who knew all that pain was connected.

your on vacation and really don't want to spend the whole time complaining about pain. I always seemed to have had a headache and I kept getting a little dizzy. I blew it off as being in the sun and not drinking enough water. I'm usually guilty of that when being at the beach or pool. As the weekend wore on, my ear started bothering me and I had some pain in my neck and shoulders. I blew it off. Yesterday, I noticed the pain was getting more intense and as the day wore on whenever I would talk or chew I had some significant pain. But, I woke up this morning to Kreg's darn alarm with full fledged swelling and severe pain on the left side of my face, in my ear and all along my jaw bone. It was time to head to the doctor.

Of course, life couldn't' be that easy.

There is no dentist in La Grange that takes our stinkin Metlife Dental Insurance. So that meant back up to Cedar Park it was. The boys and I were only in Austin yesterday trying to get Hunter's b-day party squared away. I call right away at 8:00 and they want to see me at 9:00. Not gonna happen. I need at least an hour and a half. So I'm told to get there as soon as I can and they will see me. So, I'm thinking do I take the boys or not? Justin is in summer school and I'm sure someone in Austin would watch them for me. But, the dentist is a straight shot up 130 to 45. If I took them somewhere, that meant veering off and going less than 70. I'll just take them. How long could I be? I arrive at 10:00 and by 11:30 the boys have played with all the toys, fought over everything possible and were driving me batty. I promised them playtime at McDonald's with a friend for good behavior. That was slipping away fast. I finally turn on the TV in the waiting room and settle them down to finally get called back at 12:15. (yes, thats 2 hours and 15 minutes in a waiting room.) I'm in the room closest to the waiting room when I hear the door open and Hunter yelling "Mom, we've knocked the couch over." Oh my GOSH! At least the dentist's wife has 2 boys close to my boy's ages, and completely understood. They help take such good care of them while I'm being worked on.

By now, I'm in such pain I can barely open my mouth and of course, I have to open wide for the dentist to be able to look around and poke and prod. By time he's done, I'm in tears and I'm much worse off than before. I can taste all the blood in my mouth from the gums.

Turns out - my TMJ has done a number on me. I've haven't been sleeping and I'm not sure if it's because I'm clenching and grinding my teeth and gums so bad or I'm clenching and grinding because I'm not sleeping. But basically I've sent all the muscle's in my mouth and along my jaw into spasms. Severe spasms. And because of these spasms, there isn't much we can do at the moment. And these spasms have caused my gums to be increasingly sensitive. So now I'm on a muscle relaxer, basically all day, to help relax my jaw. Once that's done I'm headed to an oral surgeon for treatment. And all I know about treatment is that draining, splint, and implants was mentioned as options.

so all of this pain I've been in, the dizziness, headaches, ear tenderness and the swollen face are all due to TMJ. what else and how fun.

and just how am I suppose to function while taking muscle relaxers all day?

we missed seeing our friends and the boy's aren't letting me forget.