Dental update

So, the status of my dental work is as follows:

Done:

• Fillings left and right side
• Extracted all four wisdom teeth
• Follow up treatment on dry socket from lower left wisdom tooth
• Opened five teeth and cleaned out root canals
• Temporary fillings on open teeth (they taste horrible, by the way)

To do:

• Close root canals
• Crowns over teeth with root canals
• Fillings on front teeth
• Redo a filling that got blood in it

The status of my orthodontic work...

I've been diagnosed by the dentist as having a dislocated jaw joint and bad bite. Treatment is going to be three steps:

1. Tmj orthotic - Worn to position lower jaw properly. Treatment will take 1-2 years, after which the orthotic is kept in case of relapse, such as due to injury. I have had impressions of my teeth done for this.
2. Phase 1 treatment - A different retainer-like orthotic to correct my jaw bone, which the orthodontist says isn't formed properly. It should correctly "relate" the upper and lower jaw to each other, so that my teeth will be able to line up properly. This treatment also takes 1-2 years, but can be done concurrently with tmj treatment. I also had impressions done for this. I should receive both orthotics in December.
3. Phase 2 treatment - After my jaw joint and bone are sorted out, then I get braces. The orthodontist said he'll work around crowns- his okay was what we were waiting for to finish that work.
   

Man, fixing your teeth is a lot of work! Expensive too. Orthodontist says if new insurance from husband's new job covers more than current insurance (which I still haven't gotten cobra paperwork for), they'll credit us back the difference in co-pays.

So, fingers crossed. I have two dentist appointments this week.




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Dream last night

In the first part of my dream last night, I am at some sort of semi-formal event at a water park, apparently. I'm wearing a black ankle-length skirt, black high heels, and a tight fitting blouse. Some of the lifeguards are people I have worked with before. I want to go say hello to one of them, so I just walk up the slide, which is on, with water and children coming down, to go say hello. I don't typically walk up the slides when they're on, although some people do - you're not supposed to, nor are you supposed to wear shoes or anything that can pit the slide!

I notice that they had put down rubber-like cushions affixed to the slide with very large bolts for the lifeguards to sit on without sliding down. I think that it's a pretty clever idea.

Walking down a slide that's on is a pretty sure way to fall, so I just sit down in skirt and high heels and slide down the slide. Another lifeguard at the bottom chastises me for walking up. I wave her off and walk away.

Next thing I know, I'm mingling with party guests who are all around an Olympic-sized pool. The pool has lane lines in it going long course. Then I realize that kids are starting to get into the pool. I wander over to the edge to keep an eye on them, because it appears that no one else is.

Eventually there are so many people in the pool, that I go to climb up on one of the lifeguard towers to see them all. It turns out there's an elderly man sitting on the chair in the tower already, eating some food from a paper plate. He probably just wanted a seat, but how did he even climb up there? He asks me if it's okay for him to sit there, and I tell him that it's okay today, but if he comes any other time it would not be okay. Perhaps it's the pool's grand opening? I stand on the top step leading up to the tower and keep an eye on the swimmers. I'm still in high heels, how did I get up the tower???

Finally the lifeguards appear from out of a break room somewhere, and I step down from the tower.

Then I'm at my mom's house, although it's not her current house- it's the house we lived in until I was in the 4th grade, in San Gabriel. I walk in, and my dad and sister are there, along with some people I met on Geni.com, but have not met "in real life." (At least not recently enough for me to remember.) They're related on Mom's side, and apparently Dad and Irma don't have all that much to make small talk over. We sit around until Mom comes home and she reminisces with them.

Then we're all around the dinner table, and Mom and Irma are talking about changing the amount of rent that Mom charges to "Uncle Tony" or "Uncle Anthony." I don't have either, in real life. Apparently Uncle Tony used to do something to do with upholstery or flooring, but he lost his job and got another job paying less. He pays my mom $2,900 per month in rent, and they're talking about making it $1,800- which Irma says would be $900 per bedroom. The house is apparently in Santa Monica on Olympic Blvd.

Upon hearing them talk about it, I start having memories within my dream of living at that house. Apparently that's the first place I lived on my own, and I would take the Big Blue Bus to Union Station, and then the Metrolink to El Monte, and then- get this- a bus to Arroyo High School. In my dream, I hadn't remembered any of that until it got mentioned over dinner. I even thought that I've been lying on all my credit applications and so forth, skipping a past address!

