I am soooo sorry for yesterday’s nasty post. I know I’m allowed to feel and write anything I want here but after I wrote it I regretted it all afternoon. I was even tempted to climb out of bed late last night to delete it but I was too lazy to do so. It was just so danged depressing and pitiful, not to mention the description of the tongue and cheese grater was disgusting. Please let me apologize for all that. I guess I just needed to get it out of my system somehow. No, I didn’t really feel better after having done so…like I said, I regretted it the minute I hit SUBMIT. Let’s just pick up and move on from here shall we? Wipe the slate clean.

So I went to the dentist yesterday for a cavity filling. It was sort of exciting for me because, prior to the fall of 2006, I hadn’t been to the dentist in about 12 years. (Some of you have already heard this whole Abbey’s Dental History Story so you can skip ahead a couple paragraphs if you don’t want to read it again!) I just had a deep-rooted fear of the dentist so I avoided it at all costs. As did Honey. So in August of 2006, we saw Lindsay’s fiance (back then he was just the “boyfriend” ) go to the dentist and live through it so we figured if he can do it, SO CAN WE! We mustered up the courage to go and we’ve been taking good care of our teeth ever since! We even FLOSS EVERY NIGHT! We both had bad periodontal disease but mine was much worse than Honey’s - in the spring of 2007, I had 16 teeth (that’s HALF of my teeth!) grated with new bone tissue under the gums. Yuck. It was nasty but it has helped my receeding gums a lot. We’re still paying them off but the good news is both of our teeths and gums are now officially healthy and strong. I have to have special cleanings every three months at the periodontist’s office for about a year and then every three months for another year I get to alternate cleanings between the periodontist and the dentist. Horray for me.

Two weeks ago at my perio cleaning, they told me I had a cavity and I needed to see my regular dentist for a filling. I gotta say, I was exctited! For the first time in over a decade I had a normal, run of the mill, every day, common dental issue that could be taken care of in less than an hour!!!! Imagine my excitement! And especially now when I feel so utterly NOT NORMAL. Having a cavity filled felt like a day at the park for me!

I went in and got it filled yesterday and I learned a lot about how chemo can affect my mouth. See, chemo can cause serious damage (I don’t know if it’s permanent!) to the salivary glands. Thus, causing my mouth to be extremely dry — especially at night when I snore with my mouth open. When the mouth is so drastically dry like that, it can cause a massive breeding ground for bacteria. Which explains why the cavity I had filled yesterday had actually broken through a filling I got last year - same place, just busted through and behind it. Very interesting! They also said that the serious dryness may be the cause of my delicate tongue issues.

So what’s the solution? 1) brush my teeth as often as possible - after every meal, especially. 2) rinse with super special antibacterial mouthwash (there is a brand called Biotene that helps stimulate the salivary glands in the mouth). 3) chew lots of gum to keep things stimulated in there (Biotene also makes a magical gum just for this purpose). 4) drink lots of water (which I already do). I am armed and ready to go…toothbrushes and sensative toothpaste in every bathroom of the house, gum loaded in my purse and on the counter, hard candy, too (but it burns my tongue), and mouthwash. Yay!

I miss the kiddos at work so bad. I miss my coworkers too. I want to go visit and read them some stories. I was planning on going there today but I had a busy weekend and a full week ahead so I need just one day to rest at home alone and take care of myself. So I think I’ll reschedule and get over there Monday of next week, before I get CAKE on Tuesday so that I’m at the top of my game for the kids. I can’t wait! I love those guys!

In the meantime, I am going to schedule 30 minutes every single day to meditate and visualize healing in my mind and body. I’ve certainly got the time to do it, I just need the discipline to do it every day! Also, now that my neuropathy has mostly subsided, and it’s above 30 degrees outside, I’ll take a dog for a walk today.

Tomorrow I get to go with Sister and Mama to pick out her wedding dress and look at bridesmaid dresses! YAY! Playing wedding is AWESOME!

Thursday, my Daddy is taking me to ShrinkyDink and then out to lunch afterwards. I haven’t spent much time with my Daddy lately and I miss him a lot. We always have fun together!

Friday, Kat and I are getting manicures and pedicures at a spa for my birthday! The Diana Price-Fish Foundation scheduled the appointment and took care of all the arrangements for us so that’s pretty sweet. It’s Kat’s first mani/pedi so I have to make sure they don’t hurt her! Then Friday night Honey and I are meeting with a group of twenty and thirty-something cancer survivors in our area for a happy hour.

Saturday is PARTY DAY!!!! Honey and I get to clean the house and get ready for our guests. Woo hoo! PARTAY!

Candace keeps telling me about this adorable website so I’m adding it to my list of daily sites for fun!