What a CRAZY, amazing week.

So. I have a LOT to catch up. Let's backtrack. Everything is such a blur right now...

On Wednesday, April 6th, Rakhee emailed me a copy of her presentation for a "Treatment Planning Seminar" at her school, Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health. I believe all students have to complete three of these per year, and I was lucky enough to be included. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but was excited for once to have so much attention drawn to little ol' me and my scary mouth. I can hardly believe how over my past ten appointments I have begun to feel EXCITED to show people my mouth instead of always feeling like it must be perpetually clamped shut for all. Like I said before, my appointments are feeling more and more like an art class to me. How strange it is after graduating art school myself and sitting through so many 3-hour critiques, to feel almost like an inanimate sculpture that is being shown every week or two to the rest of the class and faculty by its artist, yet get to be conscious of the comments.
Her documented part of her class the next day that I got to see consisted of a 39 slide Powerpoint presentation.

Though much of it as she insisted would be "boring" to me, I couldn't help but feel incredibly moved by it. Being a writer and a poet and someone who has for years tried to keep the dying art of letter-writing alive, who always seems to write more about others close to me than ever gets returned, I couldn't help but think of this homework assignment as an incredibly informative and elaborate "poem" dedicated to my mouth. Though I may not quite understand it all, it was time and effort, compassion and care put into something created with me and my well being and happiness in mind. That is, after all, a perfect example of what I consider to be the greatest gift one can offer to another--our time. We all have different educations, different skillsets. This presentation was a poem written to me in another language, in honor of who I am as a person, and who I have become to a dental student that I am sure never would have expected what I would be getting her into on that first day I could barely open my mouth. It is a perfect example of the comfort, care, total transparency, and also a daily education that I am getting by choosing to remain committed to seeking treatment in the hands of an army of excited and passionate students and their mentors...and one, truly inspiring person I am quickly running out of adjectives for, that continues to change my life.

Thank you Rakhee. You better have gotten an "A+!"