A most excellent adventure, a tooth tragedy and the support group

Have I mentioned, I have most excellent friends?  Well, I do.  I spent this past weekend with 4 of my favorite people.  I was with my best bud, Edel; Cristy, the funiest person I know; and Larry & Charlotta, the world's best host/hostess, and fun time people.  We were at the big ass river house (BARH), which is the home of Larry & Charlotta.  Cristy and I met up at the BARH on Friday afternoon and Edel came up on Saturday evening.  Saturday morning, Cristy, Charlotta and I went to a garlic festival and toured 2 local wineries.  Wine tasting was the order of the day and because of this we are now connoisseurs and wine snobs. We even discovered a red wine that is excellent with Cheetos.  Really!  After the wine tastings, we discovered that since we had no designated driver, we needed to go home, eat something and pick up Larry - which we did.  We then went and visited yet another winery, but I chose not to partake this time because I needed to drive.  For those of you who don't know me well, I have horrible motion sickness and must always drive if I am in a car, or I will turn green and vomit.  I'm not much fun to take on a road trip unless I am driving, and I am the designated purse holder if carnival rides are involved.  Anyway, we headed back home after a stop to Ingles (to pick up steaks for dinner and Cheetos for the wine), we headed home to meet up with Edel.  We're coming up on the tooth portion of this blog.

I have a million dollar mouth because of all the dental work I have had in my lifetime, but the up side to this is,  I have a lovely smile. This is true, but alas, something is always going wrong with my teeth.  This past weekend was no exception.  I was enjoying my perfectly grilled steak (by chef, Larry Clark), and eating my corn on the cob,  potatoes and asparagus prepared by Charlotta, when I realized that something didn't feel right. I swallowed the food in my mouth and instantly realized that I had swallowed one of my front teeth.  The others thought that the renigade tooth was on my plate, down my shirt or on the floor, but I knew better.  I was headed to destinations unknown.  I choose not to relay the string of words that followed out of my mouth because I am trying to make this a PG-13 blog.  I was having such a good time up until point in time.  There was really nothing I could do besides throw myself in the floor and scream and holler, but I did not.  So much for my lovely smile.  I now had a large gaping hole in the front of mouth.  I could have been in a terrible mood for the remainer of the trip, but decided to not worry (this part is actually not true), and enjoy the rest of the weekend.  Cristy had to leave to go to a piano recital in Atlanta (she is the most cultured of the group), but Edel, Larry, Charlotta and I enjoyed some pool time. Edel and I headed for home Sunday afternoon.  Edel followed me back to Franklin to spend Monday and Tuesday with me.  As part of my requirements for the gastric bypass surgery, I have to attend a support group that is held by the surgeon's office.  We're moving on.

Since I now had a major flaw in my ordinally lovely smile, I had to make a plan.  First thing Monday morning I hit the speed dial for my dentist extraordinaire, Dr Ralph Lehr.  Since Dr. Lehr only works on Tues. and Weds. anymore, the plan was to see him the next morning.  Now is the time to explain that Dr. Lehr's office is in Atlanta.  I have seen him for a zillion years and he is the reason for my fore mentioned lovely smile.  Nobody else can touch my teeth.  He is worth every mile I drive back to Atlanta to see him. My appointment was Tuesday afternoon.  Edel and I would drive back to Gainesville for the support group that evening. I will not elaborate on the happenings of the the dental visit except to say that I now have to have oral surgery and then I can get my new crown.  Nothing is ever easy when it comes to my teeth.  This is going to cost me a boat load of money, but that is another story for another time.  We will move on to the support group.

I'm not sure what exactly I had expected for this weight loss support group, but it was not what I had imagined.  The people in the group are all patients of my surgeon's practice and they are in different stages in their journey.  Some were several years out from the surgery, some were experiencing their first year post op and others were pre op. There were also several support people, like Edel.  They introduced themselves, told their status and how much weight they had lost up this date.  That was truly amazing and inspiring.  I guess I expected these people tell tell their struggles and victories and to discuss food plans.  It was more of lesson in attitude and expectations.  There was nothing wrong with that, in fact, it was good, but it was not what I wanted.  I wanted to hear personal stories.  I left there pretty disappointed.  Edel and I had a long trip back to Franklin to discuss this.  She thought the program was good and said that I could not really judge the group by one session.  She is right.  Edel is smart and intuitive, which is one of the reasons she is an excellent support person for me.  She also lovingly pointed out that I do not know everything (which was not really a great shock to me, but I pretend it is) and that I could learn from this group.  So, I will go back and change my expectations.  Edel also suggested that I get on facebook and also check out any other online support and ask for personal stories.  During the group, the facilitator did mention that some members were facebook friends and were in contact with each other that way.  I also think that the events from earlier in the day, ie: my dentist visit,  might have had something to do with my attitude going into the meeting.

I need to realize that my life in general is not going to stop while I make my journey into weight loss.  Things are still going to happen - good and bad.  I have to deal with it all. While my attention has been on getting the requirements of surgery out of the way, I still have to work, maintain friendships, deal with family issues, pay bills, clean house and all that is involved in living on a daily basis. I don't know why this is a new concept, but it is just beginning to settle in. 

All this to say that I need your continued support, prayers, good thoughts and karma.  This is one of the biggest events in my life and I cannot do it alone.  I appreciate and am grateful for all of you.  Thank you for being part of my life. 

One last thing.  I have an update on the cpap saga. My sleep is getting better.  I am learning to deal with the big honk'in mask I have on my face.  (I chose the total face mask.)  It has been a challenge, but sleepy time is getting better.  Yahoo!