You wouldn't think rheumatoid arthritis would be a problem in your jaw. You would be wrong. I've been having small flares in the left jawbone over the last couple years or more, to the point that sometimes I can barely eat. Not that that is a crisis, lord knows I could stand to lose another fifteen pounds, but it's a drag to have to manually pry your teeth apart just to fit in a small grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. Sigh. Overbites suck.
It's a real learning experience, having rheumatoid arthritis. It's really surprising how many 'joints' you have problems with that you never even knew existed. To date, the most surprising one was the pain I had a couple years ago in the manubruim. Who even knew there was enough cartilage in a breastbone to create a problem? Still, it was very painful, especially when I coughed, but even breathing was a pain.
Otherwise, things are pretty good. The pain in my right calf is subsiding, though I really should have that checked out. Tamoxifen is known for increasing the risk for blood clots, especially in the lower leg.
I spent today helping Queenee's boss's wife make some travel arrangements. She admitted she needs to take a class about doing this kind of thing online, which got me thinking. She is my age, and her knowledge of computers and the internet is abysmal, as is her husband's. That's fine, they don't work on computers, so their knowledge doesn't need to be more than minimal, but at times it isn't even that. Maybe one day next week I'll go to the local senior center and see if there is any interest in having a computer class. Just basic stuff, how to use email, how to view family photos, how to navigate the web, that kind of thing. Having taught this kind of class in the past, I'm certainly more than qualified to teach the basics (and way more than that), and I'd feel like I was doing something useful. Something to consider, at any rate.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
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Wow,,, with the jaw... you get into all kinds of maladies. The feeling of earache, headache and the like. To me it would be a torture!
ReplyDeleteGoing and teaching a class would be a wonderful experience, and so appreciated! You should do it! I love volunteering as you know. I meet the most wonderful kids/adults and don't have to get all involved with their personal lives, just helping them learn something new and getting some of the same in return is always a good thing.
Hey, maybe they'd pay me. They could mostly afford to, and I can use the dough.
ReplyDeleteI can empathize (in a microcosmic sort of way) about the disruptions a persistent pain and disability in one, small locus of the carcass can cause. And the cartilage in the ribs, too. One winter season I coughed and coughed for weeks until I couldn't get rid of the pains in my ribs. It turns out that I had stretched the cartilage so many times it had become inflamed. Old Doctor Larry King had a name for it. That term you used for where your pain occurred around your breastbone sounds like a Hebraism, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Key Dear about the benefits of getting out and teaching. But besides senior centers there are churches and high schools and colleges that offer continuing ed. classes, for teaching which stipends are available. You are right on in remarking that tons of people who regularly use computers have NO CLUE how to do the simplest things that would make their lives easier and more rewarding. Go do it!
OK, I just looked up "manubrium." Oops, I thought it was "manubruim." That reminded me of Hebrew, like "seraphim," and all those other Hebrew plurals. Solly, Chollie.
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