Last night I finally finished Collapsing Empire I checked it out from the library a few weeks ago and had to renew it. I returned it and there was the new Patricia Briggs so I got that. And read it today.

I don't remember the last time I just sat down and read something that long without my attention wandering or flipping to the end because I was bored. Two years at least.

So that's an improvement.

Unfortunately I'm having my semi regular freak out over my gums. It's mostly sensory things I think from the dry mouth from the Vyvanse . And I'm more awaee of my gums but also my jaw is killing me from clenching my teeth. Even with the night guard so I'm seeing the dentist again.

I bought Act dry mouth lozenges and they seem to work. Biotene has dry mouth gel that is a weird texture but also seems yo work.

askye, it's good to hear about your improvements and also good to hear how you're proactively taking care of yourself. I'm glad you can read a book again!

Ew, I said proactively.

I'm feeling better today. Got the pain meds routine working and basically slept all day. Which I needed.

Dentist was nice as usually. I was a nervous jittery wreck for some reaosn. I'm going to try muscle relaxant for a week and hopefully my muscles will remember to relax.

He suggested sticking my tongue between my teeth to help my jaw relax .

Also to soak the night guard in water to help woth the dry mouth issue.

I thought I'd share that in case it might help other people.

My dentist had recommended soaking my night guard in mouthwash during the day. Minty fresh! and moist ....

I stick my tongue between my teeth to keep from clenching during at day at times. Also always keep my night guard in mouthwash during the day because I like how it tastes when I put it in at night. Just put a tiny bit in the case that holds the guard.

I also found that if I used a whitening mouthwash it bleaches out the night guard a little (not every day, but it had gotten badly discolored ... seemingly, I'm setting something of a record for its longevity).

I'm sick of taking time to go to the doctor only to get a response of, "that sucks for you" and no real useful advice. I have a couple of tests scheduled, but I'm not terribly hopefully that anything is going to get better anytime soon.

Shit I didn't say: Why are you having a meeting that could have been an email on a Friday afternoon 2 weeks ahead of the thing we're meeting about????????

Making friends.

In case Jilli pops in, I saw this and thought she might be interested ... maybe as an overskirt to something.

Follow-up with ankle surgeon today. He said the leg looks good, he had expected a lot more swelling. There were incisions on both sides of the ankle, which I didn't realize, and currently my leg looks like a fresh Frankenstein creation, with the long rows of staples and discolored skin. These are gonna become some interesting scars. Might need two Viking tattoos to camouflage them.

Y'all, the doctor said it was one of the worst breaks he'd ever worked on. He couldn't believe I'd flown home with the leg like that and dealt with it for a week. He said he'd been taking crushed shards of bone out of the leg, and part of the fibula, he couldn't even get back into place; we just have to watch it and hope it heals itself. (He was not impressed with the Icelandic surgery. At all. His partner looked at the x-rays of the pins they put in there in Iceland and said What the hell is that??)

But the good news is, I do have an ankle again, and it will be okay with some physical therapy. I may develop arthritis in the ankle, but... eh, you know, arthritis happens to people who didn't fall down an Icelandic volcano too.

The doctor thanked me for having the best story he'd heard so far behind breaking an ankle. Most people just break themselves at home.