December 2024
On December 4, 1974, my second child was born. This was a very special occasion – Daddy was with us. When my firstborn son arrived, Daddy was in VietNam flying in a helicopter around the Mekong Delta.
We had both requested a little girl for our second child. As the delivery was progressing, the doctor exclaimed, “Oh, a little boy!” My heart sank just a bit and before I could say anything, more words poured out of the doctor’s mouth: “Oops, that was the cord wrapped around the neck. It’s a little girl!”
Our little girl cried with a “la, la” – very gentle and soft. And we were very happy. We had gone back and forth on a name. Her middle name was definitely going to be Leigh, my middle name.
As it turned out, her middle name should have been Joy, for this was what I always use on cards and notes.
This was most definitely one of the most joyful memories of my life –
Pure Joy.
The Cat and the Cart
On December 4, 2024, my second child was 50 years old.
Where have the years gone?
Speculation and Supposition
The week after the Cat and the Cart encounter in early December, a “First” in 50 years occurred! The outcome of a treatment by my local osteopath completely alleviated the pressure in my spine at L5-S1 – the site of my spinal fusion. And furthermore, the left hip (with the bone graft for the fusion) no longer produced ‘sensation’ and ‘awareness’. Would this last more than 24 hours? Irregardless of how long this change remains, the bottom line in this kind of release/treatment is that the body has remembered how to be without this symptom. And if it can function for a few days, hours, or even minutes without this pressure sensation, then the door has opened for further recovery and progress.
After 50 years of awareness of my lower spine, I’m elated the next morning when I wake up and my pelvis didn’t say hello. And, yes, when/if it returns, I’ll be irritated. The Knowing that this change is even possible – after so many years and at my age – will sustain me and propel me forward – a source of amazement.
What do I do with ‘hope’? I don’t go there – I float in groundlessness.
click picture for information
For two days, I existed in a different space with amazement. The day after the osteopathic treatment that radically changed my perception of the ‘pressure’ sensation at L5-S1, I had an appointment with my Jin Shin practitioner. A referral in June 2024 brought my life full circle, remembering the 1977 referral by the Japanese mother of my son’s best friend. Jin Shin had allowed me to discontinue all medication and not see a doctor for over a year after two failed back surgeries! A private health insurance policy with Blue Cross/Blue Shield was based on meeting these stipulations.
Piano teaching paid for the policy. My husband was irritated and said I was stupid, wasting money. I was concerned about my liability as a spouse with a devastating health diagnosis and an even more dismal prognosis and the potential impact on his employability; I was already a liability in his current job in a small law practice. Thus the differences in opinion rose to the surface and proceeded to grow much larger.
Breathing in the Moment
Life once again brings
‘circular’ happenings,
unfolding and spiraling,
upward and onward,
into the Unknown
of the Beyond.
I didn’t know the young person who was unwilling to listen to the prognosis of having multiple surgeries. I didn’t know the person who was willing to venture into an unknown Japanese healing art. What makes anyone explore alternatives and unknowns? I came to know that person – who became me!
I have come to realize that the deep states of relaxation – harmonization in the language of Jin Shin – induced by this Japanese art of touch is an absolute blessing in conjunction with the osteopathic release Still Point. Even when in pain, my body can descend into deep states of relaxation, allowing my mind, body and spirit to rest in pain. Is this ’embracing pain’? I do know that this restful state has to be beneficial and healing rather than a reactive state of agitation and frustration.
Following cranial osteopathic treatment, the body gathers momentum to respond (similar to a fever breaking) and can produce a flare as the body regroups into higher level ‘new’ functionality after reaching a Still Point during treatment – the goal of treatment. Gut feelings and sensations can be adjusted by the mind… after-the-fact. And, what happens when these feelings are bathed with deep states of relaxation and harmonization of flow through the touch of Jin Shin?
