Monday, June 04, 2007

Ai yi yi

When we last spoke, I was all kinds of happy to be on antibiotics and thought I saw a pain-free light at the end of a crap-filled, 9-month-long tunnel. What's that saying about a train?

At my 6-month (really more like 10 month) dentist visit the very next day, I shelled out $175 to find out I have a huge-ass cavity (that's the technical term) in my back bottom left tooth. Bad enough that a root canal is probably warranted. Also, a portion of the head/sinus/tooth pain was actually, probably, kinda-sorta, related to my...um...swiss-cheese-like tooth. And once the antibiotics worked on my sinus infection, sure enough the pain localized to that one craptastic tooth.

[Note: I have health insurance thru my part-time job, but no dental insurance. And I've inherited my mom's crap teeth genes. Thanks Mom.]

A week later, I went back in for what I was hoping would be a filling but was resigning myself to a root canal sometime the near future. Turns out they were planning on doing it all that day, if needed. "But wait," I thought "I haven't bought any soup or gelatin products yet!" Oh well, I can deal. I'll just shop on the way home when I'm still numb and probably drooling. Sexy.

Then they gave me the estimate.
One filling for huge-ass cavity - $200.
One root canal for totally fucked-up tooth - $2000
Being able to breath through my nose - priceless.

Many little things conspired to make me not have either procedure done that day. Claustrophobia induced by having my head lower than my feet. Stuffy nose from tearing up thinking about the $2000 I don't readily have. General life-type anxiety. The final straw was the rubber dam they fit over the tooth prior to starting that covered my whole mouth.

I freaked. I couldn't breath and suddenly I couldn't stop crying. I knew there was no way I'd be able to get through the appointment without...dying, it felt like. Luckily my dentist and his assistant are very nice people and they were understanding and all that.

So I left, with a numb mouth (I did manage to get the Novocaine shots prior to freaking), an appointment in one week and a prescription for tranquilizers that will render me incapable of operating a moving vehicle.

[Note: Everyone send up a mental "Thank You" to Bernice for being my designated driver.]

So, on Wednesday, I will hopefully be relaxed, numb and on the path to a pain-free head. And I stopped on the way home tonight and bought soup and pudding. I'm prepared. On the edge of being completely broke, but prepared.

But enough about my Judas mouth and panic attacks (which, by the way, is totally the name of my next band). Let's look at some funny dog pictures.

Does this picture, taken last week, look familiar to anyone?

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How about now? (scroll down). Apparently the hallway is the designated sleeping place, come summer or fall. And yes, there are assigned seats, so no pushing.

Lucy doesn't so much swim at the dog park as she does...wallow.

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Check out the flowing Fabio-like ears.

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It's a Murphy burrito. A Murpharito!

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[Note: Dogs are silly. And they don't care if you're broke, or swiss-cheese-toothed, or prone to freak-outs. I love dogs. Next life, I think I want to be a dog.]

6 comments:

Creative Genius? said...

I too want to come back as a dog - a cute little fluffy lap dog!!! When I see you I'll say WOOF WOOF ARF - and you'll know it's me!!

sara said...

Wonderful post!

Yes, yes, I know you are in pain and kind of freaking out, but you managed to write a very funny post and include fabio inspired animal pics (always a plus.)

I inherited my mother's chalk teeth and my father's crap gums and have had 2 or 3 root canals and four wisdom teeth removed on three separate occasions.Luckily God gave me one helluva tolerance for mouth pain and some great dentists. Sounds like you have a dentist that actually cares about your health and not just paying for a new boat. Ask them about payment options. The first year I taught I had no dental insurance and needed a root canal and wisdom tooth removal (big ass cavity is a technical term). My dentist really worked with me money wise.

Deneen said...

When it's over, hopefully it'll take care of the crappy 9 months problems you've been having-you're probably desensitized to how crappy you really feel and once you feel better-you'll ask yourself how the heck you went so long feeling like crap.

Good luck, I don't envy you, but I'm happy you'll get some relief.

Unknown said...

*hugs* Sending good toohwork vibes your way!

noricum said...

Ouch! **hugs**!!!

Mel said...

Dogs are the best! It's hard to stay upset when you see those 'Fabio' ears flapping in the breeze! Maybe you should take the murpharito to the dentist with you ;-) He'll totally just lay under the dentists feet and chill out. (But really, I'll be thinking of you and sending positive vibes your way.)