Hello, Everyone
A little background. I had nine surgeries in two years, trying to repair my left jaw from degenerative arthritis. Yes, believe it or not, Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disease can truly do that much damage; rare but true. The surgeries didn't work and I had to have my entire left jaw replaced with a custom made titanium joint in 2012. That left me with severe chronic pain as well as permanent nerve damage; a terribly painful condition known as Trigeminal Neuralgia. There is nothing left for the doctors to do about it besides manage the pain to improve quality of life.
After being with the same PM doctor for three years, he retired. I was terrified that no one else would understand my rare condition and pain. I was right to be afraid. No PM doctor in the state had even heard of total jaw replacement. Thankfully, after suffering with no relief for almost three months, I went back to my old primary care, who I hadn't seen in years, and he took on my pain management.
My question is, does anyone else ever feel "defective" because you can't life a normal life without pain meds? My doctor says that it's no different that any other medical condition and that there's nothing to feel defective about; it's a medical problem and these are the meds for it. (Tegretol and Oxycodone).
Still, I'm a professional business woman, a wife, mother, and grandmother to one precious boy and I just feel like I should be stronger than the pain.