Re: Pre-op pics posted

[Guest guest]

Hey Laen,

Your lower coilspring looks bigger and nastier than mine. How long

has it been in? Looks like you're almost ready to go!

Does that Q & H thingie give you a lisp? (and what does q & h mean

anyway?)

[Guest guest]

Hey ,

The coilspring it's being working to make space for my crowded lower

teeth since last december. At the begining it kept making my mouth

sooo sore, but I eventually got used to it.

Q-h stands for quad helix, that stands for..... ehhh, something :-)

It's used to expand my upper arch, I think. It made me talk funny

for a week or so, but I got over it.

I hope my ortho and my surgeon think the same as you do... however

my ortho tends to avoid telling me when I'll be ready, you should

see the expression in his face when I ask him, I'm sure he is really

good playing poker. ;-)

*Laen*

[Guest guest]

> Hi!

>

> I had already posted my pics at the 2nd site when this one had no

> space left, but as it has now plenty of space I decided moved them

> to this site and add a couple of pics more.

>

> In case you don't remember me (my fault, I don't post too often)

I'm

> 23 years old, have a Class III bite and I'm supposed to have a

> lefort (upper moved forward) and a genio to reduce my chin

somewhere

> around December.

>

> I also posted some pics showing my teeth and the progress my ortho

> is making.

>

> Hope you like them!

>

> *Laen*

Nice pics, Laen......good luck on the progress toward your surgery.

My son, Ben is 20 and is having upper forward, lower back, on July

23rd - just 2 weeks! We're anxious and excited. Ben's pictures are

on the Photo page, too....and we'll be posting some " after " pictures

in a couple months !!

~mia

[Guest guest]

Hi Laen,

You should set a date for surgery if you can. I pressured my ortho to

call my surgeon's office since I found out there was an 8-9 month

waiting list ... ortho wasn't happy and once said to a colleague in

front of me " wants this surgery " . I corrected that " No, I don't

want this surgery. I would love it if you tell me I don't need it. I

just don't want to be ready, and have to wait for the surgeon " .

Anyway, he later told me that he sometimes " needs a little push " .

Having a deadline got us going, and then I worked back from that.

Asked the question " In order to meet that August deadline, how

frequently should I be coming? " as in, I want to pre-book all of the

visits so I don't have to fight with the dragonlady receptionist in

his office. He said " every four weeks " . Dragonlady was NOT very

pleased when I called her the next week to prebook them all.

Anyway, that's how I got to where I am now, with a couple of

unplanned emergency ortho visits in between, which got me a few new

archwires and a springier coil. That damn coilspring took forever to

get used to (it sliced up the inside of my lip constantly), but now

that things have finally moved, it's calmed down.

My ortho also has pat answers for certain questions, but last visit I

was upfront with him and asked some tough questions. He was wonderful

about it, and took the time to answer every one.

That's it. Motoring along here to my August date...

> Hey ,

>

> The coilspring it's being working to make space for my crowded

lower

> teeth since last december. At the begining it kept making my mouth

> sooo sore, but I eventually got used to it.

>

> Q-h stands for quad helix, that stands for..... ehhh, something :-)

> It's used to expand my upper arch, I think. It made me talk funny

> for a week or so, but I got over it.

>

> I hope my ortho and my surgeon think the same as you do... however

> my ortho tends to avoid telling me when I'll be ready, you should

> see the expression in his face when I ask him, I'm sure he is

really

> good playing poker. ;-)

>

> *Laen*

[Guest guest]

Hi Laen,

I am late jumping into this conversation (just looked at your picss)

but, you look really great now-you're going to look awesome after

surgery.

B

[Guest guest]

*Blushes a deep shade of red*

Thanks a lot, ... by the way, let me remember.... who was that

girl everybody said (myself included) looked really good right now

and was going to be simply gorgeous post-op... Ohh, it was you! ;-)

*Laen*

[Guest guest]

hi there, Laen!

