Of Apples and chewing gums

Yeah. Ate my dream apples after the debanding. Bought them at Yong Fruit Shop, KK. It's at the same row as TongHing KK. Trully juicy. South African mari. Took the smaller ones at rm1.20 per apple. I had planned to have a quiet sit at home and take slow languorous bites of the apple. Apa tunggu, on the way home driving, I bit into one apple. Kkkruunchhh!!... Dang it felt so good. My teeth felt a bit sore biting into the apple but... dang it tasted good.

The apple.

An apple, for a bite, for bliss..

I have Bell's Palsy. Just a partial palsy. I have been trying to console myself that I'm much better off than those who are in a lot worse medical condition. You know...the ever positive encouragement most Malaysian have of saying 'nasib baik you are like this...kalau tidak..?' or 'nasib baik bukan begitu...kalau tidak..?'. Yea...on some days when I feel ok, I feel ok. On some days when I'm particularly having a crappy day..the palsy gets to me. Admitting to having Bell's Palsy isn't easy. I guess admitting to having a defect, disfigurement that you can't quite downplay with humor... is never easy. But I'll get there...someday.
On another note, my days of wearing these braces are numbered. I'll have them off on the 24th next month to be exact. After that it's on to the next step which is wearing retainers. I've been wearing these braces for far too long. My gnashers are yellowed, I can see the unsightly tartars or carries draped along the feet of the front teeth, I'm almost sick of brushing/picking on my teeth after every meal. Every meal mean every meal, be it a simple kuih or main meal. This compulsory cleaning regime is one reason i've managed to keep my weight relatively steady for the past 4 years. How to eat in between meals if berus gigi ja kerja? Cari washroom lagi, cari mirror lagi...
All the same, this debanding (term used to describe taking off of braces) is bittersweet. I finally have nice looking teeth that will enable me to bite well but.. with Bell's Palsy as a life-long companion. I read somewhere that it's non-permanent, but i doubt it. So, que sera sera...
Anyway, I promised myself that I'll have a juicy, crunchy red apple when I finally deband. And I'm going to get one.

Downsized

Stood on the weighing machine this morning (and yesterday too) and saw the scale at 52.5kg. I didn't think i'd go down that fast that low.
Had some mashed bubur ayam again. added some marmite into it.
Had some yoghurt as well.
Sipped plain water aplenty.
Warmed up some milk and mixed some baby nestum. Yummy it's not really.
Sabar ja la.

Moving...

Dear readers, I have decided to post anything that concerns my dental story to another webblog address. Click on to divato.blogspot.com should you wish to read it. And oh, my much awaited ortognathic surgery has been postponed. My response to that is...

Drat! Drat!Drat!!!!!

Counting the days...

Well, i had another dentist appointment today. I was supposed to meet the doc at 4pm but awal lagi i arrived. I had managed to go to Karamunsing and have my laptop checked (the bluetooth thingy went pening). Had my lunch at the Singapore Chicken Rice outlet. It was just next to Rafflesia Chicken Hut but SCR had more customers I think since it offers no other frills, just your nasi ayam and drinks and the odd side dishes like kailan, taugeh and hati and kaki ayam.
Anyway, i digress...
By 3.15 I was already waiting for my turn to come. While waiting, I flipped and read three MAS magazine (going places). Hmm...there's a lack of reading material here. Although they ever so nicely tried to provide some outdated newspaper, mags and promo mags. I always try to remember to bring some old copies of mags but of course it always slips my mind.
It was near 4.10 when my name was called. Doc Devi was attending to some other patient on the adjoining room. I could hear her administer advice and give explanation.
I consider myself being quite familiar with the room already. (Almost three years I've been coming here man!!). I commented that if my o-rings were going to be replaced today i'd like to choose some other colors like blue, green or red.
My stubborn molar was further grinded a bit. The attending doc kept asking me if it was nyilu or not and I kept mumbling (Why do dentist ask you questions and expect you to answer when they have their utensils or fingers thrust into your mouth?) , no.
Doc Devi came by and checked my teeth and discussed something with the dental technician. Doc Devi will have to study my dental model and plan this and that. So, i'll probably be seeing the doc one or two more times before D-day. I'll need to have another x-ray of my jaws. That will be done on the next visit.
Hokay.
By the by, my o-rings are blue and light blue, set alternately between teeth.

