Programming Note: If I post a poem this week, it will be on Friday, because there’s a lot going on this week.

As you all know, I developed trigeminal neuralgia after I had an abscessed tooth about eighteen months ago. Because of this, wearing my CPAP at night has been continuing to damage my trigeminal nerve. I am in pain any time I put the CPAP mask on, so I’ve been trying for nearly a year to get approved for an Inspire implant that would do the same thing as my CPAP, sort of a pacemaker for my throat, and the only outward part would be a small remote control that I’d use to turn it on when I go to bed and turn it off when I wake up. Back on December 8, I had a new sleep study which qualified me for the implant. My original sleep study showed that my sleep apnea was too severe for the implant, but sleep apnea can be greatly improved by a 10 percent weight loss. I have lost over 25 percent of my total weight, and after the news sleep study, my sleep apnea had improved enough for me to qualify for the Inspire implant.

With that hurdle passed, I went to see an ENT doctor for a consultation about the Inspire implant. I found out from her that I had one more hurdle to cross to qualify for the Inspire therapy: a sleep induced endoscopy, technically a laryngoscopy because they’ll be looking at my throat only, not my stomach. In this laryngoscopy, I’ll be put to sleep so the doctor can see if my throat closes front to back or from side to side. If it closes front to back (I think that the right one), then I’d be qualified for the Inspire surgery.That ENT appointment was on January 10, and I have been waiting to be scheduled for the laryngoscopy. Finally, the ENT’s office called and scheduled the laryngoscopy for the morning of April 29. My boss will take me down to the hospital and bring me back.

I have to see my doctor for a pre-op physical, and so, I called my doctor’s office to schedule the physical. I have a regular physical schedule for May 4, but I need a pre-op physical no later than April 25 because of the laryngoscopy. Sadly, my doctor is booked, but I will be seeing one of the other providers. They’d suggested one, but I told them no, that I would not see her. I’ve had issues with this particular nurse practitioner, and I refuse to see her again. Considering that she always seems to be the one with open appointments and that the office doesn’t even blink an eye when I say I won’t see her, I’m guessing others have the same complaint. So, they scheduled me with another nurse practitioner. I’m not happy that I can’t see my doctor, since he knows my medical history best, but it’s just a physical.

I feel like I have been waiting so long, and I guess, I have. Please pray that I can get over this last hurdle and get the implant. It will take a few more months after the endoscopy for the implant surgery, but things finally seem to be moving along.

I’m still packing and getting ready for the movers to come at 8 am tomorrow. So much to do before then…

I was feeling a bit sick last night. I had a low fever, a headache, and a prickly, burning sensation on the back of my neck. I’m not sure what caused the issue on the back of my neck, but I suspect the fever and headache had to do with some sinus trouble. Anyway, I went to bed early last night.

About a month ago, I spent two hours in a dental chair so my dentist could prepare a tooth for a crown. At that time, he put a temporary crown on the tooth while the permanent one was made. Yesterday, I went to get the permanent crown. At the first visit, they’d numbed me up, took an impression, did a lot of drilling, took another impression, and then put in the temporary crown. Yesterday’s procedure was much simpler and only took about thirty minutes. He didn’t have to numb me, which I hate, but that meant there was a modicum of pain associated with yesterday’s procedure. He had to remove the temporary crown which is not exactly pleasant. Then, he had to clean up the tooth and prepare it for the permanent crown, which was popped into place. Easy peasy, or so you’d think. In fact, the procedure was pretty easy. However, when you already have nerve damage in that area (i.e., trigeminal neuralgia), it doesn’t take much to set those nerves on edge. By the time I got home, I had a raging headache that lasted all night.

If any of my readers are dentists, forgive me for what I’m about to say, but how can someone get paid so much to torture people all day long? I’m sure there are some people who don’t think of the dentist as a torturous event, but they wouldn’t be me. Those same people probably don’t have trouble teeth like I do. I’ve always had soft teeth. It’s hereditary in my family, so no matter what I do to take care of my teeth (brushing, flossing, etc.) I still have cavities broken teeth. Thankfully, skilled dentists can fix all of that, but it’s still torture to have it done. I like my dentist a lot, and I’ve had some great dentists in my life, but just because they are nice people doesn’t mean I don’t feel like they torture me. I know they usually do whatever they can to make it as painless as possible, but I still hate going to the dentist. Whether it’s a routine cleaning and exam or a filling or a crown, I always leave in pain. Oh well, what can you do?

