The end of the beginning

Well i'm back from my snowboarding holiday in one piece, and so is my brace! It's more resilient than I expected, surviving a face-first dive into the piste that left my head spinning. But it did find other ways of tormenting me during my holiday - this new wire on the bottom has transformed previously harmless brackets into rubbing demons! Not as bad as the previous time, but thanks to some Gatwick airport bod confiscating my ulcer-busting clorhexidine mouthwash on the way out I didn't have anything to soothe them with. I also have a brand new pokey wire, and was seriously considering resorting to the DIY dentistry I was so opposed to in my last post, but have so far managed to resist, i'm going to make do with wax.

I've also got some great news regarding my mum - she actually asked after my brace!!! Back when I was first told her I was going through with surgery she got so upset that I havn't dared bring it up again, and ever since then it's been treated like some shameful family secret, not to be mentioned or spoken about. But the other day whilst chatting on the phone she comes out with "er..so how are things going..with the brace?". I was stunned into silence for a few moments before stammering "fine, fine!". Then a little while later she was talking about her holiday plans for the end of the year and said "i'll make sure I don't book anything until we know your operation date". Wow! Is she finally coming round to the idea? I hope so! I'm not going to say anything further until she brings it up again, and i'm sure she's still prefer that i'd caught leprosy than chosen surgery. But at least it's a step in the right direction!

So the next big date on the calendar is 2nd March for my second adjustment. I guess i'm through the 'first phase' of this process now that all the initial fittings and first adjustment nerves are out of the way, I suppose adjustments will become more routine with less excitement all round. But i'll still be biting my lip at each appointment, resisting the urge to ask about my surgery date - 6 months sounds a respectable amount of time to wait before I can bring it up so i've got until June. But each time i'm in the chair between now and then making small talk about the weather all i'll be thinking is "How's my progress? Am I moving quicker than you expected? HOW LONG DO I HAVE LEFT?"