Kudos From the Dentist

In my desire not to brag, lol, I want to share how proud I am that my successful coping was recognized by my dentist.  I see a dentist who sees a lot of Ehlers Danlos patients, because we are a bit harder to treat, teeth wise.  It's really only the anesthetic part that's tricky for us, but regardless, he is informed and was recommended to me by my local support group.  I had prep work for a crown the other day, and a filling, and today I got the temporary crown put on.  I hadn't had any dental work done for a while, and I need just another visit, and then I will be good for a while, I hope.  Anyway, Dr. M today was very complimentary of me in my ability to find solutions for myself.  He has seen many other EDS patients, and he said, as a health care provider, there is a limit to what can be done FOR you.   He said medical professionals don't like to fail, they have egos, his words, not mine.  When a doctor can't help, patients complain adopting a victim role.   At some point, you have to become engaged in your own health care and pull up your own bootstraps to be empowered and to develop self-respect, which then leads to respect from others.  He said that at some point, even in the face of the pain, all they crappy symptoms, all the unknown, you've gotta quit whining and figure out how to just get out of bed and LIVE.  And I have done that.  He thinks I should give lessons, lol.  Can you see it now  "Marie Anders Presents HOW TO BE CHRONICALLY ILL, ON WEDNESDAYS."  He was holding a yucky mold in my mouth, preventing me from speaking back to him, so I couldn't tell him that this level of coping is 13 years in and a LOT of therapy to get me to be who I am, who I am supposed to be.  But, maybe it was better for me to not be able to respond, because all I could do was take in the praise and do a grunty "fank-oo".  We talked about pain relief for me when I have some later today, now, in fact, and how the dental journals have studied and shown that the top pain-relief combo is two extra strength Tylenol and one Advil.  That specific combo, taken together, every 4 to 6 hours was able to relieve something like 15 times more pain than something narcotic, like Tylenol 3.  It performed above opioids every time.  The Advil part works locally on the nerves at the spot of injury and inflammation.  The Tylenol part works in the brain, on the central nervous system.  He gave me a dose of them all upon leaving the office to take so I'd be set up for my afternoon.  And I was.  The bus drove me around Dallas for about 75 minutes, then I went straight to bed and slept.  It's now 6:30pm, and pain is not nearly as bad as it was a couple days ago.    He explained how you could take many doses of each before getting into the top dangerous level of dosages.  He explained how that's untrue of Aleve, and how you can only take a very small amount of it, and then it starts to cause liver problems.  Not so with the Advil and the Tylenol.  He advised I use the combo any time I am feeling a serious flare of pain that I want to try something additional to find relief for.  He said how much easier it is to use pills and to let others be responsible for not finding ways to help us, but, I am an example of how taking responsibility for myself, my health, my life, and being willing to do hard things for pain relief, like sitting in an alternating hot and cold shower spray, and wear a sleeping mask in the dentist chair so that 1) they can see what they are doing in my mouth, and 2) I don't have to get a headache from all the fluorescent light and direct light.  So, he told me all this while I was unable to look at him or speak back to him.  I had told him before of my progress with coming off of pharmaceuticals for my migraines and how pleased I was to do that.  I asked if he'd ever had a patient wear a sleep mask during a whole visit, and he said "a couple times".    So, it feels good to be seen as succeeding with my life, my situation.  There are many, many days when I feel on the other end of the success spectrum.  But it has been noted by a health professional.   And that counts for something.   Maybe I will give a lesson one day.  If I do, there will be Stevia Salted Lemonade and Gluten Free Brownies for snacks.  lol
I'm grateful today for being validated, and that my Mother had successful surgery.  Blessed to have access to health care and medicine.  Not sure where my fragile little body would be if I lived without access to care and medicine.

Have happy days!