2012's Resolution

"What do you resolve to do in 2012 to better manage your migraines?"

2012 started on a sour note for me, with a marathon migraine that’s ended me on a course of Prednisone. However, I have great hopes for the new year. That is because, come in less than a month, I’ll have come to the culmination of over 6 years’ worth of work on my TMJ when I go in for my orthognathic surgery.

Let me explain:

It’s common knowledge that I have had the same migraine for over ten years now. What is not as well known is that, even before 2001, I had as many as six to eight different kinds of separate, identifiably different migraines that I got on a regular basis.

One of the most prevalent types was muscle tension related. My neck and shoulders are like iron most of the time. I’ve been fortunate to find a wonderful massage therapist who has been able to help identify things that were going on in my body, years before we discovered that my TMJ was as severe as it is. The problem lies in my jaws themselves, where the upper is a U, and the lower is more a V shape. So after many years of night guards and bite deprogrammers helping to ease that kind of head pain slightly, it was decided that, to make the very temporary help permanent, I’d go through with the surgery. 

Well, that was over a year ago, as there was a lot of orthodontic work to get me to the stage where I could have the surgery, and now that very special date is less than a month away!

So for my resolutions, I resolve to take my Post Op instructions seriously. I need to take care of my mouth, my body, and my mind as best as possible during the healing process, which will last several months. I resolve to take time to breathe and not push my limits simply because I feel a guilty need that I “should” be doing more than I reasonably can.

I resolve to take care of myself.