getting old before my time...

Did anyone see the sky last night as the storm clouds rolled in? Freaky! The sky above the 'hood got so dark that the street lamp turned on. The clouds just above my house looked as though they were forming a circle. It was crazy.
The weather guy is still calling for t-showers off/on this afternoon. We so need it though, to break up the humidity. It was a very restless, humid & sticky night again last night. Suffice it to say I slept very little.

Another reason that I had trouble sleeping was my knee again...again, I can only think that the weather has a part in it....while I was sitting at supper last night with Lana & Lori, I could feel my kneecap 'growing' and the pain setting in. Along with that, my jaw felt as though it was locking up and I could barely open my mouth (hmm...still seemed to manage scarfing down my entire schawarma, however. The pain set in after cleaning my plate. Go figure. *oink*). So upon leaving the restaurant, I headed straight home, popped a few pills, got some ice and immediately iced my knee. The knee is no surprise, but the jaw....hmmm. That's new. Can't help but wonder if it's my crooked jaw finally coming back to bite me in the buttocks.

As a child, going to the dentist for the first time, it was discovered that my jaw didn't line up - and the dentist referred me to an orthodontist...who wanted to break my jaw, and put me in braces. That didn't appeal to my 10 yr old mind, and I flat-out refused, and my parents didn't argue. The orthodontist warned I'd have trouble later in life... Upon going back to my dentist he asked me to smile for him, and said the problem doesn't affect my smile, my teeth were straight, so he said I shouldn't worry about it, and that's the last we ever discussed it. Even though I'm paying for a stellar medical/dental plan at work, I fear the dentist in unimaginable proportions, so, I don't go. My jaw was never an issue before, but now, I'm fearing I'm going to have to call Monday morning :S. My friends predict I might need to sleep with a bite plate, and suggested it could be something called TMJ. Can that come on all of a sudden like this? Any suggestions/ideas are welcome. *sigh*

I feel like about 80 yrs old and my body is falling apart. I don't have a primary physician so I fear going to a clinic or outpatients with a list of complaints will only result in the doctor laughing at me for being a hypochondriac or dismissing me because he doesn't know a history and will tell me it's 'all in my head' (after first advising me to drop 50lbs of course).