While remembering all of this, I also had memories of being at Union Station, and seeing several people I went to high school with and don't keep in touch with now, including an ex-boyfriend and a friend I'd like to reconnect with. Apparently we all commuted to high school?

So yeah, next time I talk to Mom, I have to ask her about "Uncle Tony!"

Long day at the hospital

So this is what happened today.

1PM appointment: The audiologist was first. She asked questions, looked in my ears, checked my ear drum movement, looked in my ears again, asked some more questions, looked in the left one again, then checked my hearing. Apparently my left ear drum doesn't look right, but my hearing within the normal range in both ears. She says I might have a chronic ear infection. The argument for this theory is very logical, and fits my work history and symptoms over several years. Follow up by an ear-nose-throat person on October 1st to figure out what's wrong with my ear drum.

2PM appointment: Dad had his feet done by a registered nurse practitioner. He's not allowed to cut his own nails due to the risks associated with foot care and diabetes. They'll call in a month to schedule for the following month.

3PM appointment: My doctor ordered an ultrasound of my liver due to an abnormality in my lab work. The doctor emailed me less than an hour later and said that I need to watch my fat intake, based on the ultrasound.

3:30PM to 6:00PM lab work: I went in for a diabetes screening and hepatitis screening (another part of checking on my liver). Results from this are on the members website now. The fasting number is well within range, but the number after drinking their 75 grams of sugar is higher than the internet would like me to believe is "normal." Both my parents and one of two sisters are diabetic, so I can't say I'm shocked. More on this later, I'm sure.

The doctor also emailed me about the dental work. She'll give the go ahead on the good stuff if my blood pressure is good the next time a nurse checks it. Otherwise, she'll medicate me first.

Tomorrow, Dad and I go to a class about blood pressure management.



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Medical & Lifestyle Changes

I'm having a number of medical issues. Here's some current things I'm working on or that are coming up:

1. Gastroenternologist appointment went well. He had me start taking over the counter medication for IBS symptoms, and will be running a battery of tests to rule out things that are not IBS.
2. Husband's dental checkup went well. He just needs cleaning and a few minor fillings. Lucky him!
3. Thursday I have the following: 1:00pm get my hearing checked, 1:50pm take Dad to have his feet done/checked, 3:00pm have an ultrasound of my liver done, go to the lab to get more blood drawn afterward. The last two are added since my doctor emailed me regarding the results from the latest tests. Some abnormalities in liver function and fasting blood sugar. I was on a since-midnight fast then, and will be on a 12 hour fast this time, so I expect at least the blood sugar test to come out okay this time.
4. I've started keeping a food journal, and signed up for several classes offered by the hospital.
5. Coincidentally, my sister called today and said she wants to to start doing water aerobics at the aquatic center. Apparently we're starting tomorrow! Monday and Wednesday at 7:15pm.

More updates to come. By the way, I'm about 24 hours away from having all my LiveJournal blog posts imported to this blog. :)

Medical and Dental Work

I've taken this semester off school to work on medical and dental stuff.

This is my progress so far. I apologize for the summary version, but I've just been really bad about blogging lately and there's a lot to catch up on.

1. Saturday, August 9. I went into urgent care due to extreme throat pain. Diagnosed with an ear infection and sinus problem that had caused rawness in my throat. (Antibiotic and an over the counter pain medicine.)
   
2. Thursday, August 14. I went to get a checkup at the dentist. There's a lot of work to be done. Ouch!
3. Wednesday, August 20. I went to the dentist, and got my two right side wisdom teeth removed. I also got my old silver fillings on the right side replaced and new fillings put in. In total, worked on 6 teeth and extracted 2. (More antibiotic and a prescription pain medicine.)
   
4. Saturday, August 23. I went to have my wounds examined. Dentist said holes left by wisdom teeth were healing nicely.
5. Tuesday, September 9. I went to have a physical with a new doctor. I got a tetanus shot, HPV vaccine, blood drawn for many tests, and referrals for a couple of things. Then Dad and I went to see his doctor. This works well for both of us to schedule our appointments together, so I'm going to try to keep doing that when possible.
6. Wednesday, September 10. I thought I was having the repeat of dental work but on opposite side. Instead, they wanted to do root canals. Unfortunately, they couldn't use the "good" anesthetic because my blood pressure was elevated. If they could, I'd be done in one more visit. Instead, it'll take many. I need to clear the good anesthetic with my doctor so we can hurry this dental stuff along. (More antibiotic and pain meds.)
   

