Hello to all my G-T pals and to those members who have joined the show since my last postings.

As many of you know, I've been going through a complete and total dental reconstruction that started last June 10th with a 27 tooth extraction. I won’t go through every detail, but the last 12 months have been fairly harrowing. The expected end date to the process keeps getting pushed further back and there have been some serious errors on the part of the oral surgeon in charge of the nastiest elements of the project. Luckily my dentist is taking more control and, while I still have a long way to go, I can finally see a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. That being said, I still have six implants to go on top and two on the bottom (the first two top ones were installed, but the oral surgeon placed them too far back towards the roof of my mouth, making them useless for the goal of having no upper palette coverage - thus they will just stay in my head, unused, and impossible to remove without losing far too much bone in the process). In the meantime, I have "traditional" temporary dentures to wear daily, but I can't chew anything with them, so they're really only for show.

On the whole, this has been a very depressing time, essentially putting most aspects of life on hold. It's been very hard to get excited regarding just about anything, and, as such, I haven’t been playing much at all. This whole thing has impacted virtually every aspect of my life.
I couple of years ago I remember anther G-T member writing about going through a bit of a rut and I can definitely understand that.

One bright note is that I recently moved to a rent controlled apartment with much more space than my previous hamster cage, allowing me to create a nice little music corner and I've started to dust off my playing again (again). I can't crank the volume too much, but it's great to be able to plug in through my pedals and amps instead of being limited to playing solely through Amplitube on my 'puter. I've even started getting the GAS going again, despite the fact that I've not a shekel to spare (like that ever really stopped me before).

While I've been silent on the boards, I've been lurking and I really appreciate the messages I've received from those that have checked in during the last few months. It’s tough to say just how often I'll be active, but I definitely want to be back in action. I miss these forums, the members and the healthy attitude that comes with breaking through the feelings of isolation that are so easy to succumb to when going through rough times.

So, with that, it's good to be back amongst friends!

Great to hear from you Crooner. I hope it goes well from this point onward.

Great to have you back! Hard times pass, it's best to keep your mind on positive things, you know like jets and such!

Thanks, Guys!

Thinking of ya, Crooner. Good to have you back!

Even though I joined since to took your break, welcome back. I hope your health issues get resolved quickly.

HEY, Daren !!! I've been wondering what had happened to you. glad to see ya back "home".

Crooner,

Welcome back! I don't want to minimize what you've been through over the past year, We want to see some pics of the new smile, of course - when you're ready.

Thinking of ya, Crooner. Good to have you back!

Even though I joined since to took your break, welcome back. I hope your health issues get resolved quickly.

HEY, Daren !!! I've been wondering what had happened to you. glad to see ya back "home".

Crooner,

Welcome back! I don't want to minimize what you've been through over the past year, We want to see some pics of the new smile, of course - when you're ready.

Thanks so much, guys.

As for the smile, the best I got now is the dentures. They look good, but are still not quite right. I had no idea how difficult it is to get not just the bite correct, but also the amount of fake gum material to properly fill in the amount of bone that I lost due to the infection that started this whole thing.
Another weird side effect this whole experience has had on me is weight gain. Before the whole project started, I had lost weight as I only had three or four teeth that wouldn’t fall apart, whereas now, I've become an expert on creating tasty mush. I have honed in on certain frozen dinners that blend well (my blender is one of my best pals) but then must add a variety of Asian and Indian condiments to add some extra flavor. I swear I could host my own food channel show for those going through the same thing as I. The result however, has manifested itself in about an extra 25 pounds. My normal "fighting weight" has always hovered around 147 pounds, but now I'm up to 170, which is the heaviest I've ever been in my life. As soon as my sprained knee heals (when it rains it pours), I'm all set to hit the exercise room at my building and burn off the extra poundage. In the meantime, I'm a tad more "round faced" than usual. That's better, however, than the horrifying sight of me looking like Popeye the shrunken apple-head when I don’t have the teeth in. These days I have fun making ridiculous faces in the mirror, but for the first few months, I couldn’t look in the mirror without the teeth in as it was too upsetting.
Nevertheless, in the interest of the importance of pics here, I'll think seriously about posting a pic of my current smile tomorrow after I get a sorely needed haircut. :o

Teeth, Shmeeth ... who needs 'em?
Just don't let anything happen to your fingers or ears.

hey crooner , welcome back and best wishes , hope you stick around ................rich

Yay!! :D

Really nice to see you back again and with reason to be feeling more upbeat too.

