posted on January 12, 2007 09:04:29 AMUPDATE POST MF CLINIC VISIT:
Just returned from the UF/SHANDS MF CLINIC & was very impressed with the exam perfomed there...PLUS, they at least gave me some HOPE...
A resident did a complete exam of my jaw, including PANORAMIC X-RAYS, and then the attending surgeon examined me...
CONCLUSIONS:
MOST PROBABLY (but not 100% positive),the DISC in the jaw-joint is out -- I think this is referred to as "internal derangement?" (RALPHIE notes that he's been saying for years that I'm deranged), but, since X-RAYS don't help with SOFT-TISSUE diagnoses, I need an MRI to confirm this...SO, an MRI has been schedule for next week, along with a return appointment with a MF SURGEON who concentrates on TMK procedures...
CONSERVATIVELY, they try a "flushing" procedure (Arthrocentesis) first, as this is minimally invasive & has been successful for many patients:
If that don't help...well, we'll cross that bridge,etc.etc...
In the meantime, I must:
1) Eat mush
2) MOTRIN 200mg (NOT the 800mg'ers) over 24hrs to keep my blood level UP of the MOTRIN...
3) HOT COMPRESSES, NOT the cold I have been using...
So, I at least have some HOPE now that I'm NOT going to be doomed to this nightmare every night forever...
posted on January 12, 2007 09:30:01 AM
So good to hear that you are getting some good help and advice Tom. Lets hope it's something that can be dealt with easily. Keep up that HOPE, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and when its over, it makes you very thankful that it is.
posted on January 12, 2007 10:57:58 AM
me too. Maybe when Dr DooDoo did the RC he screwed up your jaw.
Sounds like there is hope they really care and help is on its way. Goodie!
posted on January 14, 2007 08:50:38 AMDiane:
THANKS for your concern -- it is appreciated MORE than you can possible understand!
When I posted the original plea back on 12/25, I was truly at the bottom of a PIT-OF-DESPAIR over the whole mess, and was at the end of my rope. I had nowhere to turn, and, out of pure desperation, I turned to you folks here. The response has been overwhelming -- an extremely humbling experience to say the least...
I'm a NOBODY...a TOTAL COMPLETE STRANGER to most here...BUT: the astounding KINDNESS & GENEROSITY that has been extended to me has lifted my spirits immeasurably & has enabled me to seek the services of a REAL dentist & still be able to pay the RENT...Ralphie was all worried that his chewies & "Mr.Squeaky" would end up being thrown out on the street...
Anyhoo...WORDS are pretty INADEQUATE to convey my GRATITUDE to ALL here, so, about the ONLY thing I can say is:
1) The ORIGINAL pain I had to begin with (back MOLAR has ACHED since 11/30) is STILL there, if not worse, so, I'm convinced that DrSchmucko's "root canal" performed on 12/5 was probably un-necessary; way below the "standard of care" ; unethical & inadequate follow-up care; and I'm pursuing options against him...The QUACK actually had the BIG BRASS ONES to send me a BILL for the $90 EXTRA he charged for "adjustments" performed during my post-RC return appointments! Since the probability of PIGS FLYING is relatively slim, I think he be gonna wait for awhile before he sees dat MOOLA???
THE RC tooth has FINALLY calmed down & no longer bothers me, but, of course, as with all post-RC teeth, it needs a crown. As does my front tooth...
2) I'm awaiting a call from UF/SHANDS for the MRI appointment, which has to be sometime BEFORE Friday, as that is when I return to the MF CLINIC to see the MF SURGEON who specializes in ONLY TMJ procedures. The two surgeons I saw the other day felt that because of my lack of any previous EAR+JAW+TEMPLE+click-click symptoms; plus the SUDDEN ONSET on my symptoms (24 hours AFTER the RC); and the fact that the pain becomes extreme in the evening; pointed toward a problem WITHIN the joint, most probably with that DISC there, but that the MRI is needed to confirm this...
