I'm Back!

Hi all, sorry for the absence..

Well it has certainly been a busy month for V! Finally got round to moving out of Mum & Dad's again (after like 4 years of being home) which is why I've had minimal access to the net.. All good now though. So just the small matter of cramming all my schoolwork like crazy before the exams.. they're still a way off but there is so much to do!

I had an ortho appointment week before last... Managed to get the bigger wire on the top without problems, hooray! So no changing of bands... My ortho said that the bottom wire was now the highest spec we would go and the top should probably be the same not next visit, but the one after. She's been pretty happy with how they're decompensating. So I say 'What's next?' and she tells me that when the thickest wire goes on she'll take some more casts and we'll have an assessment about where to go next. Was weird seeing my old cast and how much my teeth have moved! Before I leave she asks if I'll wait and she'll just double check with the prof whether he's happy with the progress. So he comes over and she explains to him where we're at.

'Take the casts today.' Was his response... then they have a bit of a discussion along the lines of:

'Well there's usually a lag time with the surgeons, so if you've only got a couple of months or so of treatment left it's better to take them today and then have the clinic when you're ready and then they can put in the splint (still don't know what that is!!) and then it's surgery.'

Now I don't want to get too over-excited but I'm sure that sounds more like it'll be in a few months rather than Christmas.. Still, I didn't want to press her for info after the prof. left, because although I am impatient to get it done, I don't want to force it early if my teeth aren't ready. If I've waited nearly 25 years to get it done a few more months won't hurt, right??

So I'm trying to focus on it being Christmas but I can't help getting a bit excited that it may be earlier. We'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

Have been having a bit of a down time with it all again over the last couple of weeks though. Just looks so awful and my confidence is so low that I can't wait to have the surgery, even if the braces have to stay on for ages after and it is the scariest thing ever. Am a bit worried that maybe I'm putting too much emphasis on the improvement I'm expecting. I really feel like I'm waiting for it all to happen so I can just start my life afresh - that's how much of a big deal it is to me and am worried it won't make an ounce of difference to how I feel in the long run. What have been my post-surgery buddies experience of long-term impact? It'd be interesting to hear.

I think we can all safely say I need to spend more time focusing on study and not thinking about it all too much!!