[Crooner]

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!

[Synchro]

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

[Pickfish]

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

[Crooner]

Thanks, Guys!

[fretbuzzard]

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

[dgshooter]

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

[S. Rock]

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

[jbcallender]

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.

[Crooner]

Originally Posted by fretbuzzard

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

Originally Posted by dgshooter

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

Originally Posted by S. Rock

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

Originally Posted by jbcallender

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.

[SaltyDog]

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

[thunder58]

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

[dazzajl]

Yay!!

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

[ishtar]

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.

[LATS]

Hey, Darin! Welcome back, man!

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

[Arfer MO]

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

[The Marlin]

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

Marlin

[beatnik]

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

[JLD4133]

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.

[6stings]

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

[RhineO]

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.