I am not normally a quiet person. It doesn’t even matter if I’m alone, which I seem to be a lot these days. I’m usually talking to me, myself, and I during the day when hubby is out puttering in his shop, and I am being a domestic goddess. Or writing.

That is until my Thermal Nuclear Joint attacks me.

It’s medical name is: ‘Temporal-mandibular joint’. If you are lucky enough to have no idea what I’m talking about, an excellent WebMD® page explains the Temporal-mandibular Joint Disorder in layman’s terms. Please forgive me for hating your guts, but I have dealt with PAIN for 4-days now and I hate everything!

I owe everyone I know an apology.  Please be patient about getting one.

Even when I don’t move my jaw, some invisible entity with a hammer keeps pounding an ice-pick deeper and deeper  into my ear. If I only had the combo to hubby’s gun safe I could blow this freaking entity away. Or my head off. Either way – problem solved.

The level of PAIN that one small joint can cause astounds me. Take a look at the drawing. See the large muscles protecting the little TM joint? They tense up to protect the joint, and when they tense too much they push the joint out of alignment, increasing the pain factor. Now, your jaw is swollen so much that you appear to be keeping a jumbo jaw-breaker (pun intended) inside your cheek. This is not a good look for an older woman.

If I could open my mouth to scream I would, but I am forced to scream in my head. This could be why I have a huge headache. I can’t concentrate on sewing, crocheting, knitting, my book, anything. Not even this post, which I started yesterday, trying to distract myself and maybe find some humor in all this.  Yeah. Right.

Alternating Advil and Aleve every two hours, for 4 days, has torn up my stomach. But only they and my ice pack are helping me keep what sanity I have left and that isn’t much at all.  Saltines and 7-Up are to combat the nausea.  I will have to drive down to the store this afternoon. My pantry is empty because of my vanity. I have not gone to the store (or anywhere) because I look hideous. I would take a picture and prove to you that I am not exaggerating, if I wasn’t so vain.

Dinner tonight pork loin and seasoned potatoes – grilled, with a side salad. Hubby will be very happy to have ‘Real Food’ for a change. For men it’s not ‘Real Food’ unless it’s meat & potatoes.

I am actually looking forward to my cottage cheese with a little shredded chicken and green olives. (No, I am not being sarcastic, like usual) And don’t forget the Taco Bell mild sauce on the side. I thought my daughter was crazy too – until I tried it. You can buy bottles of it in the hot sauce section at your local grocery store. This is perfect for people like me who never want to set foot in a Taco Bell again.

For dessert I made a (sugar-free) banana pudding pie, because sometimes popcorn isn’t a good idea.

Only 25 more minutes to wait – then I can take more Aleve. Until then, I need to go get some more ice.

Ta-Ta For Now (TTFN)  😉