long hiatus...but good news!!!

Hey all!  I've been gone for a long time.  But in that time, a lot has happened and I've done many things:

1. Quit my job (July 18th was my final day)

2. Moved to Atlanta, GA (sometime around August 14th or 16th or thereabouts...drove all Thursday w/ parents and two cars full of my stuff, found an apt on Friday, signed the lease and moved in on Sat.)

3. Started law school

4. been back to Chicago for a follow-up w/ my OS and a adjustment w/ my OD

And, the good news is...no, not the law school part, although it should be great news...I LOOSE MY BRACES FOR GOOD ON OCTOBER 18th!!!!!  I set up a 9:30 am appointment w/ Dr. Kusnoto and he'll remove my braces and make me an Essix (sp?) retainer that same day so I can fly back to Atl w/ my new, clear retainer the next day.  :)  BIG SMILESSSSS!!!!  So I get to see him twice that day...once in the am, and then in the afternoon to pick up my retainer and get it fitted, etc.  Soooooo EXCITED!

And, my OS doesn't need to see me for 6 months this time!  It'll be March 2009 before I see him again...unless something happens and he'll hear from me.  And he said if the plate and screws in my lower left jaw keep on hurting and bothering me, he'll remove them.  I wonder if I should go for it...and ask for the upper left plate by my nose to be removed too.  I get slight puffiness about 3 times a week in the morning on my left cheek still.  I tend to think it's b/c of the plates that are by my nose b/c they were a cause of some concern earlier on...but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!  B/c now, I get to be happy about progress, and I mean P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S! (trying singing Arethea's classic hit and filling in progress for respect...doesn't work)

DEBRACIFICATION will finally happen to me too!!!

  And right on schedule too.  I had asked him when I'll be done at my first or second post-surgery meeting w/ him and he had said 4 months.  And October will be 4 months.  :)  Very happy that this time my teeth are on time.  I was very stressed out about my teeth being about 6 months behind schedule when getting ready for the surgery.  And really, the only reason why he couldn't take my braces off last Thursday was b/c there's a tiny gap btwn my two lower front teeth, and he filed down whatever was between them little ones, some gritty hardness/buildup or braces glue.  AND, he doubled up my power chain so that it'll be ready for sure...he also said that even if it's not ready, the retainer will finish the job, which made me hilariously happy.  Yeah, I think I was giddy at the thought then and I'm giddy at the thought of losing these metal tracks after 2 years and 6 months (and a couple weeks, once the come off)!

  The only things I'll miss are the hooks that I loop my rubber bands around.  I'll miss those bands that help me find my bite.  I still feel a bit lost w/out them and start to dribble when I'm not paying attention or get excited in conversation.  I also spit a little more than normal during speech when I lose them bands.  But once the braces come off, no more bands for me, b/c I won't be getting those screws drilled into my gums.  I think I'd much rather take braces w/ surgical hooks than the option of screws in my gums...yeah, if I had to redo this whole thing and they said I didn't need braces, I'll still opt for them, just for the surgery and the post-op banding.

  So I am going to be aggressive about my rubber bands.  I have 2 half-used bags and 2 new bags to go though in the next 6 weeks...and I'm not going to be stingy w/ them any more.  Dr. Kusnoto, my OD, gave me 2 new bags of bands to last me for the home stretch but in all honesty, I've been depriving myself of them since I moved to Atl b/c I didn't bring that other new bag down here w/ me and I was afraid of running out.  So no more.  My teeth/jaws will get full-strength bands twice a day!  I'm scared of my jaws not knowing my new bite w/out them strong bands to help guide them shut.  But can't have naked teeth and rubber bands too, so I'm gonna suck it up and be big girl...at least I can be a big girl about losing my rubber band guides, even if I'm a whimpering kiddy at law school.

I'm so happy I can't wait!  I'm so excited that I can't write my Rule Explanation part of my closed memo, due at 9 am, sharp, tomorrow morning.  I have about 12 hours to get that written and do the dreaded Contracts reading for class....ugh...I hate being a 1L.

I'd rather go through orthognatice surgery again...I didn't even have to get up to pee in the ICU!  And that morphine pump delivered small packages of bliss amidst my delirium...and no one cared that I looked like an angry sea monster who got stung in both cheeks and lips by the world's most poisonous wasps.  I got pity and care instead...

...so yeah.  Law school's where I've descended to.  In one year, I'll be a 2L and I'll be happier, or maybe I'll have started an MBA program by then, or maybe I'll be learning aboriginal fly fishing in the straight of Gibraltar.  Who knows?  Life is full of surprises.

Oh, and boys still suck butt.  Not literally...well, maybe literally for some boys but that's an icky thought, esp. sitting in a carrel in law school library.  So back to my legal writing assignment.  I'd love to hear what you all are going through now, and how much progress you've been seeing, etc!

Ciao!

btw, I'm at 22.5 weeks and regaining some sensitivity in my upper teeth...right side is coming along better than the left.  Left half of the roof of my mouth still has little to no feeling and the left upper teeth are still like little lost boys of never-never land.  And surprisingly, the lower left quadrant of my jaw/left chin and lip are still not fully back.  I'm thinking that my other nerves are just learning to compensate for the possibly, maybe semi-permanent nerve damage.  I also tend to touch my upper front teeth w/ the tip of my tongue alot...w/out knowing why.  I really should stop procrastinating....:)