March 27, 2012

and the journey continues...

Today was day two of our quest to CHANGE LORI'S LIFE.   It was not only a super fun day filled with new experiences for Lori, but we learned a lot about what it's going to take to give her the smile of her dreams.  We started the day back at Dr. Kahal's office to do a teeth cleaning but first stopped at Starbucks where Lori had her first Frapachino... she obviously fell in love :) After a quick sugar bender, we headed over to Dr. Meister's for Lori's first Orthodontic consultation.

Dr. Meister and Lori
After taking some more x-rays and closely examining her teeth, Dr. Meister told us there are two options.   One is to put braces on her to get her teeth as straight as possible then finish up with some touch ups when the braces come off.  The other,  more ideal option, is for Lori to have her jaw surgically worked on along with having braces.  Dr. Meister informed us that the average adult upper jaw is between 32-38mm wide.  Lori's is 23 mm wide. 

 Lori is an extreme case that will require surgery on her jaw to align her teeth and her bite.    Lori let Dr. Meister know that her jaw and her bite cause constant pain for her and simple luxuries such as eating an apple or chewing on a piece of steak are almost impossible because of how her jaw bites.  It became very clear that fixing her jaw would completely change how she lives her life.  We asked her how she felt about oral surgery and she is completely on board and feels that this is the best case scenario for her.  We couldn't agree more and realized the next step will be to find an oral surgeon to get on board.  Dr. Meister let us know that in going through with the surgery, he will first apply braces to help straighten the teeth as much as possible.  The second step will be the surgery followed by some touch ups once the braces come off.  Molly and I realized that this is going to be a long and complex process, but we are 100% committed to making this happen.  To see the excitement in her eyes with just the thought of fixing these issues makes us more and more encouraged to raise all the money needed and again, make this the most memorable experience ever. 

After the consultation, Dr. Meister put a call in to an oral surgeon that he has a close relationship with, to let him know about Lori and her story and the help we are going to need.  We were hoping to get into the surgeons office today but we are now waiting on a call from him and will most likely (we hope) get Lori in for an appointment on Thursday.  We are just hoping now that the surgeon is touched by her story and has the ability to do the work for the amount that we already have raised.  We know there is a good possibility that we are going to have to raise more money to make this happen but we will have a better idea about that by the end of this week, when we have seen the surgeon and know the exact plan.
We all left the appointment feeling excited.  We now know there is a solution and by the end of this, Lori will be filled with joy.

Before bringing Lori back to the hotel we took her around Newport Beach and walked around Balboa Island.  I love how excited she gets about the beauty that surrounds us on a day-to-day-basis... views and experiences that we all, myself included, take for granted.   We took her to get her first maicure and pedicure.  She was so excited.  She ended up settling for a very bright shade of pink...I
copied her :)   From there we stopped by a self-serve frozen yogurt shop... another first time experience for Lori... not just the self-serve part-- but the frozen yogurt itself is something she has never eaten.  She looked like a little kid in a candy shop-- seeing all of the flavors and toppings she could choose.
      

Lori thinks palm trees are the coolest things ever and I think its the coolest thing ever that she has such a fascination with them.   Its truly such a special experience to watch someone else discover the world in new ways.  Probably my favorite part of the day today was when we picked Lori up in the morning and she told us about a conversation she had with her 6 year old son last night.  He said, "Mommy, show me pictures! I want to see all of the colors of the world!"    To think about her sons face when he said that... the images he had in his mind, picturing his mom on this crazy adventure in another land... it was so heart warming and almost had me in tears (i think that will be a very regular feeling throughout this process).

Well, it was another great day and again, we can't thank Diana, Dr. Kahal, Dr. Meister, Michele AND all of YOU who have donated in Loris name over the last 24 hours.  YOU are changing her life.

To be a part of this, please donate in Loris name at:  CHANGE LORI'S LIFE

LOVE wins.
Lauren

3 comments:

  1. Lori this is an amazing opportunity and I'm glad your getting it you deserve it. Love ya

    ReplyDelete
  2. dear:lori this is destinee how are you doing today i was wondering if i can show you something that i made a few weeks ago this was a video i made with my family and everything

    animoto.com/play/KFp2KHcp3084ypum0i2Hgg


    here you go lori hope you like it


    sincerely: Destinee carroll

    ReplyDelete