nekked teef

yes, I've got them, as of Saturday, October 18, 2008.  That day will forever be branded in my brain...along w/ April 3, 2008, they day of my orthognatic surgery, and April 10, 2006, my first day at my first real job, and May 15, 2005, my graduation from Duke, ...August 25, 2008? my first day of law school?  maybe not.  I did want to quit everything and curl up into a fetal position and ask to be admitted to a hospital or a group home.But, as per usual, I digress...I should post the pictures of my buttery sheens right now.

The Close-up:

        And another w/ the essix retainers...

The debracification wasn't so bad.  The brackets popped off fairly easily and I didn't notice the first half of the lower coming off b/c I anticipated more pain.  But when the rings around the back molars came off, there was a slight stench...it's been 2 and a half years, my friends!!!

The part that was painful was the grinding away of the glue...my front teeth are sensitive and

 the assistant had to hold my tongue back b/c apparently it was getting in the way and my dentist was afraid of cutting it.  I still spat out blood and grit when they told me to brush....it was scary brushing w/out braces for the first time in over 2.5 yrs.

My teeth and gums hurt still when I brush them...it's been 3 days now.  Oh well...I'll learn, right?

I want to use some whitening strips, but my fr

ont teeth, especially the lower ones, are very sensitive right now.  Will it be bad?

Oh, and my panoramic and profile x-rays looked really good on the screen.  My chin's gotten longer, even w/out the genio.  They didn't print anything for me this time.  I wanna get a hold of my chart from my OS or my OD...I think they share the electronic records.

W/out my braces, my teeth look longer and the overall effect is an elongated lower face.  The surgery did a good bit, but w/ the braces, my lower face still looked a little on the small side (no complaints b/c it's 200% better than before!) but I was wondering if I should've had the genio.  In April was glad they didn't go for the genio b/c it would've been more bruises, more pain and more swelling.  But until this weekend, I started wondering if it would've been better.  Now, I'm 100% sure a genio would have bordered on over-kill.  My naked teeth makes my smile/mouth look longer, and adds to 

the longer jaw to make my face look kinda longish.  I have a very round face, or did, but it's now more oval, I think.  

...to be honest, I actually was motivated to post b/c I just had oatmeal, w/ gooey, melted cottage cheese and a small dash of blueberry kefir.  Soooo delicious!!!

So it was 1 packet of organic mixed berry oatmeal (from Costco) moistened w/ just enough milk to 

moisten all the oats, microwaved for 1 minute.  Then boiling water is added until it's softer, stirred and nuked for another minute.  Then a little more boiling water is added to a soft consistency and nuked again for a minute, in 20 second spurts...the top will be a little glossy-looking.  Then, about 3 Tbs of cottage cheese is thrown on top and stirred in...it gets all gooey like melted cheese!!!

I topped it w/ maybe a couple tablespoons of low fat blueberry kefir, and it was extra good, and cooled the mix down a bit for me to devour.  Yum!

What am I doing making oatmeal at 10:30 pm?  I'm on antibiotics again...I peed blood on Sunday night like the hour I got to my apt from the airport...and called student health.  The on-call doctor told me I needed to have my urine tested, either at the emergency room b/c it was like 9 pm or 1st thing in the morning at 8 am...I had an 8:30 am class and didn't feel like missing it (again, tho I had a legit reason this time).  So I went to the emergency room on Sunday night...the on-call doctor had to give me directions to it.  And was there pretty much all night...got home past 1 am.  I have a bladder infection...I've never had a  UTI before.  I'm on drugs that make me pee orange now, and the ER doctor prescribed some antibiotics called Nitrofurantoin-Macro.

But them bad boys didn't work so I had to go to student health again this afternoon.

Fortuitously, there were some med students who came to study in our library and one of them was in scrubs.  I had just gone to the bathroom and my lower back was killing me...so bad it took me a minute to stand up straight and walk out of the stall.  My back hurt last night as I was trying to sleep/read contracts, but I thought it was b/c I was carrying heavy things around.  The med students said that if I've developed kidney pain and a day and a half of antibiotics didn't make me feel better, then I need to go see a doctor again, soon.  They convinced me that I don't want to go to the ER again so I went to Student Health, called on my way and got an appt on an emergency basis, again.  

The nurse practicioner I saw today is sending my urine sample to get some lab work done.  Apparently the ER didn't really do that.  They noted that there was alot of white blood cells in my urine on Sunday, and the nurse today said she saw lots of bacteria in my urine today.  But then she said b/c my sample wasn't great today (I gave all I had, but it was only about half a cup of dark orange-brown stuff) if the lab thinks too much surface bacteria got in, they'll throw it out.  I'm now on Cipro and I'm going to have to see her again on Friday morning, and if things get worse, before Friday.  I hate this.  I hate going to the hospital/clinic...I hate seeing doctors, unless it's my OR or OD b/c I'm so used to them and their offices that it's not stressful at all.

In happier news:

I'm learning to use my front teeth...the upper ones don't work very well.

I'm scared I'm going to knock over my teeth when I brush...

My essix retainers (yes, I have both upper and lower) are squishy...and I'm supposed to wear them 24-7 for 3 months, then every night for the next 6 months or so...then every other night for the rest of my life.  And, I can't even drink warm water w/ them on b/c they'll melt, or anything other than cool water b/c it'll stain.  I'm not allowed to brush it.  So, I did what someone else said they were doing and bought some effervescent denture soak...but the water turns blue and I'm scared of having blue-tinted retainers.  :)  I think I talk funny w/ it on, but my friends say only some words are lispy.

