Lori,

What a great story...and what a great job of planning and trying to stay on program...before and after!! And I agree about understanding about the BE stuff. Even though those day 4's still come, for me, it makes it easier to go through.

Colette

: Hi all

: I haven't been checking into the
: forum much for the past few
: months, but wanted to share my
: recent dental experiences.

: I've been working on this program for
: many years (eight, I think), and
: have not progressed as far as I
: had hoped I would when I first
: found the program. But I have made
: changes and seen small
: improvements along the way.

: I have finally been able to give up
: coffee, after having tried for
: about 2 years. I knew it was bad
: for me, but after several failed
: attempts at quitting, was finally
: able to make a connection to how
: exactly coffee affects me (it
: increases my anxiety and
: irritability). After that, I was
: able to give it up for good (I had
: been gradually reducing how much I
: was having) and have had no
: problem staying off the coffee for
: the past, umm, almost six months,
: I believe ... I can't quite
: remember for sure when I gave it
: up, but I am not in the least bit
: tempted to start again ... not
: even when I smell that delicious
: aroma of fresh ground coffee! The
: smell alone is enough to satisfy
: me. :)

: But, about my dental experiences:

: I have had a mouthful of cavities and
: bad teeth since I was a child. My
: first dental visit ever was when I
: was in grade 6 and we had these
: mobile dental clinics that would
: go the schools and you would be
: sitting in class minding your own
: business and suddenly an
: anouncement would come "Lori,
: report to the dental clinic
: please". The first visit was
: a novelty ... a built in excuse
: for getting out of class, but for
: a child with a mouthful of
: cavities and rotten teeth, the
: rest of it was a nightmare ... no
: comforting parent with you, no one
: talking to you or explaining what
: they were doing, not being able to
: talk with those rotten rubber dams
: over your mouth, and no way to get
: out of having the work done when
: you were trapped in the school and
: everyone knew you were there.

: After that, I avoided dentists, which
: didn't help. My teeth only got
: worse, and I have not had many
: good dental experiences over the
: years .. to the point where I
: would only refer to the dentist
: office as the torture chamber and
: was so anxious about seeing a
: dentist that I would make and
: cancel my appointments several
: times before actually being able
: to bring myself to go to the
: dental office.

: After giving up coffee, and with the
: changes that have slowly been
: taking place in my diet over the
: past number of years, I was
: actually able to get myself to a
: new dentist after 5 years of being
: without one.

: So, first appointment in 5 years ...
: I saw my new dentist for the first
: time on Halloween ... and he was
: dressed as the tooth fairy ...
: great first impression ...
: but ... I am 45 years old and need
: to have two of my wisdom teeth
: removed ... My oral surgeon
: turns out to be an older east
: indian gentleman ... a bit
: eccentric, but so relaxed, so
: grandfatherly and so adorable, you
: can't help but love him, in spite
: of the fact that I know he is
: going to cause me pain ... and,
: lucky me, I'm a
: "special" case ... he
: only sees about 4 cases like mine
: a year ... my teeth were growing
: sideways and had no room to grow
: up, so they grew down into my
: nerve channel ... and pulling them
: out could cause permanent nerve
: damage ... so he has to slice them
: off just above the nerve.

: Amazingly, I was not that nervous or
: anxious about having it done. The
: pre-surgery instructions were to
: not eat for 6 hours before the
: surgery. Oh no! I can't do that
: ... I NEED to have breakfast. My
: surgery is at 9:45. Whatever will
: I do? Well, you know, breakfast is
: so ingrained in me now, that I
: just set my alarm for 4:00 a.m.,
: got up and sleepily ate, then went
: back to bed. No liquids 3 hours
: before surgery ... no problem ...
: set my alarm for 7 ... got up,
: drank a huge glass of water, ate
: some grapes, relaxed for a bit,
: then got ready to go. I brought a
: large bottle of water and a
: protein shake for after the
: surgery, although it turned out
: that I was way too groggy to drink
: or eat until after I got home, but
: the fact was, I was prepared ...
: and pre-program, I NEVER would
: have had this kind of calmness and
: foresight of preparation.

: The surgery went well. I have had
: minimal pain. They prescribed T3s
: and percocet, but I am nervous of
: taking them, and have only used
: ibuprofen and extra strength
: tylenol.

: My surgery was on Friday. I expected
: a four day crash on Tuesday, and
: it arrived on time. Learning about
: those BE crashes and why they
: happen is a godsend, even though
: it didn't stop the crankies,
: teariness, etc. But amazingly, the
: crash was over by late morning,
: around the same time my surgery
: was over on Friday.

: Even post-surgery, I have been
: restricted to soft foods, but am
: still basically following the
: program ... scrambled eggs,
: cottage cheese and oatmeal for
: breakfast, rice or beans for all
: my browns ... having the knowledge
: of the program makes life so
: DO-ABLE!

: I may complain about not progressing
: fast enough or far enough on this
: program, but when I can experience
: something as traumatic as dental
: surgery and not "lose
: it", I realize how beneficial
: this program, and all the little
: changes I have made so far, is to
: me. I am filled with gratitude for
: Kathleen and the powers that be
: that led me to her.

: Sorry for being so long-winded, and
: thank you if you made it to the
: end of this post, but I just had
: to share this surprisingly
: positive experience.

: Lookilou
: aka Lori