Today I go to 2 doctors who will cause me pain…for the greater good. First, due to my extreme unpleasant experience as of late with foods in the tree nut family, I get to lie face down on an allergist’s table and turn into his own personal voodoo doll. Joy! From there I journey a tad further south to the lovely Dr. Quo who will, I’ve been told, put my FINAL wires on my braces. I’m not sure what that means. Maybe they are excited because they never have to replace my wire again. In any case, my back back teeth are still on guarded and unfriendly terms, so if these wires are to be my last, I’m sure to have enjoyed my last meal for a while. And what was that meal? Eggo Waffles. It’s part of my waffle diet.
Speaking of diets. I have lost 5 pounds. Awesome. I fit into a couple things that scoffed at my approach before. I had really only lost about 2, but then I had the great misfortune of encountering a sticky flu bug. That was a pleasant week (NOT). But the end result was my scale reading 155 and has been ever since, so that was the sick diet.
Speaking of allergies, (okay not a good segue, but it was a topic only moments ago) Court and I are going on a little road trip tomorrow down to San Juan Capistrano (aka almost San Diego). After much pensive deliberation, we have decided to adopt a kitten. Did I say pensive deliberation? Well I’m sure some of that happened when we weren’t looking, but really it had a lot to do with Rira…the neediest whiniest cat in the world. We thought she hated Mommy. Well, not hate, but she obviously gave Mommy whatever Mommy wanted (including the bed), and I thought that when Mommy went to kitty heaven (where I’ve been told she has a personal angel devoted to kitty ear massages) that Rira would eventually claim nighttime bed privileges and that would be that. Not so. With the reclaiming of the bed came the constant running narration (in the form of LOUD – remember she’s deaf-MREOWing) of what she is doing at ALL times. Cat’s being nocturnal, those ALL times don’t mesh well with our sleep schedules. So even though Rira hates other cats, and will have a doozy of a time accepting a new one into our home, we are adopting a kitten for her (and us). The little girl kitty is the same breed as Rira (Himalayan) but with flame (orange) points instead of seal (dark brown) like Rira (you know, so we can tell them apart – heh). The allergy part of this story is that Court is actually allergic to cats, except for Rira and Mommy, so we’re gambling a little and hoping that the same breed as Rira (Mommy was a lovely tortie stray) with long hair like Rira and Mommy and being a girl like Rira and Mommy will maybe hopefully be the formula for allergy-free Court. Here’s to hoping!
Re: The oft mentioned Dr. Li, I have an appointment to see him next Thursday and I’ll be sure to let you know what kind of a stern lecture and disappointed looks I will receive, having not even called a physical therapist, let alone visited one to get my jaw working properly. Why the procrastination? Well, it can’t be my busy hectic schedule, since my motto is “the more the merrier” when it comes to errands. So I guess it’s plain old fashioned fear and my inability (read: unwillingness) to look forward to (in the form of scheduling and showing up for appointments) what will surely be long sessions of pain. I know, in the end I’ll be able to yawn without a squeak of pain when my jaw reaches it limits, and maybe I’d be able to eat a piece of fruit without first having to cut it into little pieces. I did eat a banana yesterday, but it was not very attractive, and I couldn’t QUITE get my teeth out of the way during insertion, so there was a lot of banana on my braces. Hooray for portable tooth brushes!
Hasta le pasta.
Hey Shelby,
I’m having that allergy pin cushion thing done too! Next Wednesday I get to spend 2-3 glorious, fun filled, hours at the allergist office trying to identify my allergies. My problem is certain fruits, hazelnuts, and sometimes eggs if they aren’t cooked bone dry, as well as some seasonal allergies, and dog and cat allergies.
Anyway….congrats on the 5lb loss. It is a good start, no matter how it came off. I’ve been really exercising and watching what I eat lately (I do weight watchers and count points) and have lost a total of 18lbs since surgery. My goal is to lose another 20 more by next March.
Sorry to hear your range of motion is not really improving. Mine seems to be coming back on its own. I can open now to about 37mm and yawning is really not an issue, and I have not been doing anything to make it happen. I can understand your apprehension about getting physical therapy though. Just thinking about that makes me cringe. I vizualize some kind of medieval torture where your laying down and someone is forcing your mouth to open, while you wince in pain. Uhhh…not my idea of fun for sure!
Do keep us posted regarding your appointment with Dr. Li next week though. Good Luck!
Brandy
Brandy, I looked at your pictures on your site and you cannot lose an additional 20 pounds. You look fab. I can understand wanting to slim (my friend Nathalie told me the term for stuff coming over the waistband of your pants is called a muffin top) but 20 more pounds? No way. This is both a compliment and concern. Your new face will not look good on anorexic looking bones!!!
btw, 37 mm? SO JEALOUS. The space between my teeth when I open up is 1 inch.
LOL..Thanks for the compliments and your concern Shelby, trust me it will be ok. I’m one of those people that actually carries my weight well, and I weigh more then I look, I’m very solid. I want to get back to where I was when I got married 7 years ago. Which is about 155- 158. I was a size 8 then, and feel better at that weight.
I will of couse stop before then if I feel like I’m getting to thin, I definetely don’t want to be anorexic looking. I like having curves!
Wow I can’t believe you can only open 1 inch, that would be rough! You know something I did was use heated rice socks on my jaw muscles at night. Then I would just open and close my mouth a few times to stretch out my jaw muscles. I never forced it or anything but just regularly stretched it out. Maybe you should try that on your own instead of having someone else torture you! You can make the heat packs by just finding a pair of soft socks, filling them with about a cup of rice and tieing them off. Be sure there is a bit of space so that the rice can move and conform to your cheeks. Then just zap them in the microwave for a minute to a minute and a half. The first few times you zap them they will be a bit moist and the rice will feel a bit sticky, but after about 4 -5 time the rice will dry out and will mold to the shape of your cheeks really well. I still use them regularly as I just think they feel good on my sore jaws sometimes.
Give it a try!
Brandy
Hi Shelby.
That is great that youve lost five pounds. Losing weight usually has benefits for sleep apnea. I believe that if you are diciplined and keep up at the pace that you are going at, you will find that more and more will come off, and sleep quality will likely improve substantially.