I gotta go find out what said that made you blush... But truly,

you have been sorta down before, in posts here and other spots, about

what is happening with your mouth and jaw.

I look, and I see big progress.... Or at least what I think is

progress. You look happier, healthier, more in skeletal balance --

your lower jaw lining up wayyy better with your upper. Don't you

really think so? If not, look again.

I see nothing changed in my jawline or my profile, even post op,

which does not mean I am not satisfied. But I think you have been

worried about your looks, and that you should find comfort and

consolation in the changes you have wrought. Hey -- not that I think

you were bad-looking to begin with!! But you had a big ol' jaw --

just like I had a non-existent chin. And now you're looking more like

things are lining up. I do believe some of my young-folk buds would

find you " a hunk! "

And a really nice, friendly, sweet person, to boot -- and that's

harder to find than a hunk, believe me! Cherish your beloved, and let

your beloved cherish you, if the two of you have found each other.

Can you give me a clue as to how to pronounce your name? I have

never heard it spoken, and am a bit mystified. Lay-en? Lon? Langh?

Mine is plain old Cam-mie (as in cam-shaft, plus eeeee! as in horror

show, which I was immediately post-op, but am no more, thank

goodness.)

C.

[Guest guest]

Hi Cammie!

You are right, I'm way more positive than a year ago when I started

my treatment. It's been sometimes a little hard, but nothing that a

bit of patience, optimism and advil couldn't solve.

Now that my teeth are beginning too look way more straight, I

finally graduated from college and got a job(just a practice job for

4 months, but in something I really like) and this job, with a bit

of luck, will end just before my surgery, everything starts to fall

into place.

It's much easier to be patient when you clearly see progress and

have a bit (just a bit) of knowledge of what is to come in the near

future ;-)

This group helped me a lot to relax and play along the " waiting

game " , without getting overly impatient. Especially some people

(hint! hint!)

I also found my beloved (or at least a beloved) during this year,

and that adds up to my optimism... it also adds up to it knowing at

least for her I'm a hunk, pre or post op! :-D

Let's see how to pronounce my name, that's a tough one... let me

start by reminding you I'm from Spain, so it would be really easy

for me to explain using Spanish " rules " of pronunciation, but in

English is a bit different. By the way, it's a made up name, a name

I used when playing as a kid, my real name is .

This is how both of them are pronounced:

Laen: LA - EN (the " a " as in " chat " and the " e " as in " members " )

: MA - NU - EL (the " u " as the double " o " in " bookmarks " ,

the " a " and the " e " as in laen)

The words at the sidebar have been really useful to explain this ;-)

Take care,

*Laen* Much more patient than before

[Guest guest]

You just have good news popping out from all your corners, don't you,

Laen? (now I hear a word in my head as I type. Maybe not exactly the

right sounds -- I didn't pick the best of times to ask for a

prounuciation lesson, after all, since my poor mouth barely knows how

to breathe in and out at this point, with all the gunk in there --

but at least a start.)

I'm guessing that's an unusual name where you are, in Spain. Cammie

is fairly unusual here -- less so that it once was -- and I've always

enjoyed having a name that was different.

You have always seemed to me a very patient fellow about all this.

Not that any of us has much alternative, but I can remember some of

your times of frustration, and I have admired the way you've been

able to get it under control and keep on keeping on.

I'd say a " practice job " is the best way to start out in the work

world. You get to dip your big toe in the working waters, but not

start out somewhere you're necessarily planning to be for the rest of

your life.

It does, help, I find, too, to have friends who'll listen and

understand. And of course seeing those pearly whites begin to line up

is encouraging... Well of course you're a hunk! True hunk-ism comes

from the soul -- not that there's anything wrong with the rest of you

that I've seen.... I'm delighted for your happiness with your lady,

though. That makes everything better. I believe that folks were made

to function in pairs, and are generally much happier that way, so

long as they find the right other half.

Thanks for the lesson!

best,

Cammie