Everyone went back to their respective jobs today, including me to my cancer-crimefighting unit (plain clothes). It gave me a chance to go at this detox dealio alone and see if I could be trusted.
I had already made Pete his salad for today so I juiced for the boy this morning, throwing in an extra helping to feed to myself later. I managed to last on aqua alone until around 9:30, but listen to this, y'all - before I tackled the juice I managed to fit in a 20 minute 30-day Shred workout with Jillian Michaels. Oh yeah, baby. I feel peppy today (and using the word peppy for the first time evah).
The juice was enough to get me over to the radiation chamber where I taught my master class in laser beam positioning. They really should pay me for this stuff. I ended up getting the mom/tech I had recognized earlier from Frances' daycare but she begged off the breast peering and ushered in a replacement to line up the tattoos with the lasers. All a little bit strange nonetheless.
When I started shoving my lunchtime salad down my gullet (sprouts galore, cuke, avocado, goat cheese and salsa for dressing), crunching down on the green goodness, I was reminded once again that I have a little issue with my jaw that cropped up right around the time I was diagnosed. You see, it cracks now when I chew. Charming, I know. And every single time I hear it, I'm reminded of a little Canadian movie I saw when I was in the nightmarish waiting period pre-diagnosis, called Two Weeks, about a man who has terminal cancer and goes on a motorcycle trip across the country. Joshua Jackson describes all the annoying things about his fiance, one of which is her clicking jaw. So yes, Pete will leave me one day for this affliction. I am stating this prediction here.
In possibly related news, before Christmas I started getting a bit dizzy when I stood up quickly (inner ear?). That feeling has mostly subsided, but over the past few days, my jaw has felt misaligned, like I can't bite my back teeth together without feeling a click and a pressure in my ears. And since yesterday, this whole sitch has been sending some shooting pain to my brain like a little temporary headache.
Don't think I haven't thought brain cancer. I have. My grandmother had it, and it was inevitable that I would turn into Woody Allen over this whole extended handshake with the c-word. But I'm not sweating it too much. I'm seeing my dentist tomorrow and I'll peer into his eyes to see if he's worried. I have no idea if he can do anything about it, but I have visions of my jaw being broken and rewired. Whatevs. I'll deal with whatever it is.
You see? This detox is either making me insane or much better able to cope. Either way.
Hi Carissa,
ReplyDeleteI've been following silently and Josh and I are both rooting for you! I get that jaw thing when I am stressed. It is really common in women, I think. It is just muscle-tensing that misaligns the jaw, and it creates kind of a negative feedback cycle which gets worse and worse.. My physiotherapist gave me a simple solution to relieve the muscle tension (which should fix your headache): get a facecloth and wet it with HOT (as hot as you can stand) water and hold it around your jaw muscles. Reheat the cloth when it gets cool. Usually two or three times is enough to fix mine. Hope that helps!
Hi Carissa:
ReplyDeleteI too have had the clicking jaw for quite some time and now have to wear a mouth guard (watch Date Night to get a close up of how sexy this is) because apparently at night I grind my teeth. Yes I did think of getting a pole in the bedroom for a different kind of grinding in the hope that the body will prefer a more all over workout, but apparently the Strata rules forbid that kind of grinding. Anyhoo, when you visit said dentist, you might find him suggesting this to see if the symptoms go away. So before you get carried away, look at the non cancer side first because grinding is caused by stress and I think you qualify on that front. On the bright side, sounds like your juicing is really working for you. I'm going to call you The Juicing Queen (hopefully ABBA won't sue me). As they say in jolly olde England, keep your pecker up and never let it sag to the ground. It's harder to retrieve! Love yer.
Me too. I've had the clicking jaw since I was 17. They first tried cortisone on it......injecting this mother effing needle right into my jaw across from my ear that was at least 4 inches long. It's still tender to the touch. It also didn't stop the clicking. Next was surgery where they removed part of the cartiledge (the clicking part) and I was cured...for the most part. At times, I still get the clicks and it's when I'm tired. I also get a sharp needle like pain shooting from my cartiledge,what's left of it, to my temple if I bite down the wrong way. What a lot we are! So I'm with E and K...........don't go barking up the wrong tree. xo
ReplyDeleteAll I can add to this wonderful array of common sense comments from your good friends, is that if you do have to have your jaw wired you can still drink your juice!!! Okay... bad joke. Now that you mentioned juicing, today I juiced fresh tomatoes, added the juice to the other ingredients of our morning drink. I saved the tomato pulp and added veggie stock. Cooked the whole thing with some garlic and a sprinkling of salt, pepper and herbs until it was soft and then blended it! Yummy soup for tomorrow! Next time I will put in some onion. Then the parsley and/or celery pulp from my juicing can be added and, voila, soup du jour. Don't laugh; it will make your jaw crack!
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