additional insults

This morning at 4:15AM, DS1 woke up puking... it was deja vu all over again, as the saying goes. We only had to change the bedclothes once, and it wasn't nearly as nasty as it had been with DS2. Another upside: DS2 slept through the entire thing (the boys share a room). So DS1 spent the first 6 hours of today periodically vomiting, and then got over it and was his normal spunky self, more or less. He was happy to finally be able to watch TV and play on the computer, although I severely limited his computer time.

When I first woke up (at 4:15), I didn't notice my latest insult -- I'm not sure exactly when I did notice it, probably while I was getting dressed, around 7-ish: the muscles along the right side of my jaw are completely messed up. For the first time since college, I have a killer case of TMJ. I don't get it, though. I am scrupulous about wearing my retainer, which has a nightguard that prevents me from grinding my teeth. How in the heck did this happen?! It's bizarre.

I've also never had TMJ only on one side of my jaw before. The only thing I can think of is that I have been chewing more gum lately, and I do tend to chew it on the right side... but I've been chewing gum since my first pregnancy (8+ years now) and I haven't had a problem like this. So: ibuprofen, and I'll put some heat on it, and hope it goes away soon. If not, it's the dentist next week. (So far, ibuprofen has done zip.)

Today's appointment was at the gynecologist. The nurse practitioner listened to my description of the 3-week-old right-sided pelvic pain and agreed it was worth taking a look at. The exam was inconclusive. She ordered a CBC and the lab got the blood sample with only one stick! Huzzah! (Seriously, that was a cause for a minor celebration, since I was kind of dehydrated when they took it.) I'm also going for an ultrasound up in Scottsdale at 7:45AM tomorrow, which means I will have to beat it out of the house before 7 to be there on time. I am not looking forward to that. Pelvic u/s are torture for women because we have to drink 40 ounces of water so our bladders are nice and distended to keep the intestines out of the way. Nothing like the prospect of peeing your pants while driving 25 miles to put the fun in a morning, huh? But, I was lucky to get the appointment since everyone else had no openings at all until late next week, and the NP said absolutely not, get it done tomorrow the latest. So, I am -- another hurry up and wait situation. I should have an idea Monday or Tuesday the latest if it is anything that needs further attention.

The NP did say I could have chronic appendicitis, it's consistent with what I've been going through. Heh. Can we treat that with antibiotics? At least the pain didn't go away as soon as I made the appointment (it's irking me now, come to think of it). As I was driving up there this afternoon I realized I was actually somewhat happy that I was still feeling it, because that gave me more hope of a diagnosis. Talk about twisted...

Man, I wish my jaw would stop hurting. Every so often it just kind of throbs to get my attention. It's very annoying. It is also annoying that my face looks lopsided now. The muscles are rock-like at the jaw line on the right, and on the left they're relaxed and normal, the slightly saggy facial muscles of a 41-year-old woman. Of course I am probably the only one who would notice it!

The unasked question runs through the back of my head, Does this have anything to do with the cancer? The jaw thing especially is suspicious to me, since I had glandular involvement, and since it's only on one side... but the pelvic thing, too. There's no reason why it should be. I just know it (remotely) could be. That's a scary thought, and not one that needs saying out loud to anyone just yet.