AND, my grandmother moved to the States again!!!  We saw each other for the first time in like 6 yrs...it was sad having to say good bye again.  Her hand shakes now b/c she's had two brain surgeries in the past 10 yrs to drain abscess in her skull...then to replace the piping.  She also shrunk a little more.  

Here's my fav. grandmother and me, I tower over her and I'm only 5'2"...she's so funny; she said I grew taller since the last time I saw her...I told her how short and small I am compared to the rest of the world and she said it's been a source of pain all her life to be so short.  She understands me. :)

this time next week...

...I'll hopefully be in bed (most likely not) smiling in my new essix retainer with my slimy, naked teeth.  But I'll probably just be up trying to understand Contracts, possibly some UCC rule or frantically reading and trying to grasp the point of some long-winded case.  Or, trying to read legal methods, trying to make sure I have something substantive to say when I'm sitting in a class where the meaning has been lost on me.

but at least I won't be metal mouth anymore.  I'll miss my rubber bands.  I eat one every other day it seems.  I don't bother to take them out when I eat b/c I eat too often, and usually it's grosser to take them out, and I have no where to store them while I'm eating.

My jaws hurt more these days.  I think probably stress.  My skin is terrible.  It looks like I've been stung by every harmful bug on this planet and I've been left with welts and scars, and some sort of mini plough has run through my face and upturned the smoothness...all from lack of sleep and stress?  Maybe.  I also think maybe some of the chemicals from the surgery (now 6 months and 10 days since I went under) and all the extra doxycylcine hycate and morphine and ammoxcilin, tylenol w/ codene and other crap that was injected into me hasn't completely left my system.

I hope I won't need a splint after the rubber bands come off...I hope I don't ever grind my teeth anymore.  I hope I don't even clench, but I think I do.

I noticed today that I can stick my lower jaw out really far now...but I still bite down to the side instead of straight down.  Don't know what that is, but it's kinda annoying.

In good news, I started using my front teeth to bite into things.  It's still not perfect, and usually it hurts, but I'm trying it out on softer things.  I still can't eat stuff like nuts (unless it's slivered and on the icing of a cake so I can see that I'm eating it and anticipate it.  if it's inside the cake, then it gets dangerous).  I'm generally excited about loosing these brackets.  I still get sore, torn tongue sides and over-rubbed parts inside my mouth.  

Oh, a couple weeks ago, I test drove a Vespa...I have my eye on a yellow Vespa LX (I think that's the 50 cc one for which I won't need a motorcycle license in this state).  But I want to take classes before I purchase and if I'm going to take classes I might as well get the license and get the 150 cc size.  Those things are heavier than I thought and I'm so short that either I get custom seats or have to be on tippy-toes when not in motion and even then it can very well fall on me if I'm not careful.  I'm not strong enough or heavy enough to handle the weight.  But I really want a scooter.  I think I want that yellow Vespa badly, but it can't be my first.  It's too nice to ruin and I'm sure I'll drop it as a newbie.

  I also want to learn on a cheaper, smaller scooter...something like a Honda Metropolitan, which is also a 50 cc engine.  But that's still about 1.5 times my body weight (probably more) and although it's about 3 inches shorter than a Vespa, it may still be a bit heavy for me.  But then these are motorized vehicles and probably won't be any lighter.  I may start off w/ a no-name scooter that's small and light.

  A guy in my class told me where he got his and said I can probably find a small one to fit me.  We'll see.  I think maybe next semester, b/c I'm running out of funds already this semester and the weather's getting wetter and colder...which isn't really scaring me b/c winters are so mild here compared to Chicago.

In other news...law school is still whooping my butt pretty bad.  I have a 'practice exam' in torts this coming Thursday and I haven't gotten around to outlining for it.  And didn't even look at the practice question my professor passed out over a week ago.  And I still haven't visited my contracts prof and still fear nausea and possibly throwing up if I find my name up on the board to be called on in class that day.  My prof picks 2 ppl from the seating chart or roster per class and picks on those 2 throughout the entire class...and we're half way through the semester and I haven't been called on...I feel like throwing up just thinking about being called on in that class.  I was called on in every class but Contracts and Civ. Pro.

  I'm not too scared about being called on in Civ. Pro. b/c our prof is hilarious and super entertaining, and it seems like he harasses (in a good way) the guys more consistently than he does the ladies.  And, I read the horn book...and sometimes skim the case book and he talks about every point in the horn book, so I should be able to follow along...and every Friday, we get these clickers and he gives us multiple choice questions to "vote" on and go over the answers.  I'm getting better at it.  In the beginning I would get nervous and just choose a letter/number and send it w/out understanding the question or the answer choices, even though everything's anonymous.  But now I'm getting the concepts more and answering more of the questions correctly.

Oh, and the asian american law students association (hereafter, AALSA) finally got out the 1L outlines compilation and the only class I can use any of those outlines is in Civ. Pro.  Sad.  Not a single outline for my Torts, Contracts or Legal Methods classes.  My Contracts prof is new so it's natural that no one has had her, but my profs for Torts and Legal Methods are old timers here...I'm saddened.  I have to study that much harder now, and I'm a bad student.

and to procrastinate, I retook a dumb quiz on line on what kind of guy is the best fit for me...last time it was a tie btwn the gentleman and the geek.  this time, it's a sensitive guy...I don't know which really is the best fit for me.  I think I'm too eclectic for any stock answer to fit me perfectly.