Victory!!!

I went to see my surgeon again this morning and he felt that my palate is safe with the appliance I have in as long as it stays in contact with my back molars. Dr B thinks he may have contracted my jaw a bit immediately after surgery when he was placing appliances in there. The tightness of the tissue makes it want to contract. But I won't need another surgery so praise God! We had a great little chat where I expressed to him how life-changing it is to have this surgery. I'm really starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and although I'm still too swollen to see the final result and not recovered enough to chew, I feel brand new. He was surprisingly touched. I guess no one has ever told him that before. He mentioned that he understands that people see him as the mechanic of their smiles and I told him that I totally disagreed. At least in my case. I am so grateful for his abilities and skills, his kindness and his unwavering/complete dedication to the perfection of my jaw/face. I feel so indebted to him. I told him how self-concious it has made me all my life, even when I wasn't consciously thinking about it. To hear almost all your life that your smile and jaw are flawed and need surgery makes you feel broken. Like you're not normal. I've carried that with me for years. As I got older, it had less of an effect on me for sure, but I can't describe the load that I feel has been lifted. Not to mention the excitement about being able to eat correctly! Apparently, having an asymmetrical jaw has a profound psychological effect on people and the personality traits among those who have this are similar. Amazing.
He asked me to write a review on a website that others have mentioned him on. He said that I am very articulate and have a way with words that carries with it an authenticity and he felt that others who need this surgery would be encouraged by my experience. It's something that I can do for him so I definitely will. I was most excited to hear him say that I should only have braces on for no more than 8 months! Normally it's about 6 but with the need to pull my back teeth out a bit, it may take longer. That's still such amazing news! It's a goal to look forward to. So by the end of 2015, I should be turning a huge corner in this journey for a straight smile! Oh, he also mentioned that he spent a long time on my cheekbones during the surgery, making sure they were straight! First of all, crazy! Secondly, no wonder I am so swollen there! Haha! He said my face is thin so everything really had to be as straight as possible because it would show. In order to avoid having to do surgery on my chin as well, he had told me that my chin would be about 1-2 mm off but that the average person wouldn't notice. Who cares!? I'm totally fine with that. And I can't see it haha. My whole face was apparently asymmetrical and it was something I was born with.  It's an otherwise harmless, non-genetic issue. It affects people at random. My jaw bone on the right was too long and it just kept growing, especially during my developing years. Others have it much worse, so I'm thankful. After my visit I came home, had some pureed refried beans with cheese (yea I know lol) and then picked up my baby early. I took him to the park and we had a picnic, went for a short walk around the small waterfalls they have and then played a bit on the playground. The best part of it all though was just being able to have great conversation with him. Even with the rubber bands (yup still banded shut and still 24/7 but much looser bands) I can talk now and he was so excited that he said "you talking to me mama!?" Such a cutie.

I love trees and this one is awesome.

My tiny little bear 

I joined a website called bloggingforbooks.com and I'm super excited about it! They send you books (either digitally or print), you read it and then write a review on your blog. I love reading so I can't wait to get my first one. They even send cookbooks! Yay! I'll probably post about another book I've been reading once I'm done. It's pretty amazing. Have a great weekend!