As some of you know, I came into this world with a cleft lip and palate, called a harelip by some, which, in my case, means a split upper lip, upper jaw and palate, a slight handicap which was mended in the first two years of my life, through three operations. About ten years ago, a dental surgeon accidentally pulled open a minor channel between my mouth and nasal cavities, which makes it impossible for me to build up significant air pressure in my mouth, or, in daily language, to suck or blow. Now, don't worry, ladies, this opening is adequately covered by the upper shell of my dentures. And, yes, it seems to be easy to close this channel, which involves taking out a little piece of pelvic bone, and inserting it into my palate. To sum it up, I am happy with what I have, and I had more or less forgotten about this little issue, until yesterday.My dentist suggested to realign my upper denture, which involves my biting into a big spoonful of green paste, to take an impression of my upper jaw and palate. Afterward, the man started to pick forcibly into my palate with a set of pliers, to remove a piece of the green stuff left behind. As his attempts were quite painful, as the place essentially is one big scar, he decided to leave it there, to not hurt me any further.
I had expected to find a little 'pearl' of the green material in my mouth or nose, but I could not find anything, so I did not bother about it. However, tonight, while having dinner, I all of a sudden felt something in my nasal cavity, and in a matter of a minute or so I felt it sliding into the back of my throat, where I managed to catch it and work it out with my tongue.
To my surprise, it was a considerable lump of the green paste, which had been pushed through the channel into my nasal cavity, where it hardened out. I now realize why it was impossible for my dentist to pick it out, as the lower tip, which extended through the channel into my mouth, was only the proverbial tip of the iceberg! So, now I am the proud owner of a perfect cast of my handicap. You must be jealous!
3 comments:
The green stuff is called alginate and it is made of… algea. It falls apart quite fast though, so you need to make a contra-mould of plaster if you want to keep it.
Hey there! You are THE Izak van Langevelde, a name with which the term 'nlnet.misc' a certain group of people can easily formulate a sentence with? Rowdy Blokland here. You may or may not remember me. Got a short question on blogging: is the actual art of flaming dead or something? Surely, people do not always agree and all that but. That early culture of communication (between prozaic bigmouths that were in fact, quite shy and young students in reality :-))seems vapourized. Gott go now, I'm bloody busy (or at least I should be), my compliments for your blog and cheers, Rowdy.
Well, there is only one Rowdy Blokland and that's Rowdy Blokland! To answer you question, those worth flaming have already been flamed to cinders, and I find comfort in that sweet little Bangles' song. I am afraid that the art of flaming has died with usenet...
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