Good to hear from you. Sorry about the ordeal with your dental nightmare. Hang in there, Darin. You are due for some smooth sailing, man.

Hey, Darin! Welcome back, man! :D

Tara has been uber busy since she moved to Berlin. We need another jetaholic to bring the tone.

Welcome back Crooner. Dentists terrify me. Made me realise how we take various things for granted. All the best mate Arf

best of luck for a speedy recovery. Now sue the ass of that dental surgeon

Marlin

welcome back mate how about slapping ur group shot of ur jets in for those who dont know what ur about (if ever there was a male equivalent to tara crooner is it) if nothing else to make us all jealous (me in particular)

p.s. i would have looked in this thread sooner but thought it was gonna involve horses lol

Here's hoping you are truly on the mend. As one who has had several health isuues in the last few years, I can truly vouch for the thereapeutic and healing quality of playing my guitars and gigging. May you tap into this and be restored.

Nice to see that you're back Crooner, let's do some Gretschin'!

Hi Crooner. We haven't met yet, as you can see I'm quite new to the forum. Life hasn't been exactly an easy ride for you these past months, hair-raising stuff you're telling us there. Good to hear you can still appreciate a ray of sunshine.
Keep going, all the best!!
My Duo Jet is an absolute joy to play. Just did some recordings with it running through my AC30 (with Silver Alnico's) and I'm absolutely blown away! Possibly the best guitar sound I ever had.

Noone asked for pics yet?
Hope you get well soon...and welcome back! :)

I get extreme fear, just going to the dentist the one or two times a decade, so I can feel your pain. Well not the actual pain, but the thought. I have not had the good fortune of seeing you here, as I think i came in as you were being distracted. So I guess its Hello!, and welcome back. The gas won't take long, and as you know, there are plenty of people here to help you get gas, and what to do with it!

Welcome back Darin!! You have missed some cool stuff, but you will catch up!!

Welcome back Crooner.


And you're getting GAS....you got be be getting better :D



As for the hair, nothing wrong with having it long, you should see me :eek:

Great to have you back Crooner,

I hope you get sorted soon - I'm going through a similar ordeal - but not quite as bad as you - so I know what your going through!

now get that post count up where it should be! :D

Hi Crooner! That sounds like a tough ordeal you've been going through. Good to see you're keeping your spirits up.

Hey Crooner, welcome back. We missed you around here!

I saw your posts pop up again and went back to find this thread.

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the teeth. Sounds like you're going through quite an ordeal with that. So sorry to read how it's affected your life and especially the music.
On the up-side: I bet there's a business in that cuisine!;)

Anyways, glad to see you back on the board!:)

Welcome back. Sorry to hear about your health troubles. I really think pain involving teeth ranks pretty far up on the list of horrible things to go thru. I had a nasty bone infection that's left me with 7 of my own original teeth, and those are probably not long for this world either. I'm stuck with dentures on top and the teeth i have left are all on the bottom and in front so i just grew a bushy mustache so if i don't feel like wearing my dentures it's not as noticeable :D

I haven't been thru the implant process, but i have a friend who just got them done. One of the first things she did once she was healed up was went out and got a caramel apple, so there is a lite at the end of the tunnel. That reminds me, i really miss munching on beef jerky.

I always try and tell all my friends, don't take your teeth for granted! If you even think you have a problem get to a dentist ASAP. Oral infections can kill you. Ok that's enough of my public service announcement.

Hope everything goes smooth from here on and the healing is quick.