Stay away from pastries

I think that sometimes, when you're not well, you just know. Like when so much heat is emanating from my body, I don't need a thermometer to tell me that I have a fever. Or perhaps I don't actually have a fever and the thermometer reading isn't the best measure of whether or not I am ill. It's just that I know my body is handling something right now. The little soldiers are fighting something and trying their darnedest to make sure that I am going to be ok. 

It all started last Thursday. I came down to grab a pastry and some coffee for breakfast and found that when I bit into the pastry, my jaw felt stiff and I actually had a difficult time chewing it. It wasn't crunchy, maybe a little chewy but nothing that I should have trouble with. I left half of it on a plate and just went with the coffee.

The pastry that started it.

As I got ready to go out, I noticed that the left side of my jaw was looking a little puffy. There was definitely some swelling going on. I brushed my teeth, flossed and then curled my hair. I don't normally do anything to my hair but I was thinking that if I curled it, it might hide some of the swelling and the lack of symmetry would be less evident. This is hilarious reasoning, I know. I'm having some pain here, but at least my hair looks great! 

At my guitar lesson, I barely noticed the pain and it didn't seem like the swelling was worsening. I had also done some mouth and vocal exercises in the car, as is what I do before I have my guitar lesson. I often have to sing a little during these lessons too so best be ready. I spent a few more minutes chatting with Chris, my guitar teacher, and Jupiter, the lessons person, and felt fine. But after I picked up my daughter from school, I think things started going down hill fast. The swelling was increasing and although I could eat, there was definitely something not normal going on. I managed to get a last minute appointment with the dentist and her assessment was basically a form of TMJ. I guess the teeth-grinding has finally reached a point where I really need to do something about it. My dentist also recommended, a combination of cold and warm compresses: cold to reduce swelling, warm to relax the muscles. She shared some exercises that she also did herself because she has dislocated her jaw a few times and actually goes to physical therapy for it. Finally, I'm on a steady diet of Advil right now. If this does not resolve by Monday, she said I could call their office for a steroid. Oh boy...

It is Sunday now and it has definitely not gone away. Last night, I couldn't get any proper sleep. I did sleep in because I didn't actually fall asleep until closer to 3AM and it's not looking much better at the moment. But when I did get up, the swelling seemed diminished and I was not in any real pain. This made me very hopeful. I made some corned beef, determining the night before that it was a great idea to have corned beef, egg and rice at breakfast as this would not trouble my jaw at all. I think the thing that made the swelling return was dinner. I decided to order some food from District Taco and while the chicken burrito bowl was manageable, of course I had to try having some tortilla chips with queso and by the time dinner was consumed, the swelling had definitely returned. A cold compress really helped with that, and my husband so sweetly ran to Wegmans to get me some coffee ice cream and a bunch of other sweet things. I could not help but have the chocolate croissant and heating it up in the microwave did soften it a little but it was probably better for me to stick to softer food. I am seeing mashed potatoes in my future. 

I had hoped to do some recording when the new earpads for the audio-technica headphones arrived. I just don't think that I can take something clamped down on my ear for more than a few seconds right now. I had gotten a podcasting/streaming kit on clearance and it included a dynamic microphone, a boom stand that you could just clamp on to the desk, the headphones and all the cables. The value was just really good that even if the microphone was not better than the Shure mics, I was still happy to get all the things that it came with. The reviews about the headphones were right though. The ear cups are too small to fit around the ear, resulting in a little discomfort and my bigger concern, leakage. I wanted a second set of closed back headphones because when I recorded my daughter playing the viola, I only had one set and if she was wearing it, then I had no way to monitor so I had to use the open-back Sennheiser pair that I had  bought for mixing and just crossed my fingers that using the dynamic mic and being far enough away from it, the sound leakage from my headphones would not be caught in the recording. Well, now I have a second pair and I know that if I just change the ear pads, it would be good. Well, not only was it good but it inspired me to try other variants of the ear pads and now I have changed the ones on the Sony to something a little thicker and not pleather on the part that is touching my skin. Maybe that will help with the leaking on that now. Alas, I cannot test it until my jaw swelling has disappeared.

Playlist Recommendation: I Will Wait, Mumford & Sons