Well…after having pain eating lunch…I was pretty depressed and really thought I wasn’t making any progress in healing….but then I tried some chili as dip with some tortilla chips and was able to eat on that side…still painful but not the howling pain that it has been for the past week…and the pain stopped right after I stopped eating….so I decided to give dinner a try and had a piece of smoked sausage on a bun and was able to eat on the left side and now I sit here with barely any pain drinking ice water so I do have hope that there is progress happening with healing….have not had to use any orajel today and that would be the first time since I had the work done a week ago…I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that it’s not just a fluke and the howling pain starts again…

Well…as you know, I’m fighting to recover from having the gums on the left side of my mouth torn up and then stitched back together…and I haven’t been able to chew on that side in the week since…but it appeared to be getting better over the weekend so when I made chili today, I decided to try to chew on the left side but that lasted one spoonful and the pain started right up again…so we’re back to square one again although it doesn’t hurt when I don’t use it and that is progress from before…I really hope this is one of those times where it hurts until it doesn’t and surprises me with that soon…but now, it didn’t work…and that sucks…

Well…damn, must have ground my teeth all night since they hurt with that dull, background ache that is going to be energy draining all day…I feel pretty worn out and I’m having a hard time getting going today…since I didn’t take the day off yesterday, can I take it off today? Just poured the first cup of coffee so that can’t be working yet but it has to start soon or I’ll be lying down on the couch for a nap…didn’t get out of bed til 7 this morning and that is getting to be the norm but that will change tonight with not using the rest of the pain medication for my teeth….it’s raining and 35 degrees out there so I’ll be riding indoors today and the rest of the week since the highs are going to be in the 30’s all week…I sure hope spring breaks soon…I mean we’re in frickin March and it’s supposed to be warming up…but looking out 10 days, there is no warm at all….I did throw some stale ritz crackers out for the squirrels yesterday and I didn’t think they were going to find them but they did late in the day…have two more tubes of them to put out today and I am going to watch to see if any of them are the new babies…not much to do today….I am running behind on these so I’ll have to stay off Mastodon and come here…I am making chili today so I’ll have something easy to eat and not irritate my gums…and that will be for lunch and I have no clue what dinner will be….will have too think about that…more later…

Well…running about on time today with getting up at a little after 6 and then heading out to get the paper…so, I’ve already read it and need to get to my normal routine but I am doing this first instead of reading the news since I feel like I’ve been distracted by other things…mostly my teeth not healing and being in constant pain…and that leads to not eating and lack of energy from it…didn’t get a lot done yesterday other than the outdoor ride and today is setting up to be even more sluggish…have the first F1 race of the year at 10, then Man U plays at 11:30, the Indy car race is on at 12:30 and then the nascar race is on at 3:30 so I’m not sure when I can wedge a bike ride in…it is Sunday and I normally take the day off so maybe I’ll do that today….it would be nice to have the day off and do what I want but we’ll see….don’t feel like doing much right now and the pain in my teeth from grinding them overnight has subsided a bit so I’ll take it…there have been little rays of light that have me hoping that I’ve started to heal but it’s been almost a week and I think it should have gotten better sooner…not much to do today…just need more coffee right now and to go over to Mastodon to see who’s up and moving…and I will be back here later for another one or two….more later…

Well…have been looking for a topic all day today but haven’t had any luck so I’m just going to noodle a bit and see what happens…I did get out for an outdoor bike ride today and it was nice to finally have some scenery to see and to see the changes that have happened since the last time I was out there…they have started construction on the 350 million dollar project on the point so it looks like I’ll be losing that part of my ride for a while…but, I’ll be back out there again tomorrow since it is even going to be warmer than today…and I noticed that they have started to paint the Milwaukee Clipper, the 100 year old ferry ship that is anchored in Muskegon Lake and has been designated a national monument so that is pretty cool…it really was looking pretty shabby…and yes I am just stupid…tried to eat something just now and hurt my gums again and now they are howling at me…what a pain….I am still going to keep looking for a topic for later so treat this one as a place keeper and I’ll get to work…more later…

Well…damn, my gums are hurting like crazy as they did all night last night and I am so damn tired of it…I’m so off this morning that it’s 8:20 and I just poured my first cup of coffee and have already had to slather my gums with orajel and took an ibuprofen to try to manage the pain…at least it’s sunny and we didn’t get any snow that was forecast…how the heck do you predict 6+ inches of snow and the get nothing? But, I’ll take it…I really don’t even want to try to eat anymore so I think I’ll take today off of food and see if that will help…or find some soft stuff to eat…damn, we’re into 5 days now and it’s worse….crap, crap, crap….didn’t get much done yesterday and the prospect of taking the day off is pretty tempting….or just doing one ride since I only had about 800 calories yesterday…I’m just a damn mess right now…and the coffee hurts even with it only being warm…oh, well…it is sunny and I may be able to go outside on the bike today with the high getting to 41…but I haven’t been able to get warm…even had the heating pad on me last night to try to get comfortable…not much to do today…really can’t get started today and I need to…maybe after the next cup of coffee….more later….