If that is the case, then they felt that the TMJ specialist would probably recommend the minimally invasive, but highly successful procedure called: Arthrocentesis which is basically a "flush" of the joint...
I'm making an appointment with my PHARM'S SIL (a REAL dentist) to examine all my teeth & crown that botched RC + fix my front tooth before it begins to bother me & I look like a snaggle-toothed pirate...PLUS, hopefully, he can solve my ORIGINAL PROBLEM that I've had ever since way back 11/30 with the back molar...
THE PAIN in the AM is a 1-2 & will stay there as long as I don't eat ANYTHING...As soon as I eat ANYTHING (soft or hard), the pain starts up again in my JAW+EAR+TEMPLE and can really skyrocket. EVERY NIGHT since 12/6 has been torture, with the level between a 5-8...FRIDAY NIGHT was 8; last night was 6...THANK GOODNESS the AMBIEN knocks me out at 11 or 12, or I'd be totally INSANE...
posted on January 14, 2007 02:23:47 PM
Sounds like there just may be some light showing for you. Glad someone knows a bit that willhelp you out. Good luck.
************** I married my wife for her looks, but Not the one she gives me lately!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Check it out
And Feebay stuff at This link
posted on January 14, 2007 05:45:27 PM
Tom, I'm so glad you posted an update. I have been concerned but don't want to bother you.I pray the procedures you are facing will be easy, non invasive and will work like a charm.
I really do think of this message board as a place where a few souls have found a small group of friends. We can count on answers to questions and can share the good the bad of our lives. Sometimes there are responses that "tork my jaw" and others that make me laugh or inform me. Quite a group of friends we have banded together here, I think! I'm grateful to ya'll.... well most of you
posted on January 14, 2007 06:54:58 PM
Taking a page from Beth's book, there are many, many references suggesting that the false intimacy generated from online chats or blogging is not only hollow but detrimental to our real-life relationships. Since other than what they tell us, we actually know little about -- and have rarely met -- our online "friends", we can see in these nebulous relationships anything we need to see and that which is not provided by spouses and/or immediate family.
...our anonymous culture has turned inward to escape emotionally. The result is a society full of individuals striving to be the ultimate autonomous being of their own little world. The focus is no longer on others, but on the self. It is now about me. I must have my space, and my music, on my iPod or my PDA, so that I can live my life without the inconvenience that is you.
and
Someone once said, “Sincerity is the most important thing in life. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made!” Beware of false intimacy. False intimacy can easily develop in online chat rooms, for instance. It seems you are having a heart-to-heart conversation with someone. Then you make plans to meet and they don’t show up, or they aren’t who they represented themselves to be. Or the chat-and-email connection is suddenly just dropped without explanation. These folks aren’t practicing intimacy. For them, relationships are simply a source of entertainment or diversion.
and
Typically, computer addicts are bright, creative individuals who also feel incredibly lonely and isolated, Orzack (a clinical psychologist) says. They "are really what we would call vulnerable in some way. Loneliness is way up there; they also can be bored, depressed, angry, frustrated." She cites one woman patient as typical. Divorced, lonely, not sleeping well, she developed relationships through a chat room. "On the Internet, she has a sense of belonging, a sense of identity. She tells me that when she goes online, she realizes she's missed." "Someone's been looking for me," the woman tells Orzack.
"Someone's been wondering where I've been."
fLufF
--
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Jan 14, 2007 06:57 PM ]
posted on January 14, 2007 08:03:19 PM
Not taken from a page out of any book, just using knowledge I have gained in life .
-
There are many books and publications defining the "why" and "why nots".
Self improvement,human gratification, and human behavior manifestos are the best sellers.
However when it comes right down to it, it is not complicated , it is very simple. People react differently to different situations .
Some people are indeed stoic, no situation will move them to have pity, feel love or show compassion, or any basic fellow-feeling for others.
These type are always angered and annoyed by any display of caring bestowed to someone if it seems illogical to them. They feel that this must be , false, not real.