This Japanese art wakes up and goes to sleep with me daily. On many occasions I have succeeded in inducing relaxation that overcomes agitation, fear and pain through conscious breathing and Jin Shin. The skill of the practitioner, however, is far greater than mine. This form of ‘body meditation’ is priceless, bringing me in ‘touch’ with the Life Force that flows within my physical body as harmonization reverberates within.
As a musician and piano teacher,
I embrace ‘harmonization’
…and have abounding gratitude
for the gift of those moments of breathing and touching,
resting in and with ‘pain’.
Lying on the Jin Shin table, I became acutely aware that my L5-S1 pressure was still absent! My spinal fusion had been performed in the month of December. I remember bringing home “Tony the Pony” for my toddler from the hospital gift shop – 47 years ago. Tony the Pony sleeps in my spare bedroom to this day.
Three days later, my mid-back (thoracic spine) was screaming and yelling. Obvious change will be unfolding as I return to Santa Cruz in two days. Not only was my thoracic spine reacting, but my recently fractured tooth with a new filling as well as a callus on my right foot.
It was Sunday again and I wasn’t making a trip to the nursery; instead, I was hosting three MasterClasses (mini recitals) for my piano students and parents. I would lie down in my zero gravity chair in between each event, do the Jin Shin Main Central Vertical and Supervisor Flows, get up, welcome my guests and play duets with my students.
After a deep sleep that night, my body woke up to a ‘new mid-back’; however, the callus and tooth were still ‘talking’. I am more than ready to see what the coordinated efforts of the dentist and orofacial osteopath uncover. I once again not only feel radical physical change, but amazement at the vitality, adaptation and resiliency that has been given to me at this time in my Life – accelerated healing.
I wonder what will materialize with my neck and jaw as my body adjusts to this amazing change from my pelvis – downstairs in the basement of my body.
The Orofacial-Pelvic Connection is exemplified yet again –
as is the power for change in a long-term, complex surgical/structural
manifestation of Iatrogenesis.
Momentum
Manifesting Miracles
In the evening after my first Santa Cruz osteopathic treatment on December 10, a filling popped out from the recently fractured tooth that now boasted a new filling, the very same tooth that had been my impetus to make a dental appointment when I returned home! The dental splint had been much easier this second month – I thought!
Evidently Tooth #3 didn’t agree.
The momentum didn’t take long to manifest in my head!
I scooped up my little ‘treasure’ to take to my dental visit the next day. What a surprise I would be bringing him!
To my amazement, the dentist completely understood the ramifications of this filling as evidence of accelerated change in structure. He cautioned me to ‘not overdo’ because my body was obviously making giant shifts.
The appliance was adjusted.
The tooth was not filled.
Beneath the Surface
Exosomes
Dr. Turzo commented that the pelvic release by her colleague in Phoenix could be have been facilitated by the Exosome IV push that had occurred on November 15. The positive affects of these injections on the rigidity of the fascial (connective) tissue allows for more responsive results in releasing scar tissue
with palpation.
Her observation was an ‘aha’ moment for me.
During the past month my body had seemed ‘different’ – more responsive with accelerated change. I remember telling a friend how my Osteopath seemed to be, so exceptionally, ‘finding’ and ‘touching’ the problem, and my body’s response as well as my own awareness were enhanced,
stimulating more change than ever before.
Something was very different…and very good.
I was and am most grateful for Dr. Turzo’s 20+ years of experience with this ‘current new therapy’, now labeled regenerative medicine.
Homeopathy
Both of my Osteopaths are board-certified homeopaths. I’ve taken homeopathic remedies for many years. During this visit, Dr. Turzo wanted to address the thick fluid that has plagued me since the orthodontic injury in 1996. A low-dose (30c) of Kali Bicarb resulted in a radical response after two doses.
The first dose was in the San Jose airport on Thursday evening; the next dose was on Friday. By Saturday morning, heavy infection was released down the back of my throat – not through my sinus. An email to her confirmed this was ‘fantastic’ and to reduce the timing to every three days. In the meantime, the infection was profuse. I lost my voice completely on Saturday, less than 48 hours since starting the remedy.
