Ch 2. my headgear

It hurts on my chin, and I have to sleep in the headgear.Mom only has to turn the palate expander once a week now. I will write back later when I learn more.

Andon has got a little frustrated this afternoon after dinner. We brushed and then put the headgear on and he came to me with everything in his hands. He had taken it off.  Tears in his eyes and said "this hurts my mouth". I think the rubber bands have rubbed his gums.  This is his first night and he's talking and moving it all around. So I'm sure that is not helping with comfort. Blogging to him seems more like a chore sometimes, but he still does it and it helps him with writing sentences. As you can see between post his last post about the key was typed by Lauren. There is no way he would have typed all that. I'm doing well to get 4 sentences out of him.



Turning of the key

Mom wants to turn the key. I was scared at first,BUT I was brave! When my mom turns the key it feels like im going to choke. Turning the key makes my mouth wider. When she turns the key I think about stuff  I like. I like legos and pirates of the Caribbean. It hurts a little when she turns it. she has turned it two times. the key does not look like a regular key. it looks like a stick and a ball on the top and it looks like a l.

 He did tear up this morning as I told him today we have to turn his expander. I prefer to do it in the morning just in case he has a headache and then he will be able to rest better at night. At first I wasn't sure if I was turning the "key" correctly. I was worried I was hurting him. I have turned it twice now, and so far so good. I feel more confident with each turn. The only trouble we  have is the key is to be pushed toward the back of his throat. I'm not sure its as much pain as it is discomfort. To make sure I'm not undoing the turn I have to pull the key out also near the back of the throat. Andon takes deep breaths before we begin and this seems to help. We go back next Wednesday for an appointment and to see the progress we have made.

The mold of my teeth, thumbs and finger

June 8th Palate expander

My name is Andon and I got my expander june 8. I choked a little on the glue. Then I went home with a shirt and teeth supplies. I have 25 saliva spits. The secret is the tuffist part is getting use to it. have a great summer.  lol ha ha ha ha.  Andon


Aww.... Andon's first post EVER!!  He is 7 and just finished 1st grade. He did ask me to spell a couple of things for him, but he did the rest. I'm thinking this is a great idea on so many levels. He is learning computer skills, I'm helping him with grammer, and spelling. In return we may help another child who may be going through the same experience.
 I was very nervous about the whole thing. He did get a little upset about choking. He had to sit up and the cement had already set before they could wipe it off. The dentist then had to pick and scrape all the dried cement up. The orthodontist did however say he was a trooper. Andon was very proud of himself.
The next couple of hours he had ALOT of saliva and on day 2 he still has alot but he says its getting better.
He still however slurps and makes a sucking noise that is slowly driving me insane, but I try to ignore it because I know he just trying not to drool all over himself. As far as eating we havent had that much of a problem. He has been eating small portions of pudding, applesauce, oatmeal, ice cream and I think the poor thing was starving. I made a hashbrown casserole and he was eating it up with no problems. We did however have a problem with a piece of macaroni it had gotten stuck and he swished and swished with water and finally it had gotten loose, but then almost choked him again.  We turn the key every other day I did it will the help of the technician, but tomorrow I have to do it by myself. I am a little nervous about that. If I see that it will be painful I'm giving him tylenol before I do it the next time.  We go back in 2 weeks to get his headgear (worn only at night thank goodness) for his underbite. We both will post again soon. Michelle