Stayin alive, stayin alive.
mouth stuff> So, I'm still alive here. The wires are off, and it's pretty much bands bands bands for me. It's a bit frustrating, because I still can't open my mouth wide enough to eat "properly" (it's getting better day by day), but at least I'm off of blended foods. My entire chin is still mostly numb, though, and the rubber bands mean that my jaw tingles pretty much 24 hours a day. Oh yeah, and I drool, and am oblivious to food around my mouth (because I can't feel any of it). The last stupid part is that they had to cut my upper archwire to surgically widen my palate, leaving a nasty gap in the wire that catches my upper lip unless I spread dental wax over it. The worst is over, and I'm happy to be able to bite down on things, but after two weeks of thinking about my mouth nearly every waking minute, my patience is wearing quite thin.
lisp and self-consciousness> One of the nasty side effects is that my lisp has returned. I had a pretty heavy lisp in elementary school, and after three years of speech therapy, I was able to kick it most of the time. It comes back every once in a while, and has been the biggest point I've been teased on across grade school. Anyway, since the position of my teeth changed so much, the lisp has come back; while I'm told it isn't that bad, it bothers me (mostly because of my history in it). Ari has told me that I sound stereotypically gay, which does little to help my self-confidence in working this out.
emo> Now for the emo part: Because of my condition, I haven't really had an awful lot to do. Fursuit work is out of the question, since I'm at home in Santa Rosa, and dancing happens only once a week on Friday nights. Most of my friends are out of town, or otherwise busy; in any case, my drooling and lisping state has left me reluctant to see them. I've been relying heavily on Ari for company and support (not to mention physical/social contact), which is putting more than a little strain on our relationship: I'm trying to hold up as best I can, and she's trying to support me as best she can, but I'm uncharacteristically needy and unhappy and it's bringing both of us down. [I love you Ari, and I hope we can make it through this.] I've been given the all-clear to work from home, but doing so is slow going, and doesn't help the cabin fever I've acquired since arriving two-and-a-half weeks ago. It also doesn't help that I'm so far away from the apartment I consider home.
Tomorrow is dancing, and Saturday is a return to Berkeley with Ari. Monday I can return to work, which is actually a good social outlet, and helps the time pass by.
Wish me luck.
lisp and self-consciousness> One of the nasty side effects is that my lisp has returned. I had a pretty heavy lisp in elementary school, and after three years of speech therapy, I was able to kick it most of the time. It comes back every once in a while, and has been the biggest point I've been teased on across grade school. Anyway, since the position of my teeth changed so much, the lisp has come back; while I'm told it isn't that bad, it bothers me (mostly because of my history in it). Ari has told me that I sound stereotypically gay, which does little to help my self-confidence in working this out.
emo> Now for the emo part: Because of my condition, I haven't really had an awful lot to do. Fursuit work is out of the question, since I'm at home in Santa Rosa, and dancing happens only once a week on Friday nights. Most of my friends are out of town, or otherwise busy; in any case, my drooling and lisping state has left me reluctant to see them. I've been relying heavily on Ari for company and support (not to mention physical/social contact), which is putting more than a little strain on our relationship: I'm trying to hold up as best I can, and she's trying to support me as best she can, but I'm uncharacteristically needy and unhappy and it's bringing both of us down. [I love you Ari, and I hope we can make it through this.] I've been given the all-clear to work from home, but doing so is slow going, and doesn't help the cabin fever I've acquired since arriving two-and-a-half weeks ago. It also doesn't help that I'm so far away from the apartment I consider home.
Tomorrow is dancing, and Saturday is a return to Berkeley with Ari. Monday I can return to work, which is actually a good social outlet, and helps the time pass by.
Wish me luck.