I called and set up several appointments today Best of all, I set up an appointment for tomorrow to the gastroenternologist. I'm so excited for this, you can't imagine. I'm amazed at how easy it was to get the referral and the appointment, and I'm so ready to not be allergic to food anymore.

This is what's coming up:

1. Friday, September 12. Gastroenternologist at 10:10am.
2. Saturday, September 13. My husband has a dental checkup.
3. Thursday, September 18. I'm having my hearing checked at 1pm. People, including my husband, say that I talk loud lately and I'm constantly guessing wrong on direction that sounds come from. Dad is having his feet checked at 1:50pm.
4. Friday, September 19. I go to the dentist to finish up two root canals at 11am.
5. Monday, September 22. I drive Dad to the cardiologist. If any of my doctors want to see me that day, I'm already there!
6. Wednesday, September 24. I go see the gynecologist for annual checkup at 11:05am.
7. Friday, October 10. I have a consultation with an orthodontist.
8. Thursday, October 16. I drive Dad to have his eye exam. (In the diabetic sense, not the new-glasses sense.)
9. Friday, October 17. I have my eyes checked. (In the new-glasses sense.)

I have several dates in my calendar of when more visits are due, but not appointments for them yet. All in all, I'm glad I took the semester off! Hopefully I can get a lot of work started and have only maintenance to do next semester. My #1 priority is my GI problem. Fingers crossed for me, yes?

Ferret

ferret
Originally uploaded by Sarolite

Ferrets are magical and clever creatures. More clever than the people who posted this undocumented one for adoption.

New Blog

I'm migrating here because I can email in my blog posts, which I can't do to LiveJournal. Maybe that'll cause me to actually become a better blogger!

Back in School Again

I’m writing this from the library at RHCC. In front of me are my computer, my book, my notebook, my purse, my sunlasses, my phone, my hair clip... Across the table from me is my brother Bill with his Art History book and to my right is my brother Albert with his laptop. He’s not being very productive, but he says he doesn’t have homework! I’m taking two classes this semester. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I take a class about The Contemporary Mexican American Female. I’m very much enjoying this class, and it’s getting me energized about education in general in addition to the topics that we’re covering in class. We have three books, each of which we’re going to read about a third of. The first book is Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature. I’m very much enjoying this book, and I want to make an attempt at reading the rest of it during the summer. =) On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I take a class on Small Business Management. I imagine that later on into the semester it’ll be more information that I don’t know, but at this point I’m not particularly enthralled with this class. We shall see. The book is big and expensive, and so far quite readable but not very informative. There is a website with a summary, a PowerPoint presentation, and a quiz for each chapter. These are a condensed version of the book. If Charles and I didn’t have ambitions toward business management, I probably could have done without the book entirely and learned from the PowerPoints and still done very well in the class. Oh well, I’m still hopeful that this class will look up later in the semester. I’ll try to do at least weekly updates on school, but as you know I’m not very good about blogging regularly! Topic for future discussion: Mexican American role models.

Another quick life update

I neglect this blog a lot, I realize that. It seems that I never sit down in front of the computer for a long enough time to gather some thoughts. Today is a fluke because I'm forcing myself to do it. Maybe I need to do that more often!

Things that have happened since I was last here:

• Started new semester at school. Two classes, a business class and a Chicano Studies class.
• Started using the family tree site Geni.com, which I really like.
• Got a new swim suit and will start swimming this week.
• Tried on all of my clothes and donated about half of everything.
• Started a new medication. Best results yet toward figuring out my stomach issue. I have an appointment on Friday to get some results from blood work.
• Visited Lexie at the cemetery on her birthday, but missed Angel's birthday party due to being very sick from new meds.
• Had a productive genealogy interview with Mom.
• Bought a broomvac and microwave oven, thanks to Charles's parents and grandparents as well as my parents for contributing to the appliance fund!
• Bought a year of Flickr Pro membership, making http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarolite/sets/ my new permanent picture home.
• Started using DailyLit.com to read books sent via email. Clever service got me actually reading again. Downside is that I stay up too late at night reading books in bed on my phone.

Oh, and our friend Mike has un-disappeared. Go him!

