Okay, I admit it. I dislike going to the dentist. Most of us do. I don't "hate" it so much anymore, mostly because my dentist is awesome, but it still totally sucks. And also like a lot of us, while I worry about my family's health, I tend to neglect my own.
So after far too long a stretch of tooth pain which, at one point, interfered with my ingestion of margaritas (Gasp!), and ultimately interfered with...bum bum BUM!...eating sushi, I went to the dentist. I saw the doc last Wednesday for a cleaning and a chastising and a filling. Turns out that the cavity *under* a filling had actually gotten worse, so he had to drill it out and redo it. Afterwards he tells me that there's a pretty good chance that the filling isn't going to work and I'll wind up needing a root canal. What I like about him is that he doesn't bullshit me, he tells me stuff straight up *AND* he pays attention to my anesthetic needs. This one was rough though, there was a spot that refused to stop recognising the cold air from the suction that the assistant person was holding in my mouth. Yeah, I know that sounds a little dirty, bite me. You weren't there. It hurt like a fucker.
Fast forward to Friday night..I've got a touch of insomnia and I have to work Saturday morning. About 2:30-3ish, Im feeling the need for a nosh. Aha, we've got smoked salmon in the fridge and Webba's a happy bagel-eater! Yeah, that sounds a little dirty too. Again, bite me. Suddenly, I am in pain. Doc'd warned me that I was going to be uncomfortable for a few days, but wow...Pain with a capital P. So I pop Motrin and slather on the Ora-jel and pray for sleep. I set the alarm for 7 but cruelly woke up at 5:45. Yep, about 2 and a half hours sleep. Niiiiice. Pain and tired, always a winning combination.
I tried calling the denstist MANY times during my shift, but no luck. Turns out his answering machine wasn't working right. The office was incredibly apologetic today when I finally got through to them. But Saturday, no luck. I came home and cried. It hurt sooo bad. NCB and the vampire were great though. NCB wanted to take me to the ER because the pain was so bad, but I compromised by calling the advice nurse and finally got to speak to a doctor. I explained (for the third time...gotta love Kaiser) the problem and he prescribed me something called Tramadol. Ho-leee shit, that's strong stuff! From Saturday evening through Monday morning, I slept. At one point on Sunday, I realised I was hungry and reasoned out that I could probably eat a tuna sammich fairly successfully and I knew we had all the stuff. I dragged my ass up, pulled clothes on and zombie-walked into the kitchen. I took the cans from the cupboard, got the cheese from the fridge and....I couldn't do it. I could not make the sammich myself. I had to wuss out and go back to bed. NCB wound up fixing my lunch and brought it to me in bed. Later on that day, he came to check on me and realised I was in the bathroom. He promptly chastised me for not having him help me walk in there. Hint: Tramadol's worst side effects are dizziness and nausea. And oh my god, is Tramadol goooood at those side effects.
This weekend has further proven to me that I found the right man. My wonderful Naked Coffee Boy took such good care of me. He made sure I had anything I needed, took my drugs like I was supposed to, helped me get dressed and undressed while I was stoned. He was, and is, amazing and beautiful and I am so thankful that he is in my life. I love you, Schmoop.
I called my boss last night to let her know what was up and that I might have to leave early today to go to the dentist. She was great and basically just told me to keep her posted. I finally got through to my dentist about 10 this morning and the office was able to get me into an endodontist this afternoon for the root canal. They were amazing. The staff was kind and understanding. I lost it a little bit when the gal behind the desk told me it was going to be nearly 500 bucks though. I couldn't help it, I broke and cried. My dentist told me that a root canal would be covered 100% by my insurance, but it turned out that this endodentist is out of network. But Behind The Counter Gal talked to her doc and he said he was willing to accept the 80% my insurance would pay as full payment. I cried a little more. I apologised and thanked her and reassured her that I am normally much more badass that this but that I'd had a horrible weekend. She was so kind and so reassuring.
The dentist rocked. Im just gonna say it. He fucking rocked. He was kind of Doogie Howser-young, but foxier, very straight forward and charming, but not sleazy or gross. He explained what he'd be doing and then as I mumbled questions during the procedure around the dental dam "tooth draping" contraption he put in my mouth, he answered them. And they had dark glasses that fit over MY glasses! So I wasn't staring into the sun like it usually feels like at the dentist with those blinding overhead lights. He even did the one thing I asked..no, begged of him. He numbed the shit out of me. Nu-umb!! I was numb up to the eyeballs, and even my eyelid was kind of numb. It was great! After days of pain radiating into my temple, I was NUMB!! Wahoooooo! Bliss!
The whole thing took no time at all and I. felt. nothing. The drilling sound awful and weird of course, and some of the contraptions were alarming, but I didn't feel ANYTHING. I was so tired that I yawned a bunch of times. He reassured me that if I fell asleep it was totally fine, but of course I didn't..he was drilling my tooth and that is just not conducive to napping. Plus it had clearly been a long day for him...his stomach kept growling.
I've been warned that the next few days Im still going to hurt and given instructions to take the prescribed antibiotics and pain meds and see my regular dentist in about a week for the permanent filling.
And while he's out of network with my insurance, I'd recommend him in a heartbeat.
I think it's time for a pain pill and my bed now. Ima take advantage of this whole "numb" thing and try to sleep.