Yesterday was basically a miserable day, and I hope today is better. As I mentioned on Monday, I had to go tot he dentist for a crown yesterday. Two hours in the dental chair with my mouth open nearly the whole time. If my jaw is going to be this sore, there are other(and more fun) ways I’d rather get it that sore. Anyway, once the Novocain shots wore off, I was in quite a bit of pain. Basically, the whole right side of my face and down my neck and shoulder hurt. I’d planned to watch the State of the Union Address last night, but I was not able to make it all the way through it. I just needed to go to sleep.

I will be signing the lease on my new apartment today. I’m excited to be able to sign the lease and begin the process of getting the hell out of my current apartment. Once I’ve sign the lease, I’ll send a letter to my current landlords telling them that I will terminate my current lease on April 15. Hopefully, I’ll be out of here sooner.

Nearly two weeks ago, I slipped and fell on the ice walking to my car. The pain in my lower back from that fall was not getting any better, and I my nose had been bleeding some, not majorly, but it was definitely something going on. On Monday, I had a major pain around my right eye and the right side of my nose. So, with the sharp pain in my nose (I have had a few episodes of minor nosebleeds) and the continued pain in my back, I decided to go see my doctor. It’s almost always impossible to get in to see him for a same day appointment unless I can convince the administrative assistants and/or his nurse that to something urgent, but not so urgent that I need to go to the emergency room. I called at 8:30 am to see about getting an appointment, and amazingly enough, he had a 9 am appointment available. I took it.

While I may have had a 9 am appointment, I didn’t actually see him until nearly 10 am, but I’m used to that. I really like my doctor for several reason (a purely shallow one is that he’s hot, not as hot as Dr. Gabriel Prado in the picture above, but still pretty hot). I like him because he listens and explains things. He has never made me feel awkward about anything, even when I was embarrassed to talk to him about something. He never dismisses me because he thinks it’s a very minor thing. He always takes me seriously. Furthermore, he has done wonders for my health. My blood pressure, cholesterol, and A1C are all very good at the moment. I’m losing weight, and he’s gotten me the help I need for my migraines. I really think he’s a wonderful doctor, and most importantly, I have never felt rushed when seeing him he always takes the time that’s needed with me, which is why I don’t mind waiting in the exam room for an hour. I actually enjoy, instead of dreading, seeing my doctor.

So, when I saw him on Monday, he looked at my back and felt around where it hurts, and he told me that I had a deep bruise on my pelvis, and it would get better in a week or so. He said that this type of injury is slow to heal. He gave me some exercises that will help, told me to use dry heat and ice on it, and gave me a muscle relaxer to help. As for my nose, he said that it’s so dry up here this time of year, that it’s very common to have dry nasal passages which can result in minor bleeding. He told me to put a little Vaseline in my nose.
Side note: the doctor pictured above is a Brazilian neurologist named Dr. Gabriel Prado (Instagram: @gabrielndsprado). I wish my neurologist looked like that, but my neurologist is female. While she’s a nice looking woman, she’s not my cup of tea, since I like men and all. Dr. Prado is one very sexy doctor and has the best smile. That is one thing he has in common with my regular doctor; they both have great smiles.

I took Friday to rest and recuperate after my fall on the ice on Thursday. I was feeling much better Saturday, so I went o Burlington with a friend to have dinner. I have to admit that was a mistake. I drove, and while normally driving doesn’t bother me, I could not use my cruise control (salt and snow sludge on the roadways obscures the collision control sensors, so the cruise control won’t work), and that made it uncomfortable for my injured hip. By the time I got back from Burlington, my hip was in agony and I did not have a full range of motion in that leg.

To pamper my hip, I spent the day with a heating pad on my hip and binged RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6. It helped, and I am feeling much better. My shoulder has improved the most, because I still have a bit of pain in my hip. I’m hoping I feel better when I wake up this morning. It just takes time to heal.