This is going to be one positive post I'll tell everyone that now!

I had a hospital appointment last week, and my orthodontist is so pleased with how everything is looking. It's always amusing going to the orthodontist and being able to listen to their conversations with the nurse/assistant, but not being able to actually contribute to said conversation while they're doing their work. (I've just realised how incredibly nosey that makes me sound). But anyway, they were talking about art for some reason, and it got me thinking that orthodontics is essentially art. A very scientific, complex one at that, which has much to do with physics. But still an art. I could even tell at the end of the appointment that she was 'admiring' her work from a distance, like you'd imagine a painter or sculptor would do the same.

I honestly never thought I'd ever perceive someone to be 'admiring' braces, most people probably do quite to opposite, haha.

They were also speaking about how the patients that were scheduled to see them that afternoon were all orthognathic. Which in turn led them to discuss which stage I was at in comparison to the other patients, and they think that I'm the second current patient of theirs that will be ready for surgery! It seems so weird thinking about it like that, all that waiting and it still feels like I shouldn't be this ready, almost like I've gotten used to the 11 years I've been visiting this clinic.

And this, finally leads me to a prediction! I haven't been keeping track of how many months I've had braces, I've just been looking onwards to the next appointment instead of tallying it all up. And it totals up to 8 months! That just seems crazy, it only feels like I've had them for 2-3 months or something. This means that by Christmas time, I will have had my braces for 1 year and 2 months, and a  possibility of surgery in the holidays! I think as a norm orthodontists tell their patients 18 months in braces before surgery, but from what I've seen people seem to be getting surgery earlier than that. And given the speed that my teeth are moving and my bite worsening, it could be a fair prediction. I didn't want to ask my ortho when I would be ready quite yet as I didn't want to seem impatient, nor did I want to have my ortho's professional prediction as to when I would be ready, adding even more time to this waiting game.

Just to balance this out with a small bit of negativity (haha) I have noticed how impractical my bite is becoming in terms of function, and it is certainly affecting me. Before it started to get worse I was only expecting it from an aesthetic point of view, never a practical one. I mentioned speech and pronunciation in my last post, but this time it's eating that's starting to get to me. On my way home for my appointment, I grabbed a burger from Kings Cross station inbetween trains, probably the most embarrassing burger I've ever had the misfortune to buy. I just can't bite into things like I used to, and attempting to do this in public was a pretty bad idea. Some old woman was staring at me the whole time I was eating, like I was someone with learning difficulties who couldn't feed themselves. It was pretty messy to be fair. But it's something I'm willing to put up with to get a functioning bite.

Moving swiftly on (I will stop soon I promise) the broken brace was fixed pronto without a telling off, and it hasn't done any damage or slowed down my progress. I loyally promised my orthodontist, no more icecubes for me.

Just one more point of positivity, and an unrelated one at that! University.

For those who don't know, I'm a music student and a principle study violinist. I got my recital marks back today and I got a 2:1! This year I've achieved 1st's and 2:1's, and even though I'm expecting one small piece of work back, it means that I've averaged a good 2:1 for my second year, which I am so happy with. Also the examiners who marked my recital said 'your potential is such that, if you were to make left hand technique a priority over the coming year, you are capable of a 1st class mark'. This makes me ridiculously happy.

Chuffed! If there are any music geeks out there, I'm listening to Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1, and am seriously considering performing the whole work for my third year recital.

Me and my housemate Lucy made orange/lemon drizzle cake to celebrate our recital results and decorated them appropriately.

We named the left cake 'C Major' (even though neither of us had the easiest key signature in our recitals, we just wanted to be alliterative with cake) and the right cake was named 'Caspar'

Oh god I've just realised how insensitive I've been, there are a good number of people recovering from their surgeries at this point of time. I grant any of you permission to taunt me with cake as you see fit when I am at that same stage, or Christmas dinner if my prediction is right.

I honestly don't understand how I write so much, someone needs to limit me and suggest a word count to stick to, haha. Sending lots and lots of healing vibes out to all the post-ops, and a speedy progress for all.

B x