Bloods & Botox

So today my mum & husband accompanied me to the Regional Maxillofacial Unit at Aintree Hospital. 

I always take somebody with me to appointments, as it’s hard to take in and process what’s discussed. Having an extra pair of ears is really useful. 

(Useful until your chaperone faints like my dad did when Mr Dodd showed us the video of my Arthroscopy!) 

The purpose of today’s visit was to have my bloods taken. These were being taken by courier to the airport to be flown to Germany for a MELISA Test. 

MELISA tests white blood cells against a panel of metals, to determine what the jaw joint implant can be made of. The hospital do lots of thorough prep work to maximise the success of the procedure.

After my bloods had been taken, I went for an appointment with Nurse Dodd to administer my Botox. 

The Botox injections don’t touch my jaw joint pain, but they do relax the muscles in my head and lower face. The examination and procedure is really quite unpleasant and painful, and leave me feeling extra tender and under the weather for a few days. 

So now I’ve got to wait a few weeks for the results of the MELISA test... although the thought of this operation fills me with fear, I’m so ready for some intervention now as my joint is extremely uncomfortable.

KjS-T x