So! I now find myself at a few fortunate positions. I have full coverage medical, so anything I do is free, free, free. My husband is totally supportive of all this. And since I'm stationed here for three years, and I'm finally out of training status, I can go ahead and start work on my teeth.

Right now I'm waiting to hear back from the military orthodontist to see if he'll take my case. And if he doesn't, then I can go to a civilian doctor. The bad thing about all of this is that I'm in Hawaii, which severely limits my resources in terms of what kinds of braces I can get (Damon braces are only offered on Maui, as far as I can tell, and there are invisalign, but my case is undoubtedly too severe for those). But for now I play the waiting game for the next two weeks to see where I'll be going.