After several months of no ORN 'events' it appears that I'm looking at another round of it. Signs of a new ORN event have surfaced in the last week or so. I'll spare you the details, but there is little doubt that this shit is not over yet. If this round goes like the others before it, I'm looking and 2-3 months of irritation, pain, and swelling before this new bone fragment works its way out of my mandible. It's too early to tell how large this new piece might be, but at this point, size doesn't matter--it's more significant that it's happening at all, because it means that the ORN is still there.
Short of having a surgeon go in and examine my jaw visually, the only way to know that ORN is over is if it doesn't ever come back. I had allowed myself to start to think that MAYBE I had seen the last of this, but that ain't happening, for sure. It's too soon to know if this will put me back on the path to jaw replacement surgery, but I liked it a whole lot better when that thought was not on my mind. I see my oral surgeon in mid-June, so will have that discussion with him then. Hopefully my appointment won't be during a Red Sox game, so he can give me his full attention.
So, time to gear up again and see how this unfolds. Terry and I are at the beach until the end of May, which means I can treat my pain with Margaritas and eat oysters, fish and shrimp on my new soft-food diet. I can handle that kind of medicine.
Mike
