I apologize for the length between updates. It has been a difficult few weeks, with my pain increasing and work load growing. The arthrocentesis did help to alleviate some of the muscular pain; the downfall to this is I felt the jaw and nerve pain so much more. Since the procedure, I have had to be on much stronger pain killers daily. Thankfully though, I am slowly able to cut down on the narcotics and move back into muscle relaxants and high doses of motrin. I'm hopeful I can stay away from the "bad" drugs.
Today I went back to the surgeon and received my new 24/7 mouthpiece. It is much uglier and bulky than I had anticipated. It fits over my bottom teeth and causes a bit of a lisp. The only time I am supposed to take it out is for eating and preaching he said. Ughh...how I hate it. Even after the possible surgery I will have to wear this thing. I would love to just throw it in the trash but it is a spendy little bugger and he thinks it will help at least some. I find like every other splint i've had I am clenching more but i'll try to keep my mindset optimistic. It may very well help once I get use to it.
The news on the surgery front is both good and bad. While i'm completely ready to head in to the operating room at this point, the waiting game will continue. For insurance purposes as well as to allow us to see how the splint works, we'll have to wait another two months. The doctor said the insurance company requires this last wait before they will ever approve the surgery. The good news to this is it will give us the chance to really give the splint coupled with more physical therapy a chance to do its thing. The bad news is more waiting, more pain, and the surgery date possibly interfering with important work stuff.
I'm finding i'm not the most patient person when it comes to pain. I cannot stand my life being so debilitated with this. The thought of my life being in semi-hold for an even longer period of time is agonizing. I just want this over. I know the wait is a good thing for my body but for my state of mind I feel destroyed. It is amazing how the body effects the mind so much. With each day that passes, i'm feeling more down in the dumps and can't find the motivation for anything. My house is a total disaster, and work is so hard to focus on. All I can focus on is the pain and the hope of getting rid of it.
Please pray i'm able to get my energy, motivation,and zest for life back. I just want to feel normal again.
Thank you for continuing to check in. Each comment left really does make a difference. It is great to know someone out there is reading this. :) I promise to keep up more with this blog. I am finding it very therapeutic.
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Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteglad to finally hear from you! I am sorry you still feel the pain but it"s probably a good idea to give this mouthpiece a chance. I have chronic neck pain myself and I know all too well how pain can take all your mind and all you think is "how am I going to get through the rest of the day!", but somehow you do and you get each time one step closer to teh relief that you are looking for.
I really hope that the mouthpiece helps while you wait for surgery. from what I understood your family does not seem to be really on your side, if that's the case that's really sad because it makes all the difference to know that people around can understand (or at least try), sometime words are not necessary, just a shoulder we know we can rest on, i know it helped me a lot I hope you can find that should if you haven't already.
best of luck and keep us in the loop!
Hi Nathalie!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your continued comments and support. Thankfully, my family has really been there for me on this. They really desperately want to see these problems go away as well. The lack of support actually comes from work related issues which can make it difficult. I'm grateful however to at least have family and friends there for support (and of course my internet buddies!).
I am glad you have people around that understand your disease, well I hope that you get used to this mouth piece and that it gets you some comfort. I guess this is one of these diseases where people easily think that it's all in your head. I remember when I was complaining for constant headache my husband would tell me "that's because you don't drink enough.." I hated it, i just sometimes wishes that he would feel my pain when I have an episode so he could understand, I am sure you understand what I mean.
ReplyDeletetake care,
Nathalie