I’ve been blessed that most of my weeks are relatively good ones, but this hasn’t been one of them. This week could be described by a single four-letter word: PAIN!

Over the last couple of days I’ve had a fairly excruciating jaw-ache. I’d call it a tooth-ache but ALL the teeth on my left side (uppers and lowers) are in major pain. I’ve been to my dentist and two separate endontists and had four rounds of X-RAYS, and the pain is so wide-spread that they haven’t been able to localize it to a specific tooth or a couple of teeth, so they are having difficulty even trying to figure what to treat. I’m up creating this post at nearly 2am because even after taking three pain pills I’m in too much pain to sleep.

If you suffer from chronic pain, you have my sincere condolences. May you find quick and lasting relief!

My current condition reminds me that I haven’t been nearly grateful enough for my mostly pain-free life. I can better understand how great a gift being pain-free has been now that I’m reminded what it’s like to be in substantial pain.

I apologize for the whining. I actually attempt to keep this blog up-beat because I believe doing so and being optimistic are more likely to lead to a happier, more fulfilling and rewarding life. But I’ve gotta confess that tonight I’m just not feeling those positive things right now. Pain is crowding all that out. Hopefully I’ll soon be back to “normal” (I use that word loosely!)

Thank you for listening–err, reading!