Two days to go!!  Well, actually, one and a half days.  We leave Monday around 6 AM to head out to Seattle.  Aside from having to drop my babies off at the kennel tomorrow morning, I’m quite excited.  I did a little photo shoot with them tonight so I can have a good picture to take out to SCCA.  It will grace one of the many transplant survivor boards.  When I was at the clinic, I stopped and looked at each board while walking to and from my appointments.  Each face gave me hope, and I couldn’t wait until they asked me for my own mug.  I spent about an hour looking through photos to find the perfect shot, until I decided to get dressed up, fix my hair and makeup and create some new shots.  And I didn’t even go anywhere tonight!!  I wonder if other patients spend this much time picking that perfect picture-of-health photo to share. 

All is well here, aside from a weird jaw issue.  Lately, I’ve been waking up with a swollen left cheek (and sometimes right too).  When I touch my upper jaw, it feels like a bruise.  Ibuprofen and ice bring the swelling down, but it’s obviously not a permanent fix.  Strange, huh?  I visited my primary care this week, and he’s not sure what it is.  He sent me to get an X-ray to make sure I didn’t have osteonecrosis, a rare side effect from Fosamax, one of my pills…I looked up “osteonecrosis” on Wikipedia and found the phrase “dead bone from poor blood flow”.  Thank goodness the X-ray came out clear!!  My next step is to visit a dentist (which I’ll do in Seattle)…it could be that my mouth guard needs to be manipulated.  Yup, I’m a tooth grinder!…unfortunately.  I’m thinking good thoughts for my jaw.  =)

Is it just me or do medical waiting rooms make you sleepy?  I thought I might knock out while waiting for the X-ray.  I blame it on the whisperers sitting next to me.  Seriously, anytime people start whispering, I just want to grab a pillow and fall asleep…is that normal? 

Speaking of sleep, this is a short post ’cause I’m tired, and I have to get up early to drive the pups to the kennel.  If I’m not too busy partying, I’ll try and post from Seattle.  I hope everyone is doing well.

Lots of love,
Julie