A Smile Connects Us You And Me

Soooo, I've decided I just have a lot of extra fluid floating around in my head due to the lack of anti-inflammatory meds. This is making me feel congested, and have a sore throat due to the excess drainage. I do not have an infection! Good News! I see Dr. Myers MD this afternoon so I hope she can help my fluids flow better and alleviate this congestion. I also get hormone tests done today, just to make sure they are doing their job to make sure my joints are healthy. Yesterday was my last day of work...I'm now in the unemployment world. It actually feels pretty good, because after surgery I'll be able to start fresh! This week I have received great gifts from my friends to help me out before, during, and after surgery! Thank you everyone!! I fly out to Santa Barbara tomorrow with my parents...it's going to be a 13.5 hours travel day, hopefully I'll be able to sleep on the planes. I'm excited to get out of 40s and rainy to 70s and sunny!! I think one of the ha...

I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick!I Will Not Get Sick! 6 days Till Surgery and a cold is fighting like hell to get into my system, I'll be damned if I let it get in...I will not let it stop me from having my surgery. Yesterday was supposed to be my f...

First off I would like to thank everyone who came to my " Bon Voyage" party! It was great to see everyone one last time before I get rid of this ' ol jaw. There was lots of delicious food and great company to match! I could not get through this without all of your support! Thank You! I think I am going to send out official "Thank You" cards from Santa Barbara while recovering. I got a comment on one of my previous post from a fellow Dr. Gunson patient, I figured I would answer their questions in a blog post as the answers might be useful to someone else as well :) So here goes: How did you get your insurance to cover the surgery? Well, Dr. Gunson's office has a great staff! This includes someone who's job is to work with insurance companies to help get this surgery covered once your surgery date is within a 6mo. (I think) time range. They submit the claim for you. This does not mean that I did not have great help from my Dad in pressuring the insur...

On Thursday I woke up at 4am to catch my 6am flight to NYC. I am not a morning person, this was rough. After landing @ JFK I hung around the airport for a couple of hours, basically sitting like a zombie till catching a cab @ 9 to take me to The Met. This cab ride was pretty terrible. The cabbie was chain smoking, and the entire 45min drive I felt like I was on the Rattler wooden roller-coaster at Six Flags in San Antonio. At the Met I saw just about the whole museum due to getting lost several times looking for the restroom (which I did find eventually...). I really enjoyed the Robert Frank photography exhibit. It was really inspiring! At about 11 I decided to head up to the roof where there was an amazing panoramic view of the entire city & central park. It was in the low 70s and sunny, so the roof was the perfect place to kill some time before heading to my 1:00 appt with Dr. Mac only a few blocks away. I got in some great people watching! Before my appt I met a friend on the co...

Since I started taking all of this medication I have had really strange dreams, always threatening and scary. I have these dreams every night. The number of solid nights of sleep I've had without dreams in the last 3 years can be counted on one hand. Recently I have had a lot more animals in my dreams, which I have read means they can be more meaningful. Last nights dream was about bears. Lot's of bears: mama bears, papa bears, and bear cubs. These bears were hiding in many different places NOT in nature. They were all in buildings, cars, etc. They were attacking people, yet at the same time they seemed like they were hiding. I was never attacked, but I was I was being pursued. Lots of other things were going on in the dream, but this was the main thread that lasted throughout. I looked up the meaning of this dream and found out that being pursued or attacked by bears in your dreams can mean financial loss, overwhelming obstacles, renewal, burden, and meeting with emotions. Now...

Today I gave my autologous blood donation for my surgery. It feels good to have it if I need a transfusion during surgery. It's been about 5 years since I've given blood, so the process was familiar, but still felt a bit foreign. My arm is slightly swollen & sensitive to the touch, but there isn't a bruise so I guess that is good. I have only 14.5 days left till surgery!!! Crazy! Thursday I have my appointment in NYC with Dr.Mac. I am flying in and out in the same day. I'm feeling like quite the jet-setter! I am excited about this weekend. My parents are throwing a " Bon Voyage" party so I can see friends and family before my big trip. I also get to stop taking 4 different types of pills, that's 6 less pills a day! Out of my usual 15 types of pills I take each day, I am very much looking forward to the decrease! It will help save a little money :) I am not looking forward to the fact that the medicines I need to stop are all the ones that help with s...

This week I have been feeling very tired and run down. I just can't seem to feel rested no matter how much I sleep. The only way I feel rested is if I get 12hrs of sleep. There is just no way I can do that every night. In the last few nights I've gotten about 9 hours each, which for a healthy body would be great. For me, however, it is just not enough I guess... It is getting pretty cold up here now, it was 29deg. when I woke up this morning. With no heat on yet it is not exactly warm in our apartment! The cold, combined with the changing seasons, and stress means I am overdue for my fall cold. I can feel one wanting to come and live in my chest for a good couple weeks, but I am fighting it off the best I can. I am not allowed to get sick this month before surgery. If I do, they will have to postpone my surgery! Not happening, so I am not going to get sick. I am determined to stay healthy, no matter how much my body thinks it wants to be sick :) I am starting to think about wha...

Yesterday I had impressions done at Dr. Chira's office for my appointment next week in NYC with Dr. Mac. What is usually a half hour appointment turned into a two hour adventure. I had to get both the top and bottom impressions done. It all started out well. I picked raspberry flavoring (they were out of strawberry), and wax went on the brackets they thought might tear the impression. We started on the bottom. All was going well, I didn't gag, and my jaw wasn't too angry. But when the assistant took it out, it tore at the very last second meaning we had to take another impression. So we put more wax on the brackets, and tried again. This time the jaw was a bit more cranky, but it was tolerable . Again the assistant pulled out the impression, and AGAIN it tore. This time in a slightly different spot. Luckily third time was the charm thanks to even more wax. Now it was for the top. I was just hoping we would only have to do the top once, as this half hour appointment had alr...

Yesterday's Gingivectomy has come and gone. All in all I am very pleased with the outcome. Victory! The picture to the left is of my right side gum where the gum was removed. The left looks exactly the same. The experience was OK, I still wish I could be asleep for any dental treatment where burning flesh and scraping is involved. Dr. Hardy was great. He said I was one of his favorite patients because I always have a smile on my face. I let him know this was a nervous smile today, and I was terrified of the ensuing pain from the Novocaine shots. He told me I could get "laughing gas" to help if I thought I needed it. I said "Yes, Please!" After the disaster I had with my mucous seal removal nightmare I didn't want to take any chances. I am very glad I did, I could feel the Novocaine shots, and the scraping, but I didn't have a panic attack this time. When Dr. Hardy used the laser to remove the extra gum tissue I could taste blood, and burning flesh. I kn...

29 Days Till Surgery!! And I feel pretty prepared! Besides a few last minute drug store items. If feels good to be so prepared so early :) Thus far my splint has proved to alleviate a lot of joint pain which gives me great hope for post surgery results. Lately my hormone therapy has proved to be really annoying, but I hope in the long run it will be worth it for my joints to be on it...if not, I'm going crazy for nothing :) Tomorrow I go in for a gingivectomy with Dr. Hardy. They will be using a laser of sorts to remove two sections of gum tissue from both the left and right sides of my bottom gums. This is a preventative measure for surgery. I have excess gum tissue from where they pulled one tooth on each side nearly 2 yrs ago? Or was it last December? I can't remember, there have been a lot of appointments from then to now. They are removing the tissue to reduce the risk of infection during surgery. Because I won't be able to clean my mouth very well for a little while ...