I was most concerned about having a dentist replace the filling which would create a reaction in my face/head/throat. Would this infection be able to continue to release? My local Osteopath was only available for the upcoming week, returning to the office on January 6. While my mouth would be adjusting to this new occlusion, I was dependent on him to keep circulation intact so that my throat could drain!
My strong positive to response to this homeopathic remedy
was a first in my homeopathic history.
I arrived home late Thursday evening, December 12, with the filling safely hiding in my toothbrush box. My ‘knowing’ there was something ‘strange’ about this tooth before I left for San Jose found my Monday dental appointment moving forward to the weekend due to unexpected issues with my Phoenix dentist. The tooth was filled on a Sunday morning! The dentist confirmed this was NOT her new filling, but an old one that had severely deteriorated – and it was most likely very advantageous that it popped out.
I discovered the definitive line that divides the two dentists: California adjusts the appliance and does not cross over into Phoenix, the domain of the teeth. By the same token, Arizona does not touch an appliance seated by another dentist, the domain of San Jose.
My bite with my new filling, however, could not be adjusted. My natural tooth was causing an occlusal problem, hitting on the dental appliance. Current dental practice forbids equilibration (grinding) of natural teeth, unlike my initial traumatic dental experience in 1977 with extreme equilibration of all my natural teeth for six weeks while on Percodan. Since Phoenix could not adjust the appliance, I had two options: 1) wait a month with right-sided head pressure, pain and a ‘mountain’ in the right side of my mouth, or 2) return to California. My local Osteopath was taking a two-week Holiday Break, returning to the office January 6, the day before I would leave for my next Santa Cruz/San Jose visit!
I had no idea of the extensive momentum that was about to unravel during the upcoming days of December 16 – 20!
Within 72 hours of having the tooth filled, a one-day $800 flight to and from San Jose was scheduled.
I actually scheduled and rescheduled three different days and flights as I interacted with California.
The momentum of the events between Monday and Thursday were extraordinary!
The following appointments manifested between 2:00 and 4:00 on a Tuesday afternoon.
An unexpected Path welcomed me with astounding timing and open doors.
1- Early Monday morning, I was able to speak with my San Jose dentist. He wanted to wait and see what happened after my osteopathic treatment before returning
to San Jose.
2- My appointment with my osteopath on Monday helped ease the pressure on the right side
of my face.
3- I was fortunate to have an appointment with my Jin Shin practitioner on Tuesday. As always ,this took my body into a deep state
of calming relaxation. I was hoping this treatment would further settle my reaction to the dental work.
4- While teaching a piano lesson within two hours of the Jin Shin treatment, I started feeling sick and the right side of my face experienced an unbearable sharp pain with the very back tooth on the right side. Luckily, my student was an adult who I knew well. When I started crying in the middle of the lesson it was obvious something was wrong!
The piano lesson stopped.
5- A text to my Osteopath for an appointment resulted in an immediate response!
He just had a 2:00 cancellation – it was 1:45.
My orofacial pain responded to his treatment that he was labeling as trigeminal upset.
This was, however, the ‘wrong’ side of my face — trigeminal pain was the domain
of the left side of my face, not the right!
6- As I was getting out of the car arriving home from this appointment, an unexpected phone call from my Santa Cruz osteopath’s receptionist confirmed a cancellation had just occurred on Thursday at 3:00 – did I want this appointment? “Absolutely yes!”
The San Jose dentist had wanted me to have an osteopathic treatment in Santa Cruz after he made an appliance adjustment.
I had informed him that the doctor was completely booked. I would have to fly home and have my local osteopath treat me after I returned home.
7- A call to to the San Jose dentist resulted in a Thursday appointment before the 3:00 osteopathic appointment in Santa Cruz.
SYNCHRONICITY
The synchronicity of the events before this second San Jose trip within a week was astonishing and unforeseen.