Well…another day goes by with me just surviving and not getting anything done…and my gums were howling at me all day today and it made eating almost too much even without chewing on that side…glad I have an extra tube of orajel since that seems to work fast on it…and when I brush that side, it still feels like I’m brushing with acid and then I have to use a salt rinse to get it to stop…and then orajel since it really doesn’t stop it all…I guess I can look at it that I’m losing weight with not being able to eat…but damn, it’s 4 days and not much improvement and I usually heal faster than that…..I did get two bike rides in so I guess that’s something but not enough for me….feel like I’m just idling and need to get back to work…my daughter sent me a carry on bag that matches the big suitcase she sent me so I’m going to be stylish on the UK trip…okay, that’s it, I’m done for the day…

Well…man, getting out of bed this morning was a process that started at 6:04 but took until 7:53 to complete…and I must have ground my teeth since on of the lower ones on the damaged side hurt like crazy…as this goes on, I have less and less hope that the surgery is going to be successful…I can drink hot coffee without pain so I guess that’s something…even had to take an ibuprofen a few minutes ago to get out ahead of the pain that I can feel coming back…damn…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get much done but buy bad food that I am still feeling guilty about….and there is no room left in the freezer for anything so I won’t be buying any protein for a couple of weeks…but I had such problems eating yesterday that I don’t even want to try today…but I will since I do need fuel…but I’m not sure about getting on the bike today….damn, I think depression is coming in again….crap, crap, crap….not much to do today…just going to wait for the snow storm to start…toss some bread out for the squirrels and fill the bird feeder….I have been pretty successful in not taking days off the bike and having some discipline and I am going to try to keep up that stream…I do remember times when I let things go and just enjoyed the day but that seems a long time ago….more later…

Well…okay, I probably should say that my gums hurt but they do….can’t chew on that side at all and it took almost a half hour to eat a small burger and some onion rings and it is supposed to be healing, not getting worse….and when I brushed my teeth after dinner if felt like I brushed them in acid it hurt so much….oh, well…I did go out and buy a bunch of bad for me food at DD today but it was so cheap I couldn’t pass it up…I mean 42 ozs of smoked sausage for 2.99? Or 2 pounds of chicken nuggets for 3 bucks…and the same for the o-rings…2 pounds for 3 bucks and then a pound of ball park beef hot dogs for 99cents? Yeah…that’s about a years worth of bad food but if filled the freezer and it’s nice to have easy food to make so I don’t have to cook…I did get two rides in today so I guess that’s something…the new episode of “Picard” is out today so that will be on the agenda for tonight along with “1923”….it looks like I’m skipping getting the cheap chicken tomorrow since there is no room in the freezer for anything else….and I still have to put the smoked sausage in….it looks like it is going to bomb us with snow tomorrow afternoon and night with the possibility of 6+ inches and high winds…damn, I want this winter over….

Well…damn, the dull ache that my dental instructions predicted has happened and my teeth are throbbing…and it started when I brushed my teeth last night…or it appeared that it did so I took an ibuprofen a few minutes ago and hope it works soon…I guess I was hoping that the pain was not going to come since it didn’t Tuesday right after the surgery…crap….and now there is a winter storm warning in my lower banner and that just sucks…winter is supposed to be done…or getting done…I guess buying the last bag of melting salt was a good idea…I was going to go out to get some cheap chicken tomorrow but then I remembered how big of a pain it was to thaw them so I could portion it into smaller bags….so, even though it’s cheap, it’s too much work…I wonder if I could just let it thaw in the fridge and then re-freeze it? It’s only 5 bucks so I guess I could experiment…we’ll see…I did have a busy day yesterday but today will be easier…think I’m going to go out to DD to get some onion rings and some thin sliced turkey for snacks but I’m not sure when…going to only do one ride today since I’m not feeling it right now and it’s getting late…woke up at 6:23 this morning but rolled over and stayed in bed til 7:14 and that never happens….not much to do today…just going to ease into the day since I’m pretty worn out…I still can’t let go and just do nothing for a day but I think I’m going to try soon….more later…