26
This has been a messed up day. A very, very long and messed up day. Remember the broken tooth from last night? The bad sandwich incident? Well, it fully claimed my life today. It fully lay its wrath upon me.
9:00am - I wake in pain. I had fallen asleep on the sofa last night (what is it about sleeping on the sofa when you don’t feel good — even into adulthood?) and the morning claimed me with an unfriendly growl. Inches of snow apparently fell last night. It was disgusting.
9:30am - I settle into a chair in the waiting room at the dentist. Wandering around my house for something to read, I had found a little gem called American Desert. I bought in in 2004 around the time my mom died and found that I couldn’t stomach it once I started reading. Still can hardly stomach it. It’s good though. Pretty dark. I wait.
12:30pm - I finally get into see a dentist - as this was an unscheduled appointment (emergency issue) wait times were a little longer than I had hoped. I sat back in the chair and they looked at the cracked tooth - yup, it’s gotta come out, they say. I had lost track of which one it was. And I got really upset.
Backstory: Patrick has really bad teeth. I brush and brush and floss and brush, but the suckers rot from the inside out. My parents come from a generation, or familial pattern of a) not having very good teeth to begin with, and b) not being overtly concerned with good tooth care, so we didn’t get all the normal prevention treatments when we were kids like, say, my son will today. In 2005, I made the commitment both financially and psychologically to sit in the chair once a week and pour a brand new loaded Scion tC in my mouth (metaphorically) to get a smile and an oral health status that I’d never had before. It went okay for a while. Then, some financial troubles ended up stalling things out and some treatments that had been only half finished ended up laying in wait. In Nov 06, after a problem with #13, it got a root canal but due to the wild nature of 2007, I never got scheduled in to finish it up (my bad). Pop goes the toothy. #13 was an anchor for some other planned restorative work.
1:30pm - After talking further with the dentist who a) was a bitch and b) was very passive, see a, and c) wasn’t really considering how much money I’ve poured into their establishment nor my face thus far, see a — I finally decided that I wanted to talk to someone about the next plans for my mouth and how #13 being gone was going to affect the plan before anything was poked, prodded or extracted. I was told to come back at 3pm (a cancellation had occurred) to get some moments for a deeper eval and a consult with their oral surgeon.
2:00pm - I freak out a little. This pushes into 3.
3:00pm - I’m back in the waiting room tonguing my broken tooth and reading more American Desert.
4:00pm - I’m finally back in the chair. A new plan is made. I’m getting implants! What once was a late model Scion tC has now become a fully loaded 2008 Accord! I decide that with a plan in place, rip the f***** out.
4:30pm - I’m tossed to another examination room. I get needles in my face. I tell them, this most likely will have little, if any, effect.
5:00pm - They’re still waiting for me to get numb. I tell them I’m about as good as I’m going to get. (Remember the familial lack of overt concern over dental care - this may be one reason why, we don’t respond to Novocain.)
5:30pm - Even after 3 supplemental shots, I’m still hardly numb and the pain is sharp and gnawing at my psyche. My hands are clinched at the arm rests of the chair. I’m sweating and feeling the pressure of this clamp-looking-thing well into the core of my skull. He forces it to the left, to the right - my head is shaking with his every force. They say, we’re almost there. He takes away the clamp and preps more of the tooth with a scraper thing. The pain is sharp. I catch my breath. My legs are shaking. Again, he starts with the clamp. We’re really almost there. Raise your left arm if it’s too much and you need a break (they knew I wasn’t numb). It seemed like an eternity - but it finally got out. I felt the pressure release and immediately felt the relief as he pulled the clamp away with my poor #13, all pretty except for the damn crack down its middle, and I kind of waved goodbye. There goes about $700 of my irresponsibility and fear of the chair. Sorry, he says. He had to be careful and prevent much trauma to my jaw as an implant will be placed in a couple months.
The sharp pain was gone in an instant. Whatever numbness remained seemed to cover the more-than-likely-case-of-throbbing that was probably going on beyond my silenced nerve. It was over. But the day wasn’t. The assistant said I looked pretty white, did I feel okay?
Next thing I know I’m on oxygen. I never faint, I say (and I don’t — just get whoozy) — it was that damn last 20 seconds. It just got to me. She gives me a moment to get it together. I stand up. She mentions how she was supposed to be gone at 5. I say sorry. Whatever.
11:50pm - No pain (a cross between the dentist being careful to prevent jaw trauma and the happy I love the world feeling from the hydrocodone). And I admit to a cigarette (or two) — even at the risk of a dry socket. The day has just been too long and too hard. I’m not strong. I hit the grocery store to buy soft food stuffs earlier, talked to my son, had some oatmeal, took a nap, and I’m still bleeding a bit (and my head feels really big) but I’m doing okay - minus sticker shock at the changes in the plan. Adrian called while I was napping, but I haven’t called him back yet. He knew I broke a tooth but doesn’t know the extent. Missed an important meeting at work today this afternoon — I’m going to have to calm ruffled feathers tomorrow — I hope my absence didn’t screw too many things up. I couldn’t have performed well anyway — I was in a lot of pain.
Time to walk away from the computer after I check the mails, the comments, the boards. Mac & Cheese calling my name.
11:50 pm
Feb 27 2008
Ouch. . . I feel your pain (I have to get all four wisdom teeth extracted). Dentist visits are never fun. I hope you get better quickly!