Welcome to my personal fundraising page on behalf of The TMJ Association and our efforts to raise funds for scientific research into the causes and possible treatments and ultimately, cures for TMJ, a poorly understood disorder of the temporomandibular joint. That's the "jaw joint", that little hinge in front of our ears that lets most of you open and close your mouths, chew, eat, talk, smile, and even swallow.

The causes of TMJ really aren't understood by patients, doctors, or scientists, and the general public has a woeful lack of knowledge of what living with TMJ can do to your life. I developed TMJ almost 30 years ago, courtesy of the oral surgeon who forced my jaws too far apart while removing my wisdom teeth, dislocating both my jaw joints in the process. By the time I was finally diagnosed with TMJ 2 years later, arthritis had set in. I was living at a time in medical history when surgical treatment and implanting unsafe jaw joint implants made of a material similar to Teflon called Proplast was in fashion. Other implants were made from a silicone based material called Silastic.

Those implants (which were finally recalled by the FDA in 1991 as unsafe) began to break apart inside my jaw joints about 5 minutes after my surgeon put them in during major surgery. They caused what's called a "foreign body giant cell reaction", which simply means your body keeps trying to get rid of them, the way that some bodies reject a transplanted organ which isn't a good match. That reaction ate away most of my jawbone, part of my skull, part of my vision and hearing, and the particles from the implant worked their way throughout my whole body. One surgeon I consulted after the implants were removed said "I guarantee you that if I biopsied your ankle, I'd find particles of Proplast down there." That's how widespread the effects of the implants are, and that was after 20 years and 11surguries to try to correct the "mistake", which really wasn't a mistake at all, but a plan by materials and device manufacturers to keep the money coming in. Surgeons knew about the toxic effects of Proplast on humans as far back as the 1960's, but chose to inflict further harm instead of adhering to "first do no harm".

But trauma or injury isn't the only cause of TMJ. The roles of genetics, hormones, biochemistry, biomechanics, nutrition and many other things are just now being looked into, as is the relationship between TMJ and other conditions often associated with it, such as lupus, scleroderma, fibromyalgia, Sjogren's syndrome, and many other connective tissue disorders. Is TMJ a sumptom of these other conditions, or a result that no one was able to "connect the dots" between them?

One thing's for certain: although TMJ is felt "in the head" (among other places), the condition or disease itself is definitely NOT "all in your head" or the result of "stress" - if it were, 90% of the population would have it. As it is, millions suffer horribly without knowing either what the problem is, or if they do, the right treatment for it.

Aye, therein lies the rub. Today there is no scientific agreement among medical professionals as to the most effective way to treat our suffering. Any doctor or dentist can prescribe grinding down your teeth to adjust your occulusion (the way your teeth meet), botox injections to paralyze and numb some of the muscles in your face, arthrocentesis, surgery, bite guards or splints, all of which are irrreversible treatments and can do more harm than any possible good.

That's why I've asked you to visit my page and make a donation to The TMJ Association to fund research which might bring me, and many others, some relief in my lifetime. We need rigorous scientific research to find out how to diagnose and treat it. We need to make everyone aware that TMJ is as debilitating as multiple scleroris, lupus, spinal cord injuries, or rheumatoid arthritis, so that when someone says "I've got TMJ", people don't just brush us off as having a minor ailment.

Today I can barely talk because I can't move my mouth; I haven't been able to eat solid food since 1984 and sometimes choke on water because my throat muscles have been affected. My vision's getting worse, as is my hearing. I'm in constant debilitating pain and have been told to "grin and bear it" - which I'd try if I could even smile! Since my last surgery during which surgeons tried to reconstruct my jaw using 2 of my own ribs, half my face is paralyzed due to nerve damage, and even crying hurts. How ironic is that?! It hurts too much to cry when I'm in so much pain. The bone remaining on one side of my jaw has fused to my skull, but I've got a "perforation" (hole) in my skull on the other side (yes, I have a "hole in my head"!). I need to wear a MedicAlert bracelet in case I'm ever in an accident or need general anesthesia, so the medics will know to perform an emergency tracheotomy rather than force my mouth open to get trubes down my throat, which would force my jawbone into my brain.

My only option for treatment at this time is total joint replacements made of metal, plastic, or ceramic, and my condition is "so far gone" even the manufacturers of these joint replacements have advised me my chances for either pain relief or an increase in being able to move my jaw are about 20%, and that I could very well end up in worse condition afterwards. Am I willing to risk more major surgeries and over $100,000 for that? No, I'll continue on surviving as I have all these years, with the love of family and friends, my love of nature, my writing, my music and my orneriness as my "drugs of choice" to fight the pain and the reality of what my life has become. And believe it or not, I count myself as one of the lucky survivors, because I've had the support of the TMJ Association behind me all these years.

Please make a donation to TMJA to help guarantee that what happened to me won't happen to you, your daughters, your sons, your grandchildren, your friends, or anyone else. Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist who survived the concentration camps, has said "We can bear the 'how' of anything, if we know the 'why'". I'll deal with the "how"; please help me help the TMJA increase public awareness and fund scientific research and I'll feel I've got a shot at understanding the "why".

Many thanks for your support through this site, which is a safe, secure and and efficient way to raise funds. Even if you can't donate right now, please forward this to anyone  you think might want to donate, including people engaged in medicine, science, and just plain good people who want to help! Don't forget to visit the TMJ Association at http://tmj.org for more information.