Friday, March 16, 2012

Sufferin' Succotash!

It's been another busy couple of days.  Mads was here and we took advantage of the wonderful weather we are having and went to the park. 

She had a blast as usual, was in a terrific mood and LOVED the swings!



Workouts are going well, Dawn, Brian and I are really liking the Les Mills PUMP!  We started week 2 this week and I have been super sore!  This is a good thing!

Yesterday we went to see Brian's mom and dad.  Judy is still in the skilled nursing facility after breaking her hip about a month ago.  Her hip has healed, but she is having some difficulty walking properly, so they are going to be keeping her for another couple of weeks so she can get some intesive physical therapy.  Please keep her in your prayers, she really wants to go home!  We took them lunch and got to visit for a few minutes before I had to be at the dentist.

I've had TMJ symptoms since high school.  I remember chewing gum in high school and my jaw completely locked up, it was so painful and I've had trouble since then.  I have a lot of pain, but just accepted that that was the way it was.  When I saw the dr's back then, they told me the only option was to break my jaw, have my mouth wired shut for about 6 weeks, ummmm, NO THANKS!  So, I've just dealt with it all this time.  I've worn a mouthpiece to sleep in for years, in fact I think I've been through about 7 of them.  I've broken them by grinding and clenching in my sleep.  So, the last one I had just fit over my two front teeth, I even ground that one down, so it was time to do something about it.  I wasn't a candidate for braces since I still have 3 baby teeth.  I KNOW!  How crazy is that, baby teeth at 46!  But, I just don't have any permanent teeth to push them out.  But, brackets for the braces will not work.

My friend Susan has been dating a wonderful guy, Scott for a while now and he is a dentist.  He kept telling me that he could probably help me, not completely fix me, but help me.  I finally got to the point that I was ready for that help.

So, I went to see him yesterday and he fitted me for a trampoline ( not the kind you jump on LOL), but a dental device that I will be wearing for quite some time ( 2 years) and he will be making corrections to it to spread my jaw and move my front teeth forward.

I've been a spitting and slurring machine all night last night and my teeth HURT!  He also put spacers on my bottom teeth in preparation for the work to come there in a couple of weeks.

My new best friends are ibuprofen and shakeology!  Eating anything is out of the question right now, too painful to put pressure on my teeth!

This is what the device looks like out of my mouth




and in my mouth.  I wear it all the time, only taking it out to brush my teeth.



Creepy photo!  HA HA!  Can't hardly see it, but you do notice when I try to talk! I made quite a few people laugh pretty hard yesterday and will probably do the same today!  I was told that I sound a bit like Sylvester the Cat.  Sufferin' Succotash!

I have a few days of pain in front of me, but it is tolerable and I am sure that it will be worth it in the long run!  So excited to get this thing going.

Oh and by the way, if you need a good dentist that is caring, nice and knowledgeable, go see Dr. Scott Goldstein in Anderson!!!