I fell off the wagon yesterday.
I had a dentist appointment yesterday morning. I had an old filling that had cracked and before it got worse and needed a root canal, I was having the filling replaced.
I really like our dentist. He has been great with the kids and is fairly amusing to me, as far as a dentist can be. Plus, he gives me the option for nitrous gas anytime he has to work on my teeth. That is some good stuff. I always ask for a "take home bag". He'd make a mint if he could figure that one out.
Anywhooo.
The girls had given me the gas in a delightful vanilla scented nose cover. He'd already shot my jaw with the numbing stuff and it was settling in for a pain free procedure. I had a fabulous Mozart album playing on the iPod they gave me to use and I was happily drifting away to la la land. It was a peaceful near-nap.
Suddenly I was jarred out of my happy place by what I thought was a violent cough. Uh, no. Not a cough. I threw up, in my mouth, but I couldn't hold much more. Luckily one of the girls heard me and through the gas-induced, Mozart accompanied fog asked if I needed a drink. "A bucket" I tried to convey in my teeth-gritting, edge of my nerves, complete gross-out. "Right," she hurriedly said and brought me an office garbage can--with a plastic liner, thankfully--into which I puked all the stomach bile I had been holding in. Ewwww.
I've never had trouble with the gas before. On the contrary, the gas and I get on like peanut butter and jelly. So, I got myself situated and sort of rinsed out my mouth--which is harder to do with the left side of your face numb. I stepped outside to breath some fresh cooler air. Feeling much better, I came back in--more than a little embarrassed.
Dr. Dentist came over to check on me and assured me that this was not a big deal to them, and it can happen for no physiological reason. He had the same thing happen in a class during dental school. He reassured me that like a food that might make you sick once, that isn't a reason to give up the food forever. Likewise, the nitrous is generally a useful option, and he wanted me to still consider it in the future. "It works too good to give it up," I told him.
The rest of the procedure went just fine. But as I left the office I remembered that in the past, Dr. Dentist had suggested that drinking a caffeinated soft drink will help dissipate the numbness after dental work. Thinking of that and the oddly post-nauseated feeling in my mouth and throat and stomach, I decided to stop and grab a diet coke on the way home.
I have been soda free since August 1st last year. Seven and half months of nothing, and suddenly 20 ounces with little more than a dental disaster to drop kick me off the wagon.
It didn't taste good. The bubbles, while helpful in relieving the plumped up gassy stomach feeling, didn't really do it for the rest of me. And the caffeine may have helped the numbness go away, but it would have on its own, eventually.
Oh well. Begin the recount.
Hi. My name is Shauna and I have been diet coke sober for one day. Again.