A Path was unfolding minute by minute. I set forth on an unanticipated journey exactly one week from having returned!
The impact on Tooth #3 in the aftermath of the spinal fusion change was unequivocally astounding…
the cause and effect of remarkable structural change within twelve days of each other.
The Orofacial-Pelvic Connection once again manifesting from….
BENEATH THE SURFACE
At times, a relaxation response that would induce sleep during osteopathic cranial treatment could precipitate a backlash with symptom flare, similar to a fever breaking. The deeper I could relax, the more my body was able to express the symptom(s), a monumental leap toward ‘materializing’ the problem beneath the surface. This is not an easy road to travel. The end result, however, is amazing – the body knows how to heal when given the opportunity of balance in Stillness.
Is this what just happened? My face felt similar to the aftermath of my intubation injury that left my right cheekbone ‘talking’ for six months and the beginnings of ‘dismissal’ by the medical profession. Where does trauma under anesthesia hide in the brain since there is no conscious remembering?
Has my body remembered this old trauma with this juxtaposition of the osteopathic Still Point and the Jin Shin harmonization flow?
Breaking Free
The Unexpected surfaced between November 13 and December 20, 2024.
Tooth/Jaw (Orofacial) and Spinal Fusion (Pelvic) communication instigated change.
The Orofacial-Pelvic Connection was once again manifesting…..
Radical and rapid transformation 50 years later in an almost 78-year old body!
Wonderful – Amazing – Miraculous
And the traumatic surgical connections
between the pelvis and the head thus came to start breaking free.
Breaking Free
A friend picked me up at 4:30 am for my round-trip San Jose excursion, returning at 7:20 pm. Landing in San Jose at 7:40 on Dec 19, the Dollar Rent-a-Car will be my go-to rental car company going forward: expedited service, less expensive and helpful clientele: $57.25 for the day! That was a pleasant surprise. Coincidentally, it was the same Toyota RAV4 that I had rented on Dec 13
…even though the rental companies were different the license plates were the same!
Leaving San Jose airport around 8:00, I arrived in Campbell, which is only 10 miles on the 880 in the direction of Santa Cruz,
at the dental office around 8:20, two hours early. This left me ample time to drive down Winchester Boulevard to John’s Pancake House, have breakfast and knit. What would I do without my knitting project, a ruana that is rapidly growing larger and becoming most cumbersome to carry on the airplane?!
It’s comforting to know where to go to fill up a tank of gas and eat. Familiar places ease the travel tension.
Make Haste Slowly
Wander with Direction
The Dentist
Two hours in the dental chair allowed my dentist to witness and understand the instability in my mouth with his appliance when radical adjustments happen. He was shocked at what had transpired with my bite and the new filling. He had just seen me the past Thursday, one week ago! “Well, good to see you again! he laughed, as he leaned over me with the articulation paper, shaking his head as he observed the bite that imprinted on the dental appliance. The whirring of the drill and back in the mouth with the appliance…two or three times and he’s pleased. The dental chair is lowered into a reclining position and, leaving the room, he says: “Knit and don’t think about your teeth for fifteen minutes or so. I’ll be back and test again.”
Upon his return and more testing, he exclaimed “What a change!” And thus he saw more instability and change that occurred with my jaw /bite and positional change. I suggested using my cold laser to relax my face, head and neck which were most reactive. Another hour later and I left his office after much ‘whirring’ and ‘biting’ on carbon paper. He is meticulous and finally was pleased with his handiwork and my bite. He asked me to return on the way to the airport after the osteopathic treatment, saying I should be able to arrive around 4:30-5:00 pm with a 3:00 pm 60-minute appointment in Santa Cruz, get to the airport by 6:00 pm and catch my 7:20 pm flight. He would wait, even though his office ‘closed’ at 4:00 pm.
