Wednesday 15th May 2013
Well, where am I up to? Unfortunately I've not progressed much in the last few weeks with regards to this blasted nerve pain. I went to the hospital to see Mr D and he is confused by this pain. He has only seen this in one patient before. He doesn't know if its just coincidence but that patient had condylar hyperplasia on the left side the same as me. After my examination poor Mr D leant back in his chair with his hands on the back of his head and he said 'I'm not sure, I really don't know' Eek.... Very reassuring!
So he hatched a plan.... He is going to give it four more months on the tablets to manage the pain and to give the nerve a chance to heal. One explanation for this excruciating, unpleasant pain could be that a screw from the plate is actually touching the nerve. (That would explain the vileness of this pain) unfortunately there is now way to see if the screw is on the nerve without going back in.
If after four months things are still the same he will refer me to a neurologist. He said this would be more for a research thing but they may be able to view things from another point of view. If after that there is still no improvement then as a last resort and very reluctantly from me he will operate and remove the plate.
Brushing my teeth is still awful as is chewing, especially on the right side of my mouth. I'm still on the top dose of the Gabapentin, I tried reducing them but the pain intensified again within a few days so I upped them back up to the top dose. The tablets aren't very nice, they leave me anxious, nervous, forgetful, confused and drowsy at times so its a bit of a double edged sword... pain or a messed up head.
I've had some very exciting news on the brace front though.... THE BRACE WILL BE REMOVED ON MONDAY JULY 1st. I literally can't believe that in 6 weeks and 5 days I'll be braceless after 2 years and 4 months.
I've been looking through my progress pictures and you can 
really see the difference in the shape of my jaw from before intervention to now. My friends and family say they never noticed what was wrong until they compare the pictures.
Obviously, this whole thing hasn't taken place for cosmetic reasons, it's been done to correct the damage caused by the Condylar Hyperplasia and to help correct the bite.... The new gorge jaw and uber straight teeth are just a massive bonus.
