Round #2 – Here I go again

I thought after my surgery in November that I would never have ANY surgery again, but I was wrong. However, this surgery is nothing compared to the last one. I am not sure when this problem with my ears and jaw began. I kept having bad ear infections all of 2020 and most of 2019. Antibiotics and prescription ear drops were not helping with the pain in my ears. After multiple rounds, my ENT finally put a tube in my right ear; that was last July. He thought the Eustachian Tube was closed. It did not help. My ears had begun this shrill screeching noise. It sounds like locust and crickets with a continuous background noise that is like when a microphone is being adjusted. They also make this clicking and popping noise whenever I move my head. The pain feels like an ice pick in my ear that is coming out of the top of my head. The pain and noise are continuous. It grates on my last nerve; however, it seems everything bothers me now; music, the TV, loud talking, clanking of dishes, and even closing the chain on a gate. Smells bother me. I am acutely aware of all kinds of smells now. I used to be able to have those Wallflower type plug in things, but I cannot now. I get an immediate headache and sometimes nauseous. Certain colognes and perfumes smell like Chlorix to me. Laundry soap smells sour or smelling the scent of them will send me into an immediate reaction. Lights and noise such as in Wal-Mart, bother me. These reactions or hypersensitivity are part of my mold sickness and issues I have been dealing with.

Because I have so many things in my environment that bother me, I have begun clinching my teeth. This in turn has caused me to have TMD (Tempromandibular joint disease). I have ground off the top part of my teeth (Bruxism), my jaw has shifted, and my teeth are misaligned. I have to get new Invisalign and have surgery on my jaw, and that is why I am writing this post.

The procedure I am having is Arthroscopy and Arthrocentesis to both sides of the jaw which is basically cleaning out around the jaw joints and taking a sample of the fluid buildup. I have severe degenerative changes to my joint or the condyle, spurring, lesions, and bone-on-bone. Basically, I have misplaced disks, irritation, inflammation, and arthritis. I only want relief. The surgeon wanted to put an ATN block on both sides and inject Botox into the muscles of mastication; however, insurance would not pay for those two procedures. Come this fall, it will be eight years I have been fighting health issues. I am thankful I am still fighting although many days I am tired of the fight. I feel as though so much of my life has passed me by while I have been in pain, lying with my heat pad, or crying; many times all three.

BUT, I am alive. I am so much better off than many others as I have said before. If I am outside, I do not seem to notice my ears as much as I do when I am inside. Pain pills, muscle relaxers, and Xanax do not come close to even touching the pain and the anxiety I get when I cannot get my ears to calm down nor the pain to ease up. I fake feeling good so much of the time.

I have to go to KC on Monday, March 1st for bloodwork and a Covid test, come home and quarantine (which I have been anyway) then have surgery on Wednesday, March 3rd. They had me scheduled for April 7th and I wrote a long letter to the surgeon explaining how long I have been dealing with this and what steps I have gone thru to get to this point. I begged for empathy. Apparently, he granted me that as he moved up the surgery. It has been a nightmare with me having to call my insurance company every other day to first of all get a MRI approved last fall then to get this surgery approved. The days I was not calling the insurance company I was calling my surgeon at University Health Oral Surgery. Of course, I was in tears partially from pain, but mainly from shear frustration that there is nobody but myself to advocate for me. I have been on a soft diet since last May. I cannot eat steak. I was eating chicken for the longest time, but now, when I open my mouth to chew, my joint pops in and out of place. Needless to say I am selective about what I eat. Ice cream and Malt-O-Meal have become my best friends, but too much of either one affects my stomach.

Below are the medical definitions of what I am having done. There are some really good videos on YouTube if anyone is really curious to watch the procedure. I will be knocked out, thank goodness. I get to go home the same day, so that is great news.

Arthrocentesis is done by injecting fluid into the joint. The fluid washes out any chemical byproducts of inflammation and can help reduce pressure that causes the joint to be stiff or painful. This can help regain some of your jaw’s range of motion. This is a minimally invasive procedure. You can usually go home the same day. The recovery time is short, and the success rate is high. According to a 2012 studyTrusted Source, arthrocentesis averages an 80 percent improvement in symptoms. Arthrocentesis is usually a first-line treatment because it’s less invasive and has a high success rate when compared to some of the other, more complicated procedures.

Arthroscopy is done by opening a small hole or a few small holes in the skin above the joint. A narrow tube called a cannula is then inserted through the hole and into the joint. Next, your surgeon will insert an arthroscope into the cannula. The arthroscope is a tool with a light and camera that’s used to visualize your joint. Once everything is set up, your surgeon can then operate on the joint using tiny surgical tools that are inserted through the cannula. Arthroscopy is less invasive than typical open surgery, so recovery time is faster, usually several days to a week. It also allows your healthcare provider a lot of freedom to do complex procedures on the joint, such as:

• scar tissue removal
• joint reshaping
• medication injection
• pain or swelling relief

As you go thru your day on Wednesday, if I could ask for a little prayer for a successful surgery and healing process. Pre-Op is 1 1/2-2 hrs, surgery is 2 hours, and recovery is 2 hours. Then home to ice cream, my heating pad, and hopefully eating steak again.

Thank you for your prayers,

DeAnn