The right side of my head, cheekbone and eye were ‘talking’ as I left the office, attempting to adjust to the shift in the bite. My plan was to eat lunch at The Buttery. Their delicious basil pesto turkey sandwich is my Santa Cruz staple. This means I will be chewing and the appliance will sit and watch. I wonder what the left side of my face will say by the time I arrive in Dr. Turzo’s office at 3:00?
The Osteopath
The drive through the Santa Cruz Mountains was non-eventful. Michele McLaughlin accompanied me in the car – her piano music always takes me to another space.
I arrived at The Buttery and, as I was entering their cafe, two slogans engraved in stepping stones greeted my feet: Make Haste Slowly and Wander with Direction. That sums up the modus operandi of my life at this time.
By the time 3:00 pm rolled around, I had a full stomach and several rows of knitting on my ever-growing ruana. Dr. Turzo immediately palpated my head with mouth open and then with teeth touching. I even noticed the left side shifting and rolling – chewing and rolling through the Santa Cruz Mountains had already shifted my bite (how much did I clench on those hairpin curves?! She whipped out her articulation paper and while inserting the paper between my teeth, said: “Bite, bite, bite”. The Dremel grinder tool appeared in her hand and she adjusted the appliance.
The 60-minute appointment ended with an intense discussion of injecting the jaw joints with exosomes to help stabilize the joint. When? …return that day at 5:00 or at my January appointment? She would see me the next day if I had the jaw joint injections and did not want the dentist adjusting the appliance after her treatment.
My mind flashed through all of the issues: Motel, rental car, airline, the dentist plus my Friday obligations that included two piano students, playing Mahjong, accountant, financial planner, and a Phoenix Osteopathic appointment. A phone call to my friend in Tennessee plus a discussion with Dr. Turzo’s receptionist ended with my having the joint injections at 5:00 and then changing my Phoenix life on Friday.
Texting and calling the dentist resulted in leaving messages; I was concerned he was waiting for me! An 11:00 appointment for the next morning was scheduled.
I wandered with direction and made haste slowly to find a place to sleep.
It was 6:00 pm and dusk had turned into darkness.
An unexpected, spontaneous, unscheduled appointment emerged.
An ‘aha‘ moment of insight – simultaneously
with me and my doctor.
A major decision
made in the moment.
Life revolving and evolving
at unprecedented speed.
Meet my Dinosaur
Pterygomandibular Raphe
I first became acquainted with the word ptyergomandibular in my oral surgeon’s office in 1998. My first reaction to this word was my only familiarity with the sound of this word was associated with the dinosaur ‘pterodactyl’. “Pter- and –pter are combining forms that variously refer to ‘wings’ and ‘feathers’. They come from the Greek pterón, meaning “wing” or “feather.” Closely related to pter- and -pter are the combining forms pterygo-, connected to pterygoid, and pterido-, which is used for ferns.” However, I’ve always acquainted the ‘sound’ –pter with a dinosaur!
The spontaneous, unplanned and unscheduled Friday appointment was magical.
How thankful I am that I stayed.
Dr. Turzo took out her 1064 hot laser as usual. She palpated deep in my throat and her fingertip located ‘the spot’.
She placed the laser inside my throat, being very careful not to touch any tissue.
And within one minute I could feel the back left side of my throat slowly opening and relaxing.
Her eyebrows went up. I couldn’t speak with a laser deep in my throat – but we communicated with our eyes.
YES!
“Your pterygomandibular raphe cannot respond to palpation;
Laser Light helps reduce the tension and rigidity in this ligament so your body will be more responsive to palpation.
The power and beauty of Touch is inconceivable… as are the sensitive and skilled hands of the doctors.
The pterygomandibular raphe (pterygomandibular fold or pterygomandibular ligament)
is a thin tendinous band of buccopharyngeal fascia.
It is attached superiorly to the pterygoid hamulus of the medial pterygoid plate,
and inferiorly to the posterior end of the mylohyoid line of the mandible.
