“In chiropractic, there are over 100 techniques….one of them may hurt people, but we don’t use that technique in our office.”

Last weekend one of our nephews, Matthew, came to visit us.  He was here for a week's vacation.  We enjoyed seeing him on Saturday.  He took us to Balboa Park in his rented convertible and we went to a museum.  Since they were all closing early for some reason, we walked around for awhile and then went to a seafood restaurant for dinner. We invited him to come to brunch the next morning before he started his "real" vacation of driving up to Los Angeles and San Francisco to meet friends. 

He's on a gluten-free diet, so I bought some gluten-free pancake flour and made waffles on Sunday morning for us.  Charlie and I had never eaten anything gluten-free, and it really wasn't that bad.  The texture was different, a little thicker maybe, but they tasted fine.  I have no reason to go on a gluten-free diet, but I know that if I did, I would survive it.  

Matthew stayed for a couple of hours before he was off to meet a friend for sushi.  Sheila made a friend for life when he got down on the floor with her and rubbed a ton of hair off.  Of course, he could have done that all day and never run out of hair. 

Charlie and Matthew with Sheila

Three sets of eyes are watching the playtime - Jonesie, Kaci and Jason in the chair

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been having some discomfort and sensitivity in one of my teeth.  I couldn’t pinpoint the exact tooth and I didn’t want to go to the dentist until I knew which one was causing the problem.

My bite has not been right since I had my teeth straightened a couple of years ago.  I worn the Invisalign orthodontics for about 8 months.  This was just to correct two front bottom teeth, which were overlapped.  It was not as much for cosmetic reasons, as it was for the dental hygienist.  She said that she could not get the instrument in between the teeth and over time the plaque would build up and destroy the bone.  I didn’t want that. 

I decided to do the Invisalign since that seemed to be the least invasive and most practical for me.  I was set up to get ten sets of plates to wear over a six month period.  I changed plates every two weeks.  I went to the dentist regularly to make sure that my teeth were moving properly.

Towards the end of my treatments, I had to have a crown seated.  Finally, last year I wore my last set of plates and my teeth were nice and even.  I got my retainers and just have to wear them at night.  Of course, that’s for the rest of my days, because if I don’t, my teeth will move and may be worse than they were before the procedure.  Plus, the thought of wasting the money I spent is enough to make me remember to put the retainers in each night.

I have been back to my dentist a couple of times to have the bite adjusted.  I first couldn’t chew on the left side.  He adjusted the bite on that side.  Then for awhile I couldn’t chew on my right side.  I went back and he adjusted the right side for me.  But, I still was unable to chew on that side, so I didn’t.  I had planned to make an appointment and get him to do some more adjusting.

Then I started having the discomfort on the right side.  It began with a dull ache.  I could ignore it because it wasn’t really obnoxious.  If it got too bad, I took aspirin and it helped.

Last weekend when I was out walking and talking with a friend, I suddenly had a sharp pain in my right lower jaw.  I thought maybe it was the cool air hitting the sensitive tooth.  The pain was not constant.  I felt it off and on that day, but it wasn’t there all the time.

On Monday I called to make an appointment to see my dentist about it.  I had an appointment for Tuesday.  That was also the same day I was going to the chiropractor for my on-going back problem.  I can take two whammies in one day just to get them over and done with.

I didn’t mind going to my regular appointment with the chiropractor, but was not looking forward to seeing the dentist because I didn’t know what he was going to find.  The terrible words “root canal” were in the back of my mind.  I’ve had a couple of root canals and although I can’t really make horror stories out of my experiences, they were not pleasant either.

I got to my chiropractor appointment at 11:00am.  My back is getting better.  The problem has been located and it’s now centralized to one spot.  The muscle that is giving me problems is very stiff.  After I get all the corrections done to my back and neck, which feels good afterward, it’s time to massage that muscle.              

I can’t tell you how painful it is when he presses on the muscle and holds the pressure for a few seconds.  It does loosen up and I can feel it, but the doctor has to keep telling me to “breathe”.  Then he says “Stay with me, just a few seconds more.”  It seems like forever though.

