Dave and I had a pretty busy weekend this last passed weekend. Mom and I have worked the Hillclimb festival's baby contest and dog show for years and years, and this year was no different. They've been Mom's to do, after my Grandmother passed away in 1989, and I'm her backup, lol. There isn't much to share, but during the slow moments, the three of us reflected on the trials and tribulations of attending the festival last year, and we couldn't help but renew our appreciation for how far we've come.

Last year for the event, Dave was in a wheel chair full time, fresh our of in-patient therapy, and unable to do much of anything very well, or very fast. I still remember trying to look at the vendor booths and pushing him over cracked sidewalks was a chore and a half. When the wheel on his brand new wheelchair broke, and mom had to walk back to get the van and pick us up, I worried that life would never be easy again. I still wouldn't call our day-to-day easy yet, but compared to where we were back then.. I'm most definitely grateful. Monday morning Dave and I had to drive to the city for his appointment with Dr. Lalonde, his prostodontist. Elaine was so exited, thinking we would come home with a new palatal lift appliance, even though I tried cautioning her that it wouldn't be done the day we went. The drive up was absolutely terrible. There was an accident on the interstate, and a semi-truck and trailer had overturned. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and a half before finally making it to the detour they'd set up. It took another hour to drive through 22 miles of scenic countryside.

Coincidentally enough, the tiny town host of our detour.. was working on their roads as well, and it was one lane for most of the next hour and a half. Dave was getting frustrated, and so was I. After the three hour mark though, everything started to seem awfully silly, and we just tried laughing it off, and listening to one of our favorite Cd's to get us through the monotony. At last we made it back to the interstate for the rest of our drive, and even though we left four hours early, we made it with barely eight minutes to spare.

Every bit of the next four hours were spent with Dr. Lalonde. We were pretty surprised our visit took so long, even with my expert assistance, lol. Dr. Lalonde used to have an assistant, once upon a time, but he doesn't now. Some of the things he was working on for Dave yesterday, definitely needed more than one set of hands, and I.. was voted in as Assistant For The Day. I was pulling up charts on his laptop, jotting down his notes, holding shiny instruments, and gloving up when it was time to make the molds and the good Dr. couldn't insert goo and hold Dave's big mouth open at the same time, heh. It was actually a fun afternoon, all things considered. It wasn't the most entertaining place we could have thought up for a visit, but Dave and I always try to make the best of any given situation when we can, and a goofy, fun-natured specialist never hurts.

Goofy Boys make dull work much more entertaining, that's for sure.

I thought it was comedy hour there for awhile, when it was a joke a minute between our three sarcastic wits, but it was fun. It should take about two weeks for Dave's palatal lift appliance to be made, three if you count the week that Dr. Lalonde will be in a conference somewhere else.

Unfortunately, nothing for Dave and I ever goes QUITE as smoothly as we would hope, but we're going to hope for the best. Dave's teeth are very short, from wear and grinding, and his gums are abnormally fleshy, (most likely genetic, but troublesome all the same). Dr. Lalonde gave us two options, and once again, I am forced with making the decision for a greater good. We're going to drill small round groves and thin, long bars into the enamel of Dave's teeth in an effort to make a small crevice for the socket balls, and wires to sit in. The goal is to hope that the appliance doesn't just pop off every time Dave swallows. If this doesn't work.. we'll have to add a series of expensive crowns to Dave's molars in order to create the room necessary in which to hold the appliance in place.. and potentially a minor surgery to cut back the gums from his teeth. Obviously I'm hoping we don't have to go this route. I'm so tired of the extensive process we go through just to continue falling short of normal. In the back of my mind, I fear that we'll finish leaping through all of our hoops to get this piece, only to find that Dave will hate it, or it won't help him any, and he'll just refuse to wear it.

In other news.. Dr. Lalonde wasn't at all impressed with the dental work Dr. Doom completed at Aspen dental, and has given me a list of repairs and re-do's he recommends. I wasn't amused. I don't care what Dave says.. if he does have to get this work done, or re-done as it seems.. he's going to my new dentist, and not the sorry excuse for one he picked out.

Speaking of my new dentist, I go see Dr. S tomorrow afternoon to begin crown preparation. I have no idea what this entails, but my two weeks, post root canal, is up, and it's time. It's taken nearly every bit of these last two weeks to get the bite sensitivity down in my newest root canaled tooth. I'm not sure why it was so sensitive for so long, but I'm only now getting to the point where it no longer hurts to chew on that side. I still can't munch down chips or ice or hard things yet, but they assure me these things take time. Apparently, with me.. time is exaggerated, and prolonged as much as possible, lol. The good news is.. I feel sooo, so so much better. No more cold sensitivity, and only a mild jaw pain where it was excruciating before. I'm still bitter I even had to go through two of the most physically painful months of my life, but I'm finally repaired, and a much happier girl at last. Now there's only the fifteen hundred dollar pain left to manage as I go about getting my two new crowns. I'm praying that Dave doesn't need them too.

We were exhausted by the time we finally made the trip back home. The accident was finally cleared away, but rush hour was in full affect, so it still took us two hours to get home. It was another day to remember though, and I'm so glad I got to share it with you. Thank You for joining us this evening, and until next time.. Much Love, Many Hugs, and Good Night to You All.