saaraah

yesterday, i had my 3rd appointment at dr. rondeau's office. before i talk about my actual appointment, there's something that really funny happened.

as i was sitting in dr. rondeau's office, janie came in all excited saying that the guy she was talking to for a consult had found dr. rondeau on healthboards. she continued to add that he'd talked to marlene *and* sarah [im guessing that's me.. hehe]. it was a crazy experience because i had been sitting near the dude in the waiting room [i was the chick with the red pants if you're out there! hehe]. i had noticed he was reading a TMJD pamphlet and was debating whether or not to talk to him to see if he'd heard of the healthboards and whatnot.. hehe. yah, im noisy.. but i was too shy, so i didnt talk to him.

if the guy from hamilton is out there and you were at dr. rondeau's yesterday, hi...

anyway, my appointment was to get dr. rondeau's opinion on what my treatment plan could be. it turned out how i thought it would - he suggested a repositioning splint for phase I and braces for phase II. thus far, ive decided to go with only phase I and not continue with braces because im too paranoid.. as well as showing me my xrays, they did more impressions, and my splint will be ready in 1 week.

my right condyle was flattened and my left condyle had a peak in it. not a pretty site. as well, the left condyle is too back, so it needs to be moved forward.

the thing that sucked the most about the appointment was that im going to be a "very difficult case" because i have an openbite, but not that much of an overbite. it'd be so much easier if i had a deep overbite. since i dont, there isnt much room to move me forward. blah. additionally, i felt like the office oddity - dr. rondeau kept on saying how difficult my case is going to be and how he'd like to refer me to his associate [dr. matton, i believe] or dr. rawson [jamie, you're seeing him, right?].. he even showed my bite to 2 other people in his office. it was embarassing even tho i knew he was joking.. i guess everyone sends him the difficult cases.

another funny thing was that he seemed very surprised that i knew about repositioning splints and all this TMJD stuff. when his associate came in to look at my bite, he told him that i was a very intelligent lady. hah!

anyway, im going forward with his treatment, but im not getting my hopes up. he doesnt seem *that* optimistic about it working, since im so difficult.

btw, the splint therapy and future xrays are going to cost $1300 and last between 4-6 months. guess i have to cut my food budget down even more... ergh.

sorry for the long-winded message.. just thought that i'd keep everyone informed of what went on.

- saaraah.

[This message has been edited by saaraah (edited 09-25-2003).]