Not what I was expecting..

Today after waiting over three hours for my consultation with the surgeon, I have been informed that they will not preform the surgery. 

According to the Surgeon I have TMJ (which I knew) and arthritis in my jaw joints.. this could be from either falling over from when I was younger (trauma), or Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

Either way, surgery will only aggravate the the joints and make thing worse with both TMJ and my arthritis.. Cool.. 

I was really hoping that I'd go in there, be accepted for surgery, have the surgery, then I'd be fine for the rest of my life.. But no, instead I'm stuck with arthritis forever. I will be able to have a jaw replacement sometime down the line, but not for awhile as I'm only 20 years old..

However, on a sort of good note? I have been given a rule list to follow, this is to try and lessen the pain and discomfort that I currently have, and to try to slow down the effects of the arthritis. 

The first few are general things that I already do, regular panadol, brufen, hot packs etc. I will be required to get myself a splint, and if symptoms don't improve I will be required to undergo botox in the muscles around my joints.. This wont paralyse the muscles, but will stop them from having full strength.. Stopping me from being able to chew so hard, and to try and stop my clenching and grinding whenever I'm not conscious of it.. 

I'm really struggling to see the bright side :\