TMJ

This week we were able to get Michael in with a TMJ Therapist here. What is TMJ, or sometimes called TMD? It abbreviates Temporaomandibular Joint - your jaw joint. Ever since his brain tumor, Michael has struggled with his bite. In fact, his bite is the whole reason we were able to discover his brain tumor. About 5 years ago, Michael noticed that his bite changed from your typical overbite to an underbite. It got so extreme, it was causing a lot of pain. We couldn't figure out what had happened. We went to an orthodontist who told us that he was shocked that Michael could even bite into a sandwich, let alone chew. He also said it would probably result in Michael needing to have surgery to fix his jaw where they would have to cut out bone and reposition the joint - all for a nice guesstimated sum of around 11k!!!! We couldn't believe how costly that would be. In our shock, we mentioned it to Michael's parents, who mentioned that, along with a few other symptoms to our brother-in-law (Dr. Hilbig) and through a series of events, we discovered his pituitary tumor. That's the history. Now, back to what's going on......

Michael has complained of moderate headaches more frequently, lately. I know it really bugged him when he was ready enough to do something about it and found this TMJ Therapist, Dr. McMillan. This guy does the therapy. Basically his function is to fit you with retainers that rest your jaw so the pressure is alleviated on the joint, causing less pain. He also incorporates massage therapy for the jaw joint, into his routine. He claims that this "therapy" will alleviate 60% of the discomfort. Dr. McMillan calls this "step one" and says that after this happens, in about a year, we can consider "step two", which would be to consult an oral surgeon on a procedure to fix the actual bite. That would have to be followed up with additional orthodontic care. Sounds fun, huh? Poor Michael.

We were talking about it and how daunting it all sounds but came back with the thought that at least he's healthy now and ALIVE! We're very, very blessed! So that's the latest. We will, of course be getting another opinion. The sad thing is that as far as we know there are only two specialists in all of northern Utah!

Jared has lost yet another tooth! He was so excited to have the tooth fairy come back! He was really holding out for her to leave behind a little "pixie dust," but she must've been in a hurry - not this time!

Gavin started sunbeams today! He should've started at the first of the year, but didn't as we tried to keep Jared healthy for his surgery. He did great! I was shocked! He just walked in there and sat down like he owned the place! YEAH!!!! 2 down, 1 to go!

Scott now has 4 teeth! He's getting really good at chewing, but is repulsed by texture! He's also finally sitting up on his own! Such a big boy! Speaking of - our little heavyweight weighs in at 20 lbs. 4 oz! He's enormous! As I recall, we couldn't even get Gavin to break the 20 pound mark for several months after his first birthday! We've never had a baby grow this fast! Watch out big brothers - the BIG little brother is coming!