I touched on what brought me here a bit in the introduction thread ... but decided I'd start here too. For myself, and to hopefully inspire someone. Anyone.
I am 37 years old. I am a single mom of an 8 year old and 6 year old. I was married for many years and it was an abusive relationship. Details not needed, but I finally got out. That was 5 years ago, and I went from being unemployed (I was a stay-at-home mom) to having a full time job that I love and a household I manage on one income. I had to go on food stamps and welfare in the beginning. It was not a fun time, and very embarrassing. Once I gained job stability I was on my own and it felt nice. Around that same time, my best friend was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She went to the Dr. for back pain and after many tests later it was shown she had cancer. Everywhere. She lived for 17 more months. She was my sidekick. We went through it all together. She was a sister to me and was gone. I held her as she died in hospice. Her children weren't there as the psychiatrist thought it was too much for them. She was a single mom, too.
And this is getting waaaaay off topic.
After she died, I grieved. I was able to grieve a lot while she was still here, as I knew the outcome would be death. So, in my grieving I realized that I was so very lucky! I had a healthy body, and that is a gift. Truly. She did not have that gift, cancer stole that. I had a healthy body, but extra weight. I joined a gym committed myself. It was a gym that bases your membership rate on your income, so I could afford it finally! I went all in. They have a free personal trainer and he helped get me started.
That was a year ago. I have lost 50 pounds. My blood work is BEAUTIFUL (that is, if blood work can be beautiful)
Next was my teeth. Oh, look, this IS a braces-related piece!
I had braces as a teen. For years. When they came off, it was determined that I should consider having my impacted wisdom teeth removed. Even though there was enough room, I was told teeth shift all the time. I was scared. I did not have them removed. I did not wear my retainers properly. My teeth shifted to the point of nearly how they were pre-braces and my bottom became WAY worse. One of my bottom teeth was pushed so far back, people sometimes asked if I had a tongue ring. Finally, my impacted wisdom teeth became inflamed, so I was able to get insurance to pay to get them removed. This was about a year before my divorce. My ex never agreed for me to get braces as they were stupid and I was conceited for wanting them.
Fast forward (and thank you if you've read this far!)
I found a well respected orthodontist in my area with a pretty do-able payment plan. After several appointments and such, I had them placed this past Monday. I went in, had the brackets and wires put on the top and then just the brackets on the bottom that morning. At noon, I went to my dentist and had the "tongue ring" tooth removed as there was no way to make it shift forward without "shaving" the rest of my bottom teeth too much. At 2 pm I went back to the orthodontist, bloody gauze and all, and he put the wires in. Only my top has been "activated" as he wants to wait 4 weeks to start the movement on the bottom for healing.
Dear LORD ... this has been somewhat painful. I am on day 3 and my teeth are super sensitive (the tops) to the point it is hard to put chapstick on. Eating is hilarious. Motrin is my BFF. And I couldn't be happier that I am finally getting this done.
For me.
Def shift in bottom teeth already, and some noticeable space changes between some teeth, even daily, when I go to floss.
It's getting better today.