years have gone quickly in some respect, but there's still a damn long road ahead.

Be well! 

I Feel in Control Again :)

Hey guys, My emergency appointment went well, I got stuck with mean big-handed locum ortho again, who fitted me with my 'best friend' - the plastic power chain >.< But if it closes this reoccurring gap then I'm all for it. 

He said I shouldn't worry about the receding tooth at the moment, and that if it got any worse, they would have noticed.

I felt a little insulted, as he told me I had some slight tartar build up in the gap I talked about. I'm just a little sensitive about it as I pride myself in taking care of my teeth, but my mom made the good point of that since I've had my braces, (almost 2 years) I haven't been to the normal dentist for a clean, so I must have done something good so far!

So now I have to book in with my dentist for a clean and polish or whatever they do - trouble is I haven't renewed my HC1 form, which as a student, entitles me to free dental care and prescriptions, so until this gets sorted I'd have to pay which I'm not gonna do lol.

Now, I'm off to have a bath, good night, Brace-faces :) x

Receding Gums?????

Okay, I'm freaking out.

I noticed this whilst I was checking my teeth on the train after eating some candy - and I noticed this dark 'ring/outline' around the bottom edge of one of my teeth.

I thought ugh maybe I'd not brushed properly there somehow but when I scratched with my nail it didn't move. It's like a stain.

I showed my mom and she thinks my gum has receded!

I'm terrified and don't know how to prevent/stop this or even why its happening. I have an appointment on Friday to fix this gap I mentioned the other day, and I'm definitely going to talk about this. 

I'm so worried. I look after my teeth crazy well - why is this happening now?

It's hard to see, which is why I've blown this lovely image up so large. It's literally a dark outline on my bottom canine. 

If you click on the photo and zoom (its not pretty, I know) you can see what I'm talking about

Has anyone else experienced receding gums? what happened? why did it happen? and did it stop???

arghh I need to calm down and sleep. Good night Bloggers! x