Pain continued.... :)

#6 – Tooth Sanding

THE INFERNAL HEADACHE apparently stems from tooth grinding, the fracturing of a tooth, and ensuing TMJ, which reinforces the tooth grinding, etc., etc. My dentist finally decided my tooth must be fractured when he was trying to adjust the bite by sanding it (something he's done to several of my teeth, never with any discomfort) and I—the person who will let my gums catch fire without saying anything—had to keep stopping him. It was pure torture. TORTURE! I believe now that my dentist is a bona fide torture artist.

#5 – Getting Cold

I'm allergic to cold. I'm not saying that to be dramatic! I'm really, truly allergic to cold. It's hilarious! Stick an ice cube on me and watch a hive form. Or dare to watch me get out of the pool or from the ocean—the hives all over get monstrous and fuse together and I look like a burn victim. Go with me to New York in April* (been there twice, both in April, once in the city once upstate, both the coldest I've ever, ever been) and watch my eyelids swell almost completely closed. The itchiness from the hives could make me insane, but the worst of it is the pain from my joints swelling up and all my muscles contracting. Imagine a charlie horse. Imagine it over your whole body. It's intense. And when it gets very bad, I have to warm up for a good hour or more before the full-body shaking and pain finally stops. It's so dramatic!

[*To all my LDS friends out there, "Oh How Lovely Was The Morning" and all those pictures of leaves on trees and the sun shining in "early Spring" in Palmyra, NY are lies. LIES! Oh man, it is freezing, freezing, freezing COLD. No leaf in sight. Birds chirping? Bees humming? They're half-frozen! Brrrrr!!!! FREEZING. I can't say it enough. FREEEEZZZZE.... ING. Makes Joseph even more impressive to me, going out in that cold. :)]