Yesterday was a long day with lots of changes. We started our day at the conference room at the hotel at 10:00 AM, which gave us a comfortable morning arrival time. At 11:40 we had an appointment at Healthy Smiles to get my new bio-compatible crowns, and after the usual fitting time I was finally able to feel what it is like to have a mouth, full of bright, white teeth.
We went back to the hotel and had another head-stuffing afternoon of information, which sent me back to the condo feeling like I was the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. You know, that scene in the movie when he’d been torn apart by the flying monkeys? Part of him was over here, and part of him was over there . . . well, you get the picture. I was so tired that I skipped blogging and just sat on the couch with Paul, vegging out on some TV. I don’t know exactly what I expected as a time line for this week, but I’m feeling like I’m on the really s-l-o-w track tonight. In bed by ten, I fell asleep almost instantly.
I was up again after a five and a half hours of sleep, which you have to know was a good night for me. I was showered and ready to leave by 7:00, because I had an appointment at the dentist’s again for my last fasting blood test. I also had another spot in my ‘bite’ that wasn’t fitting correctly, and I need to get this right before we leave. My mouth is constantly changing as it heals though, and it’s not a single stop, but a process. Hopefully, the process will be completed before we leave Texas, because a trip back from New York for adjustments just isn’t going to happen!
Still, because of my infection and the ensuing antibiotics, I’m feeling somewhat behind the curve tonight. I wish I could say I’m showing some real, validated progress by now, but I’m not. The truth is, I felt better two morning after my revision than I do today, and it gets discouraging to see others making bigger strides than me. I know everyone isn’t the same, but some rather remarkable changes have been taking place around me. One of the other women here has had MS for 28 years, and she is off her medicine (taken for the same length of time, I think) and showing measurable changes for the better. Another man, who’d been taking bucketfuls of medicine and was still bowed over with pain when he got here, is now a walking, talking miracle. I know neither of them is ‘cured’, and their road to recovery is just as long as mine, but it makes me a little jealous. I’m truly happy for them too, but I resent being the patient that Dr. Freeman says happens in every Clinic: The one who runs into a few extra problems along the way.
So tonight I’m asking ‘why’ again, but that’s probably not the right question this time. God puts me somewhere because there’s something I need to learn here. Right now I don’t know what that ‘something’ is, but I’m hoping I’ll figure it out soon.
Soon. Because this road is suddenly looking awfully long.