I'll try to get on here more often, I'll feel like I have something to talk about more now that I'm back in school! I ordered books for today's class from Amazon.com today, and I'll put in another order tomorrow for tomorrow's class. I get free 2-day shipping from them, so I thought it best to try to get everything ASAP rather than wait and order together. Hopefully the other class isn't 3 books like today's was!

And of course, for more up-to-the-minute updates from me, go to my Twitter, which can be followed via txt, website, or RSS here: http://www.twitter.com/Sarolite

My dream last night

Charles suggested that I blog this. I had a dream last night in which I got into the car in a parking lot in a "bad neighborhood." I saw our GPS device still mounted on the windshield, and I made a mental note to remember not to leave it visible when the car is un-attended. I tried to start the car, and it wouldn't start. I unplugged the GPS from the lighter and tried again. This time it turned on, but something was dim. I figured I'd get going and the battery would recharge itself on the way home. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, and its battery was also dead. Without thinking, I plugged it in to the phone charger. I drove out of the parking lot and went about a block when the car died. I couldn't call anyone of course, but I remember thinking about calling for roadside assistance versus getting someone to jump start the car, Next thing I knew, there was some lady there to fix the car. She went to each corner of the car and picked it up a little. Apparently, all but the rear left tire were flat. (That's the tire that was recently flat in real life.) She then proceeded to open up the trunk, fiddle with some levers or something, and pull... Then the two front tires folded in to the center and came back toward her like they were on a track. I was impressed, but not all together shocked. Apparently, this was a normal thing in my dream world! So then she simply took the tires off the track and replaced them, then pushed the track back and the tires went back into place. (I didn't know where she got the new ones from, I didn't see her vehicle.) Then she did some more fiddling in the trunk and pulled out something else from the front on a track. It appeared to be two side tanks of water near to where the tires would be, connected to a long and skinny central tank by clear plastic tubing. She explained something to me about how this device worked, where both tanks draw from the reserve. It looked like water, but I don't know what it was for sure or what it did! That's all I remember... Then, after I told Charles my dream, he told me that the car has been "died" twice in the past two days. O.O He's taking it to the mechanic now!

2008

Looking back on what I said at the end of 2006:

• I predicted we'd finish paying my parents and pay off the car early. Those didn't happen, unfortunately.
• I predicted that Charles and I would both go to school part time. Instead, I went full time!
  
• I predicted that Charles would go full time at Disney, which he did.
• I predicted we would build the media server, which we did.
• I predicted a trip to Minnesota, but instead my friend from Minnesota made a trip to California.
• I predicted that I'd look for a cooking class, which I did try. Too expensive, though!

In 2007:

• January
• We relented and got cable.
• I enrolled in school.
• I started seeing a new doctor.
• February
• We switched from buying juice to drinking water from our new water cooler!
• School started.
• Charles and I watched a presentation of Opera at the Movie Theater.
• March
• We started going to Disneyland regularly!
• I took my sisters to Disneyland.
• April
• May
• I took my old high school friends to Disneyland. =)
• I took Andy and his friend Matt to Disneyland when they came through Los Angeles as part of their graduation road trip through California.
• June
• I took my parents to Disneyland when they came home from Mexico.
  
• Charles and I went to a preview day of the Nemo ride at Disneyland before it opened.
• July
• August
• I signed up for fall classes.
• September
• We started researching RVs.
  
• Fall classes at school started.
• Charles's bike was stolen from our garage. =(
• October
• Charles and I went to Yosemite to celebrate our anniversary.
• I spoke to USC and UCR representatives about transfer requirements.
• I went to the California RV show.
• November
• Charles and I saw a production of "Annie" at LAVC.
• I saw Star Trek Menagerie at the theater with Julio, Billy, Albert, and Kat.
• December
• We had to fix Charles's car, it had an alternator issue.
• Charles and I saw the Valley Symphony's production of "Alice in Wonderland" at LAVC.
• We moved stuff to our new apartment every weekend.
• I registered for Spring classes at my new school, Rio Hondo.

Goals/predictions for 2008:

• We will pay off all of our credit card debt.
• I will be in school part time in the spring, then full time in the fall.
• We will be researching cars, and possibly purchase a second new car to replace the Explorer.
• We continue to work on a 20% down payment for the RV that we want, which we may or may not be able to do by the end of 2008. 2009 sounds more likely.
• I will hopefully finish more of my cross stitching projects. I currently have one in progress and one ready to go.

Happy new year, everyone!