Often they will rally to defend their aloofness by some eloquent "findings" or "writings" that claim that people who bond must be "needy".
Yet their anger and annoyance is real.
On the other hand some folks can "bond " and have real friendship with people they have never met.
The PC did not invent this means of forming friendships.
As I said every word I am typing is from my knowledge bank -- not cut and paste writings .
My mother had two pen pals, which started when she was a small child. These three (my mother and the two others) exchanged handwritten letters for almost 70 years, until their death.When the last one was still alive I still continue writing her until she died, ironically others in the family of the other person also keep writing the last survivor.
My mother was not divorced ,lonely or needy. This type of bonding has been around for centuries.
Now we do this more often via forums with people who have common interest.
It is not wrong to care about each other.
BTW _ I am not divorced, lonely or unhappy . My family or any of my "personal" friends are not left out by me caring or forming a friendship with people here .
Certainly , I do not try to "appease" or gain favor from everyone on a forum.
I am not saying I am right or the "book" that was reference is wrong .
However I choose to be the way I am.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This post is solely my opinion and not to be looked upon as divine revelation
posted on January 14, 2007 11:34:43 PM
My beef vegetable barley soup warmed too long in the crockpot and turned to mush but tastes fine - Wish I could send it to you, Tom...
posted on January 15, 2007 12:15:58 AM
Deur1, what a beautiful story about penpals. I have read many penpal postcards and they are, indeed, true intimate friends.
Faith Popcorn or Watts Wacker for future trends (both of whom predicted the intimacy of computer friends and how to capitalize on it).
And for insight into the inferiority complex Alfred Adler can't be beat.
There is a reason you become anxious when challenged, always have to be right and command a negative attitude about it. Figure that out (or ask your therapist) and bliss is just around the corner.
As for Tom, you make another (as usual faulty) assumption that no one on this board has spoken, met or knows him beyond this keyboard.
And, thank you, to the concept that pen pals have been around since the pigeon and the pen.
PS: Always use citations, bolsters your arguments, credibilty and all that, you know.
posted on January 15, 2007 06:19:21 AM
Tom ... I'm glad that your finding a resolution to your medical problem. It's just around the corner, so hang in there.
For the record, I am not needy, lonely nor desparate for human companionship. I have plenty of friends and activity in my life. However, I have found that in certain forums, there are bonds of friendship that are real. I have made many friends through the internet -- some of which I have met in person, some of which I only talk with on the phone, and some of which just remain through the internet. Does this mean that they are false friends? No. We truly care for and about one another.
posted on January 15, 2007 07:15:50 AM
Early in our internet experience we met someone online who shared our passion for an obsolete and rather obscure technology. When I told a long time friend that my husband and I had been invited to spend a holiday weekend with his family and we were traveling a couple of hundred miles to do so the old fiend was appalled. "How can you trust someone you met on the internet?" There was a story in the news about a woman who was murdered when she visited a new "internet friend" and he was concerned for our welfare. We trusted our instinct and had a wonderful visit and have since had him to our house and continue to stay in touch till this day.
What does this prove? Nothing I guess but I think there are times when you go with your instincts. I very much doubt that any of us would send our life savings to cement a "deal of a lifetime" from an unsolicited email. I do think we are not total fools for offering some help to someone we feel we know from this forum.
Would anyone spend years building up a false identity for the payout they got from us? I don't think so. -----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on January 15, 2007 07:46:25 AM
"I'm grateful to ya'll.... well most of you" Thought that was worth repeating!
"It's a shame to go through life so cynical." Ain't that the truth,whole truth and nothing but!
"BTW _ I am not divorced, lonely or unhappy . My family or any of my "personal" friends are not left out by me caring or forming a friendship with people here."
DITTO!!
Our first night at our first computer ...1995... AOL was the server. You could type in an "About me page".Remember those carefree days on the net!!! One of my passions then was Victorian hatpins. A gal from Houston Texas (I lived in Denver) wrote to me. Several months later I was at the Round Top, Texas show for the first time. Walking around looking and noticed a gal who was looking at the same things I did. We finally said Hi I am... LOW and behold it was Frankie my old,new and still to this day friend. The internet is a wondrous thing...
