my jaw hurts

A phrase once uttered with regularity when I was about a junior in high school. My parents brushed it off, until one night at dinner my mom was like, you have TMJ. She took me to a dentist specializing in TMJ (temperomandibular joint/muscle disorder) and the first thing he did was apply pressure to my right shoulder and a shooting pain went all the way up my neck and into my jaw. Evidently I had torn one of the two muscles that hold the ball portion of your jaw into the cup of the joint. So, I got a fancy retainer to wear at night that would direct any pressure away from my jaw caused by my tense self clenching/grinding at night. Also I had to take some pills that looked like they could have been given to horses to loosen up the joints. It felt better.

Flash forward to summer before senior year in college. In pain again. At the cottage though, so no jaw doctor to see. We go to the walk in urgent care facility and a Dr. who realllly likes to give our prescriptions puts me on muscle relaxants by night and STEROIDS by day. This does little other than to have one of my boathouse co-workers tell me to lift a 13-foot boat on my own cause he thought I was "juicin' it". Riiight.

Later that fall...back to the home jaw doctor where my retainer is adjusted, and I am told I have arthritis in my jaw. I get a prescription from an apothecary that is topical and also Vioxx. Literally the following day, while eating breakfast, having just taken my Vioxx, I see on TV that Vioxx has been recalled. Awesome. In place I am prescribed Celebrex which is also later recalled. Meanwhile, I feel like a senior citizen.

So now, following the removal of my 3 wisdom teeth and thus much overstretching of my delicate jaw, it's tighter than ever before and I can't wear the retainer because it hurts too much but I'll get it fixed on Tuesday and maybe more drugs for that. Go team

Just another installment of if there are weird ailments to have, I have them.

Also, tonight I was napping on the couch with one dog nesting in my curled knees and the little one as the small spoon, but that was not good enough for her - she grew restless, licked every part of my face and then basically draped herself over my head. We've only had her for 2 full days, but I think she's settling in just fine. And she has us wrapped around her little dew claw. How cute.