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Alright.... this is my list of health problems....


There were alot of complications with my health, all primarily stemming from poor dental practice by my dentist prior to my mission. I should have had several root canals, but instead recieved several fillings, and so I was in constant pain (I'm still in constant pain, but not as much). Also he did them all at the same time, and the trauma caused my lower jaw to start shifting out of position. My first three weeks in the mission field I recieved two root canals, and I was still needing to take ~9 - 12 advil + 3 tylenol a day. My next 12 weeks I got heat exhaustion more than 40 times, and starting having serious chronic nosebleeds. Then I developed Athletes foot and a severe ingrown toenail. I got another root canal, and had by toenail surgically fixed. I managed to get my athletes foot under control. For about a week I managed without having to take any painkillers. I then developed a very severe ear infection, in both ears, both inside and out of my eardrum. I was on antibiotics that were so large, I had to split them in 8 to swallow them, for a month. My jaw started to shift out of position again, and I started to need 3 advil a day. Soon I was taking 6 a day, then 9 then 12 again. Because of the mass amount of painkillers, my stomach became very easily irritated, and I had several "acid reflux attacks". The only reason my missionary companion didn't call the ambulance is because I told him not to. Then, I got another two root canals, and found out that even though I brushed three times a day, I have developed seven small cavities, which I had filled. When I was told that I needed to stop taking painkillers, my health went off the deep end. I developed restless leg syndrome, and only got about two hours of sleep a night. I could hardly eat anything, and I lost about 20 pounds. I had to spend most of my time lying in my bed holding my head because of the severity of the pain. However, when I needed to I would force myself to get out. I remember specifically biking without being able to see hardly anything at all. I followed the blinking light on the back of my companions bicycle. I developed a sinus infection as well. Because of the extremes of pain, I developed Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, which caused my head to hurt more at the mere thought of doing anything that involved being outside. They started to wonder if there were more serious problems, such as a brain tumor. It was at this point that they decided it was best for me to return back to my home. I spent 14 hours in the dentist office. It was determined that I had TMJ, and that I will need to have braces. Also, I had developed an additional 3 small cavitites even though I was brushing AND flossing. It was determined that this was due to the severity of pain that I was in. My dentist said that he had never seen an overbite so large in his entire career. I got another root canal on Monday, and so I've been taking 6 painkillers a day as opposed to 3. I haven't yet regained any of the 20 pounds that I lost, though I was able to arrest my weight loss. I lost almost all of the muscle in my body as I had to spend my first two months home in bed, simply recovering from all of my health issues. I found out that I had caused my spine to shift 29 degrees to the left, placing my shoulders 4 inches to the left of where they should be... I see a special chiropractor who adjusts my spine to move exactly to where it should be, once a week. My spine was so far off, that it made my left leg appear to be half an inch longer than my right. But that is fixed now....

In terms of my current health, my migraine has subsided significantly since my most recent root canal, I will be having my splint in my mouth adjusted in about a week, probably. I was able to start work again about a week ago, and have started to recover some of the muscle that I once had (believe it or not)

Anyways, that's my myriad of problems. It's little wonder that I had to come home early...