DEUR1 I loved the story about your Mom, I hope she saved all those letters and someone has them. What a gift from God, friendship...
posted on January 15, 2007 10:41:38 AM
hAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT SOME CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS. I TOO WAS VERY SKEPTICAL OF THIS. I NOW GO ONCE A MONTH AND HAVE FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS. I DO NOT HAVE NEAR THE ACHES AND PAINS AND NASAL ALLERGY PROBLEMS I HAD IN THE PAST.
I JUST WENT THRU THE ROOT CANAL STUFF MYSELF BROKE TWO TEETH IN TWO WEEKS. I NEVER KNEW PEOPLE DID NOT FINISH UP WITH THE ROOT CANAL BUSINESS ONCE THEY START THE PROCEDURE. YOU MUST GET THE TOOTH REBUILT OR IT CAN BECOME INFECTCTED AGAIN AND THEY HAVE TO CLEAN IT OUT AGAIN.THEN DO THE PERMANENT REBUILDING OF THE TOOTH.
posted on January 15, 2007 11:41:41 AM
I also am not divorced, lonely or unhappy. I am happily married for 41 years, I have 4 kids and 4 kids-in-law, 10 grandchildren, and many friends.Sometimes I wish the phone would stop ringing so that I can get something done!
I feel a closeness to the people on this board. When I need help with eBay or computers, I come here, and always (well almost) get help. Tom has been one of the ones who has helped me most.
I have several people who I have "met" doing eBay. I am disabled, and can't get out much, but some of these buyers have really become friends. We email regularly, one dear lady has sent me 3 large boxes of craft books to sell, and would take nothing for them, even for the postage. Of course, I sent her a gift. Another has sent me 2 boxes, and also sent me a lovely Christmas gift. I have never met them, but we definately have a relationship.
It's not that I don't have other things going on in my life, they are all part of the richness of friendship. When I wake in the morning, I think of the people in need. Just before Christmas my 3 year old grandson rushed to the hospital with pneumonia in both lungs. One son-in-law in a car accident, the other with severe health problems, a daughter struggling to work with arthritis, and Tom. I get to my computer and see if there is an update from him, not because we are close friends in any way, but because is a fellow human being in need, and one who is always ready to help others. Even if he were not, I would still be concerned and interested. There is more to life than money, and the rat race, relationships are more important in whatever form they take.Thay add to the richness of our lives, and make us better people.
posted on January 15, 2007 12:06:02 PM
Tom - It's good to hear you are feeling better. I know first hand the generosity of the folks on this board and others. Remember Ryan? If not for the generosity of complete strangers, I don't know what my niece would have done. So, fluffy, you're totally off base. Just ask Marcia (estatesalestuff), whom I've not only met, but who I consider to be a friend. I'm willing to bet that on my next trip to Florida, I'll look Tom and Ralphie up.
Speaking of Ryan - He's doing very well!! He's in remission and growing like a weed.
Cheryl
Summer
1995 - 2006
Gone but never forgotten.
posted on January 15, 2007 02:22:13 PM
Tom, what part of Florida do you live in, I'll be in the Clearwater, St. Petersburg area sometime in February. Maybe I could meet you and Ralphie somewhere, we take the dogs to one of the 'dog beaches' in the area, they love it!
posted on January 15, 2007 02:36:13 PM
pmelcher ... If I'm not mistaken, Tom's in Jacksonville. I think he's about 5 hours from me. I'm in Winter Haven.
posted on January 15, 2007 02:58:53 PM
I guess I would come a lot closer to saying 'Hi' to you sometime, LOL. After I posted that I remembered he went to the Shand which would have told me where he lives. Sending good thoughts anyway.
I married my wife for her looks, but Not the one she gives me lately! 
[ edited by niel35 on Jan 15, 2007 05:35 AM ]