Week Seventy-Seven and an Apology

I'm sorry I haven't been around. Last November I quit my job (YAY!) Then went on an extended vacation. I returned home at Christmas and JUST as things would have returned to "normal", my mother was rushed to the hospital, had major surgery and passed away 21 days later.

Once the funeral was over, the "clean up" began. My mother, frankly, was a hoarder. It took several months of work, four dumpsters and 2 trucks of furniture going to the auction house until we could get the repair work done and list it for sale.

I'm also moving.

This spring mom was going to go with me and my husband on vacation for a few weeks. We knew her condition was getting worse so we had hoped she would have been able to go with us one last time. It was not to be...but since we had the plans, we went. While we were gone, my husband and I did some house hunting and decided that there was no better time for a fresh start.

So on top of selling my mother's house, we are selling our house, our condo and building a new house! Whew! Crazy times!

I feel bad that I haven't posted at all but as you can see, there's been a LOT on my plate.

My teeth are almost finished moving. All the roots are in place and my ortho has assured me that they will be off before the end of the year, our projected move date. Once they are off, I will only need to check in with him every six months or so, which would work out as we have some other reasons to visit.

In the last few months I have had random strangers come up to me and tell me that my teeth are beautiful. EVEN with the braces! Both my ortho and my dentist have also said I am in the top 5% as far as good braces care/cleanliness as well.

I think there are 3 things that I am so very grateful for:

1. I can actually bite through things! With my open bite, I never was able to bite through a sandwich so with every bite, the meat in the center was always whole. Now, I bite all the way through. With my molars being aligned, I'm "processing" my food completely, something else I never did before. I did notice that I have had fewer stomach problems since they have been aligned. I used to get heartburn quite often. I don't any longer and I attribute it to the proper chewing I am finally able to do.

2. With my teeth being in alignment, my jaw (with it's TMJ issues) no longer, or very, very rarely pops out. It used to pop out of placement once a week, may be two. Every time it did, I was in excruciating pain and would not be able to chew let alone eat for several days. Now if anything, it may just "crack" like you crack your knuckles. Not often and not painful at all.

3. Most of all, I am grateful that the braces have done enough to correct my jaw alignment that I will NOT have to have surgery! Originally, the braces were a "last ditch" effort to get things aligned so that I would not need surgery to correct my jaw alignment. The Oral Surgeon I saw was "doubtful" that it would work, but thought it would be worth trying as I would need the braces after the surgery anyway. I had chosen the stainless steel braces because the oral surgeon told me that if the braces didn't work to correct my jaw, then I would need them to wire my jaw shut after the surgery, the clear acrylic ones would not be able to be used to wire my jaw shut. Thank GOD that I didn't need the surgery.

I guess I should also add a 4th thing I am grateful for: My Ortho and his staff. They are the nicest people. So patient, kind and they always seem able to find a way to see me if I'm having a problem. I'm actually going to miss them when this is all over.

I have my next appointment at the ortho next week, so I will be sure to post pictures...I'm so excited. I think I might have six more weeks as I still have one small gap on the bottom that needs closed...but it's almost over..