When we’re done, I stand up, walk across the room and then we both laugh because it’s like I just got done being tortured.  We talk for a few minutes, I thank him, say good-bye, and I’ll see you in two weeks.  We’re hoping that soon it will be three weeks and then maybe once a month and later, as needed.
But, these treatments are helping me and I can tell a difference from how I felt weeks ago. 

I went to the dentist at 1:30pm.  I had butterflies in my stomach, anticipating the session.  When I was in the dentist’s chair, my heart was pounding and I had to make myself breathe slower so I could relax.  I remembered being told earlier to “breathe”.  

They took X-rays.  There didn’t seem to be any infections in the tooth that I identified as the culprit (“That’s him!  He’s the one!”).  But, the doctor said that they had put a note in my record that it was a possible root canal candidate.  That’s just great. 

My dentist is really good.  He is conservative when it comes to treating problems.  Years ago the dentist’ first inclination would be to pull the tooth.  Thank goodness our dental profession has come such a long way since then. 

He checked my bite; adjusted, checked, adjusted, etc., several times.  I already had an appointment for my six month cleaning in April, so he said he would check me again then, but to let him know if I needed to see him before then.  It felt fine.

A half hour later I left the office feeling relieved.  I had dodged a bullet.. for now.......

The next day I woke up with a sore hip.  I knew this was from “the terminator” yesterday.  I thought I was bruised, but when I checked, I was not.  It just felt that way.  

I’d like to start walking regularly again.  Right now, I’m lucky if I walk once a week.  In addition to my back problem, I have become lazy too.  I used to get up and go for my walk at 7:00 every morning.  Now, I think 8:00 would be a respectable time to go, if I could get back into the routine.

Mr. Creme is doing fine.  He’s eating well and still takes his insulin injections in stride.  He’s such a good boy.  He goes in next week for his fructosamine test.  I hope he’s stable on 7 units of insulin a day. 

Jonesie has decided that birdwatching is boring, especially when the birds won’t come to the feeders while he’s there watching.  Last week he discovered that he could jump up on something behind the shed, get on top and go over the fence to the front yard.  Since I check on him several times when he’s outside, I found him in the front yard.  I brought him back to the backyard a couple of times, but he kept returning to the front.  Finally, I brought him inside. 

He hasn’t been outside in a few days now, although he begs to go out.  It would just kill me if something happened to him, so unless I can be outside to watch him, he stays in. 

I bought a glider rocker for my computer room.  Ellie shares my room with me and she discovered that the rocker makes a nice bed.  I haven’t been able to sit in it much, but I know it’s comfortable because I did sit in it once.

Miss Ellie in her rocker

This morning Ellie had an asthma attack.  I gave her a pill and wrapped her in a blanket and held her.  I was allowed to sit in my chair with her for a little while.  It helps her calm down to be held and plus, I love holding her.

Charlie bought a rocker for his room awhile back.  I think he does get to sit in it to read and watch TV, but he shares the room with Jezibel and when she’s in, she is usually in his chair.  She likes to burrow, so he makes a tent for her out of her blanket.

Yes, Jezibel is under there

Kiki has house privileges as long as she behaves herself.  She’s so bossy and independent.  When she’s in the house, she has an air about her that seems to give her authority to do whatever she wants to do.  We forget she’s in the house sometimes.  We don’t trust her with any of the other our cats except for her kittens, Dash and Cody, and Rhody.  So far, she has not gone after Rhody and he’s so easy going, he doesn’t bother her.  She ignores the kittens and they give her a wide berth.  She’s just another cat to them, not their mom.

Cody, Dash and sidekick, Rhody- they're always together

When the other cats start coming back into the house from the garage or from the yard, Kiki goes back to the cat patio.  As long as we pay attention, everything is peaceful.  Being in the house to run around does give her some needed exercise that she doesn’t get in the 4x4x6' kennel or on the small cat patio.

More later..........