Boston Visit

Em and I went to Boston last week, for her spring break. It was the first time we'd taken separate vacations. Matthew went to CHicago -- he's done that before, a couple of years ago when we went to Boston. However this time Alan didn't come with us. ALan has a new job, with only 2 weeks vacation the first year. He didn't want to spend one of those two going to Boston in the spring..... and to be fair, it actually WAS spring here, whereas in Boston.... it was still mud season. But we didn't go there for the weather.

We went to see friends and my mom, and it was great! The new thing for me was my promise to myself not to do too much. Since we lived there for so many years there are a lot of people we really want to see, but we can't always make it work -- and I used to make myself crazy trying. Well no more making myself crazy, no more trying to ve superwoman.

There were some important people it felt a bit strange not to see -- but I have seen 2 of them not too long ago, here... and we did get to see a lot of important friends, including Mary and Mustafa, who I really wanted to see this time because they are probably moving out of the country this summer. One new thing for me was, this was my first visit to the area since we left that I haven't gone to my HOUSE. This was only possible because we now have a property manager, who seems to be a real human being. (whew!) I had meant to stop by anyhow, though -- and meet at least one tenant, and the prop. manager himself. I had to cut my plans down, though......

I brought our bikes, and rode mine 4 times, I think -- EM only rode once. I had one good 30 mile ride, one ride to the clinic and back to Belmont in the rain -- which wasn't the workout it should have been, because when it rains I slow down for safety, especially when biking in traffic.

The other thing is, Em's tics have been getting worse lately...... she has this abdominal tic which makes her nauseous, so sometimes she doesn't eat much. That's not really a good idea for a growing almost 12 yr old -- so we got in to see the doctor this past Tuesday. He prescribed a couple of medications (klonipin, short term, and topamax for the long run.) I started her on them right away, but never gave a 2nd dose of either drug.

She got dizzy in school and melted down at home......... I was all set to cut the klonipin and keep her on teh topamax (the doc had said that klonipin would work immediately, but topamax would take awhile.) HOwever -- ALan found some info on topamax and porphyria, a family illness that she hadn't yet been tested for. I was hoping the doc would have her get tested for it -- but intead he just prescribed a different med. (Resperidol? Rispedol? It seems to have several spellings.....) We are looking into it before we give her any......


And now -- I'm wiped out, going to bed! (33 miles biked today. Maybe that's why?)

The Endodontist Visit

Well the bad news was what it cost, so the health related concerns are okay, I was pleased to say. (I had to pay up front and submit to insurance. Just one more thing that would, I'm sure, have been so much better covered jsut a few months ago when Alan had us on BCBS PPO. The Federal Employee plan covers a lot less. Go figure!)

Anyway, about the teeth -- the doc said I can take bisphosphinates, but first he recommends I have one tooth crowned, because the filling is large and might break, and he has a concern about tooth 15. This is a tooth way in back that my Boston dentist worked really hard on before I left...... a pocket had opened up behind it and I couldn't keep it clean, so it got a cavity -- which of course kept falling out, so in the end she drilled right up through the middle of the tooth in order to anchor the filling. That's all fine still -- and I'm not sure how relevant it is to the reason why the doctor is worried about it, but it does make me reluctant to consider getting the tooth pulled anytime soon.

See, the problem with bisphosphinates and jaw bone loss happens most often when teeth are pulled. One thing I learned today is that the bone changes caused by bisphosphinates last for 10-12 years after the person is done taking them. I forgot to ask my oncologist how long i'd be taking them for, and I suppose it probably depends on whether my dexa scan shows improvement in the bone density in my spine -- but I am going to guess 3 years, which is the duration of the study I missed. This means that if I am to keep tooth #15, I need to know that it is likely Ill be able to to keep it for a good 15-18 years. It feels solid and rooted to ME -- but I can see on the pan x-ray that was taken today that there is a good bit of bone loss underneath it (40%, the endodontist said) and the root is single, not double, as the others are.

SO I brought home a copy of the pan x-ray, and copies are going to go to my periodontist and dentist -- and my endodontist is going to talk to my periodontist. I'm happy that my teeth aren't in worse shape than this, at any rate. I clean my teeth in a careful painstaking way every night -- with floss, a hand scale, a proxabrush, and a flouride rinse. It's very validating to hear that maybe all my work is doing something. Now if only we had a crystal ball to see if that work will be enough to keep that tooth for the next 15-20 years......