It gives attachment to the buccinator muscle (in front), and the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle (behind).
I traveled back in time to 1996 and the orthodontic procedure that triggered the left palate collapse and hamular process injury.
Two years later, an oral surgeon attempted to eliminate the ‘sharp’ sensation
with a hamular resection.
This surgery uncovered necrosis
(dead bone) in the palate resulting
from an intubation injury (1972) in the presence of inherited hypercoagulation genetic variations.
And further back in time – to the wisdom tooth extraction (1971) that created a concealed
fistula in the sinus floor.
A sinus surgery with a hidden intubation injury was the ‘solution’ to the nine–month chronic sinus infection that appeared
after the extraction.
I’ve described my ‘Dinosaur’ (pterygomandibulbar raphe) as a “guywire”. He tugs from the back
of my throat as far down as my
fusion and hip graft Slow breathing amplifies his pulling sensation.
This is precisely the location that my Phoenix osteopath palpated, trying to release the ‘spasm’ in the superior constrictor muscle on several occasions. My ENT’s PA saw ‘something’ in the throat and used a Q-tip to swab the area.
CT and MRI scanning has produced no findings over years. I have a collection of approximately 30+ scans in a closet.
My ‘Dinosaur’ came home from Santa Cruz with me. I initially thought he stayed in the doctor’s office.
Probably he jumped into my knitting bag as I was leaving! However, he’s much smaller now and not as aggravating.
He disappears for a while when my cold laser is aimed at him. The flashing violet light scares him.
The sharp spines on his back can still lash out, causing me pain. When he gets upset, he pretends he’s a dragon and breathes out burning fire. He also manufactures a thick fluid that makes me feel like I’m drowning and choking to help put out the fire, but the quantity is less and comes and goes faster.
Walking entices him; eating really attracts him. Chewing and swallowing invite him to appear and shout ‘hello’,
reminding me he needs attention.
I now think, in time, he will relax, settle down and go to sleep
….forever.
My pterygoid hamulus ‘Dinosaur’ has reappeared in the NOW
unraveling a 50 year old Medical Mystery.
Let there be Light!
Raphe Revisited
Raphe is demanding more attention. (His nickname is Raphe; ptyergomandibular raphe was way too long). I’ve also realized that he’s not scared of the flashing violet light. Initially, he would disappear completely; this was in the aftermath of his long disappearance when he was introduced to the 1064 hot laser light. Ten days later, he’s become aware that the hot laser has disappeared.
He’s more confident now and recently woke me up during the night for the first time since returning home. I’ve decided the shimmering light relaxes him when the probe is inserted into my mouth. The shimmering opens the left side of my throat very slowly and gently and sparkles into the right side of my head which is tight. He then floats down into the right side of my ribs in the thoracic cage, spreading into my left hip graft and down, down, down into my left foot. This is the path he has frequented before. I walk with him down this path of shimmering violet light. He settles down and is not as vocal.
He also responds to my slow breathing. He floats, moves and sometimes even shimmers with an inhalation of gentle widening as my belly rises and with an exhalation of slow lengthening – flexion and extension in the world of the Osteopath.
I wonder what he will do when the 1064 hot laser targets the scar from the broken hip bone graft? He will meet the this ‘big’ laser at this location on January 7 – one week from when this is being posted.
And he becomes smaller.
Give it Time
The podiatrist appointment I had cancelled during my frantic unexpected travel plans materialized
the week after my return. My right foot callus has been a ‘monitor’ of gait change for several years. The callus and tooth #3 became vocal indicators of change during this past month.
The shift and the quality of the callus since my last visit three months ago was greeted with raised eyebrows
and a verbal validation: “This callus has completely shifted and almost gone!”
She has been most interested in my pelvic ‘evolution’ over the years which always affects her world – the feet.
At least this part of the puzzle was an easy fix: ten minutes around the corner vs. two hours and an airplane trip!
All is connected.
Will the next month bring
A Deeper Understanding?