Making an Electric Guitar

So what do bored teens do when school's out for summer...make homemade electric guitars of course!  This first video is the very first one he made last week.

The upgraded version of the guitar soon followed when a neighbor (who is very smart about a lot of topics-guitars is not one of them but welcomed the challenge) took the boy under his wing and let him come over everyday (for hours on end) and use tools, ask questions, and together...two great minds came up with this: (though he warns he still has string work to do)

Heavy Metal

Let's face it, he was heavy metal the minute he picked up his first guitar. Well, not really, but he is certainly cool enough to be...

We finally got the boy in his braces. Sorry to all the Goldenhar patients that don't have a cleft palate, insurance will likely NOT pay for the braces. But that's okay. He is in them, and will be for a while. They only put on the top row this go around and will add the bottoms at a later appointment. He will also add the spacer later as well. He didn't want to put everything in his mouth at once and have the Gman super uncomfortable. The braces hurt bad enough, but nothing a little ibuprofen won't handle.

We will remove the braces in about 6 months temporarily to add composite bonding type additions to the front teeth to make them look more like full pretty teeth. After that is done by his family dentist, we'll go back and put the braces right back on. The bottom row will be moved only slightly forward and then a pediatric bridge will fill in the remaining gap where he has no adult teeth (missing bottom front four). After the boy finishes growing at around age 20, he can decide if he wants an adult (more permanent) bridge or dental implants.

I know it sounds like a lot, and we haven't even been back to see the surgeon about the whole jaw issues, but he too wanted to wait until after age 18 to fix any of that (should we go in that direction). However, by the time the chap is in his early 20s, he'll be so glad he did all of this and I think he'll love the results! We are blessed as always to have a magnificent team helping and guiding us along the way!

 The main concern now is keeping the health of his teeth and progressing in weight gain. Gman is afraid this will set him back but we have loads of ice cream to supplement his lack of biting into food that is just plain uncomfortable and not recommended for a young'un with braces. The anxiety is behind him now and he's getting used to the heavy metal already!

Hovering

On an impromptu stop at a Wal Mart, my mother decided to get G's hair cut. He needed a cut desperately and she was being the good grandmother and getting that little chore out of the way while they were out shopping.

Well, "the girl" my mother called her, sat G down and mother explained to her that once he removes his CIs that he'll hear nothing. Mother proceeded to explain how he wanted his hair trimmed up and assured "the girl" that she'd stand close by in case she needed her to communicate for her while he was off air.

Hmm, "the girl" got really nervous and told my mother she'd have to go sit down and not hover over her while she cut hair....(hover over her?) Yep. As you can imagine, that didn't go over well with G's grandmother. Mom said, "I'm not sitting down until I'm certain you know how he wants his hair cut!"

Needless to say, he got a slight trim and we'll just see that he gets to his regular barber (who is much more understanding and nicer) than some people tend to be. Completely made the Gman uncomfortable as well as mom but they both learned something from their impromptu stop.

Brace Yourself

After years of anticipation, guess who will be getting braces next Saturday?

That's right, this guy! We tried for over a year to get insurance to pay for them since it is medically necessary per the dentists, and orthodontists that we work closely with, BUT since he does not have a cleft palate, we got a big fat no! Goldenhar Syndrome has left his mouth with its share of challenges and we are not sure yet how long he will wear the braces but we'll see how it all goes.

We are moving teeth around to fill in the gaps where no adult teeth are present. Then, the dentist will be able to shape what he does have and after that he'll be ready for dental implants. Since dental implants can't be side by side, we must move teeth around first so that they can be placed sporadically. He has a long road ahead of him with orthodontia but by the time he graduates high school he'll be so glad he did it! ((He is less than excited))

Wanted...

...because some deaf children really do hear! 

The boy picked up a guitar last summer and hasn't put it down since.  So five guitars later, we started him in guitar lessons to couple his natural talent...I should say un-natural talent, God-given, God-decided-to-bless-him talent.  However you look at it, if you had asked me ten years ago when he was four if he'd be able to ever hear a guitar well, much less play one, I would have said NO.