Coming soon..

Ack...1 hour stress. I was enjoying my meal with pinaasakan tilapia (which Dad caught from the fish pond) when I received a call. It was the nurse which normally accompanies Doc Devi when I go for my Ortho treatment. She wondered why I was I wasn't around the clinic. Ah? I made a dash towards the study room to get my appointment card. After making sure that I was in the right, that I was only supposed to go for the treatment on the 24th, I told her.
She said " salah tu, ni hari tu."
Me : " alamak, macam mana la tu? Tidak ditulis di sini kad?"
Nurse : " Sempat ka pigi sini sebelum kul 4.30? Dorang balik awal ni sebab bulan puasa kan?"
Me : "ba sia cuba la."

It was 3.30pm. I finished up my meal and 10 mins later was already in the car. Drove all the way from Sierra to Luyang in less than 20 mins. If my car was any more powerful, I'd've been there earlier. Skaaali...I came to the wrong place. I was supposed to go to Queen's...and it's at the new wing of the hospital! Again, made a dash towards the car which was parked in the Luyang Clinic compound. Lucky me got parking. Unlucky me, went to the wrong clinic.
So, drove to Queen's. I was worried about the jam. It was already 4.05pm. I wasn't about to just give up! I can't afford to have a delay in my treatment/appointment.
Vroom Vroom and what the hey? was there at Queens 11 mins later. Didn't bother to go find parking at the parking bay and just rested my Wira near the curb, just beside the new building. It was just an inlet before the overhead pedestrian crossing. Went out the car and ran up the stairs, asked for a quick reference from one of the nurses at the nearest counter where the new dental specialist area was and continued my running.
Huff Puff... huh...they were waiting for me. At 4.25pm my name was called. As usual, I had around 3 0r 4 docs attending. Kiri kanan semua tengok at my mouth everytime I was asked to open and show my gnashers. Joint-Clinic...ginila. I've gotten used to it by now. Always feel like a specimen of sorts when I go for Joint-Clinic with the specialists. Doc Devi was there. Two other dentists were there. The Pakar Bedah Mulut was Doc Normah, a very friendly and hip doc. The last time I saw her, she was sporting this funky colored spectacles and I told her so. Haha..
So, the result? Tentatively my surgery is set on the 14th Nov. Hopefully the hospital doesn't have other ad hoc operations to perform that might push the date further back.
4.45pm I was on my way back to my illegally parked car. Lucky me again there was no police traffic on the prowl. Thus ended my 1 hour or so race (stress).
Tomorrow I'll be going for my usual dental treatment at Luyang. Maybe I'll choose brown or purple o-rings for this time around.

Orange is the color

Had another visit to the dentist the other day.
Had the normal checkings. What's normal you might ask? heheh... Normal for me is when the doc makes me bite or open while checking the alignment of the teeth. So far, most of the teeth are progressing really well, in the sense that they're aligning quite ok. What's keeping the brackets/braces on? Well, I have this two upper right premolars that are absolutely stubborn and resolute. These two idjits are taking their sweet time turning and folding into line. Hish... ni la bikin selalu balik pigi dentist ni..
After doing the necessary tweaking and replacing the ligatures and the powerchain (tia tau how to explain, i just hear these terms as spoken by the doc to the nurses), the doc re-pasang the o-rings. Earlier, just as I was about to lounge on the dentist's chair, i asked the nurses what o-ring color was available. He opened the drawer to show me the range of color, woo... banyak juga choice. I had been wearing black o-rings for the past one month, you see. I thought of wearing the blue o-rings but halfway through the checkings i decided on orange, thinking that perhaps i hadn't tried on the color.
Upon reaching Sierra (that's what i call my place of residence), I turned on my computer and clicked open my dental journal. Drat it! How could i have forgotten? It was just early this February pulak i had used the orange o-rings. Tsk tsk tsk... No matter bah.
Let's see... according to my journal, i have used red, blue, green, purple, pink, black, a combination of green and red, a multicombi of yellow, red, blue, green, a combi or red and black,... Hmm.. on my next visit to the dentist, i'll choose some other color then.
So for now, orange is the color.