October 12, 2001
Dental Diva Update

So, JournalCon is this weekend. I had, earlier in the year, seriously considered going, but eventually changed my mind when I realized how hard it would be to plan a trip to Chicago without the reason for my trip somehow getting out. I guess I'm still not ready for the people in myreallife to know about what goes on in my online life. Now, however, I'm kind-of bummed that I'm not going. I have plenty of vacation time just sitting there waiting to be used, and it might have been fun. Well, there's always next year . . .

I was reading Abeyance this morning, and, as with every time I do so, I am amazed at how much I have in common with the author. Makes me regret not going to JournalCon even more, since she's going to be there, and it would be cool to say hi. Anyway, she mentioned a facinating event coming up called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), where participants are encouraged to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. No editing, no rewrites, just straight-forward novel writing in thirty days. Sounds like fun to me. Now my brain is working frantically trying to come up with a reasonably good idea for a novel. I'll have to put my E! fanfic on the back burner for a while, but, like I said, this could be fun!

In other news, my dentist appointment went very well on Wednesday; a follow-up to those four root planing/scaling appointments I had in August and September. The dentist measured the depth of my pockets (space between the tooth root and gum tissue), to see if they've closed up. I had a couple deep pockets - 5 mm - and some not-so-deep ones - 3mm - at the time of my RP/S, and the whole purpose of the deep cleaning was to get rid of all the crud down there, and, with diligent at-home cleaning habits, hopefully close up the holes to prevent further damage to gum tissue and bone. I'd already lost some tissue, and a little bone; nothing serious, but enough to warrent the dramatic cleaning procedure in an effort to save my teeth. Well, with the exception of one tooth, all my pockets either held steady or went down. There were a couple dramatic changes from 5's to 3's and some 4's to 2's, and the back of the bottom front teeth were all 1s! It was very exciting, and encouraging to see that all that work I'm doing - flossing, rinsing, toothpicking and gum massage, along with regular brushing - every night has paid off. Oh, I mentioned an exception, right? One pocket in the back actually increased from a three to a five! I was annoyed, and tortured that particular tooth pretty bad that night! I'll be sure to have that one down to a reasonable level by my next appointment in January. My regular hygenist wasn't there, and that was disappointing. I was hoping she'd be there to see how well her good work has held up. She's been particulary strict with me because, basically, I'm too young to be losing my teeth. I agree. Tooth problems seem to run in the family, however, as another family member has had trouble for the past thirty years or so. I've apparently inherited that problem, but by attacking the problem so aggressivly, so early on, I have a good chance now of keeping my teeth forever. Phew! It's a huge relief!

Cheers!
Hez

Reading: Mendoza in Hollywood by Kage Baker; Body for Life by Bill Phillips.
Listening to: Sarah Brightman CDs; looking forward to new Lit CD coming out next Tuesday!!
Writing: E! fanfic, but might be putting that aside for a while to work on a novel for NaNoWriMo.
Pondering: What to write? What to write? What to write?
Gratitude: Glad Elizabeth mentioned NaNoWriMo in her entry yesterday! Thanks, Elizabeth!