Everybody has to have a body. A body is the only way to go.

That's from My Turn on Earth. Miri knows what I'm talking about. Nothing like old school Mormon tapes/books/plays to teach us about how to live our lives! With gems like "it isn't good to be alone, it isn't good. so if you find someone to love you really should join hands and be together..." and "if the cat were you and you were the cat, would you like that to be smashed flat, flat as a mat? the golden rule says no." Amazing. But that's not what this post is about.

This post is about my health. I've documented some struggles with my sinuses and after lots of new stuff and seeing a specialist, I have a way to maintain the general health of my sinuses. Of course that means I still get sinus pressure, my ears and throat bug me, my eyes water incessantly and my nose is stuffy a lot, but actual sinus infections are fewer and further between. So that's happy.

Well, I went to the doctor recently because my ears (especially my left) were bothering me. I wanted to catch an ear infection before it got too bad and also figure out what the pain was from. I hate just walking around with additional pain, especially in my ears because it hurts my eyes and my teeth and I HATE when my teeth hurt. It drives me nuts. So my ears were fine on the inside and I was referred to an oral surgeon to check out my jaw for TMJ.

So yesterday I went to the oral surgeon. It was good to hear that there is actually something going on with my jaw, but the therapy for it is somewhat inconvenient. I will do what I have to do, but you know, I just hope it gets better and is not something I will always have to deal with. Basically my jaw pops and clicks but does not effect movement - I can still open my mouth wide without pain. But the muscles in my jaw (especially on the left) are too tight, causing the pressure and pain near my ears. I have to apply a warm, wet heat to my jaw when I can, take 4 Motrin to alleviate pain, wear a mouth guard at night, and (here's the kicker) go on a soft food/liquid diet for a week. That's right, nothing harder than mashed potatoes. Basically, no chewing for a week. The plus side is maybe I'll shed a few pounds, the down side is, what on earth is softer than mashed potatoes. Soup, oatmeal, eggs, yogurt, jello and milkshakes. I can't even eat chunky ice cream - just plain stuff. It is only a week, but talk about a boring diet. No salad, no cucumbers, no chicken, no chips. Fun.

The other plus side to all this jaw stuff is that my headaches should decrease. I pretty much have constant headaches for one reason or another. They've decreased slightly with the new stuff I do for my sinuses, so a possible further decline after this therapy will be welcome. I also have to make an eye appointment, that should help as well.

I'm determined to have some of these things under control. I let a lot of my sinus stuff go on unchecked because I didn't have insurance, but now I have great insurance so down with germs! I'm going to get my teeth taken care of (I need a bridge and a crown), the sinuses manageable, my jaw back to fine working order, and my eyes in correctly prescribed lenses. By Christmas, I should be like Wonder Woman, minus the invisible jet. Although an invisible jet would be awesome.