T-minus 9 days...

... and counting. No appointments this week, but I had a couple last week to get final molds of my mouth for a 3-D virtual model the surgeon is building to practice on. Took a couple tries on the upper jaw because my gag reflex kicked in hard when they put that goop in, and the stuff didn't set quick enough before he had to pull it. Waited a couple minutes and then tried again with a fresh mix at warmer temperature, which apparently did the trick.

Seeing that, Dr. Jelic noted that in his experience it's not uncommon for people with apnea to have very strong gag reflexes, theorizing it was due to the simple fact that the body has programmed itself to gag easily to keep the airway open at night. Not sure whether that's true or not, but he went on to say that he'd had a couple patients that had a much lower gag reflex after surgery, which would seem to suggest that it's more a function of the airway being too easily obstructed before surgery and much more open after. Dunno. But a welcome side benefit if it works that way for me.

Anyway... started one new preparation for surgery today. Went off Celebrex, the NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) I use to control my rheumatoid. It's a good drug for me; doesn't seem to hurt my stomach and has no side effects. But, like most NSAIDs, there's at least a slight chance it could cause bleeding issues during surgery. So in the meantime... I'm going on a real steroid, prednisone, which I do once every month or two anyway to knock the Rheumatoid back to bay. He's going to pump me full of steroids anyway for surgery to control inflammation, so I'm just getting a head start on it. Only problem is... first two days of taking it cause me to have sleep problems. Well, more than I normally have...

This is also my last week of work before surgery. I've arranged for a month off if I need it, and thanks to the fact that my job has been willing to work with me on this, it'll be at full pay. I'm certainly grateful to my workplace and manager for that...