Never a Dull Moment

Just when I think things are settling down, I get thrown a curve ball.

Since a week or two ago, Genius Golfer has had some increasingly severe pain in one of his teeth.  Over the weekend the pain got severe enough that Tylenol and Advil weren't touching it.  He took a leftover Lortab sometime Saturday night and was completely loopy on Sunday.  (Funny for me; not so much for him.)

Today he finally let me get him an appointment to see our dentist, who graciously saw him as soon as GG could get there.  Yep.  It is time for a root canal.  I figured as much.

So the insurance we do have, doesn't cover any endodontic work.  A root canal is done by an endodontist.  Figures.  Again.

But with some shuffling of money--that is what an emergency fund is for, right?!--he is scheduled for a root canal tomorrow morning about 7 AM.  The endo's office will give us a discount for paying in cash, but it is still quite a chunk of change to put down.  I'm telling myself, "It's only money...this is what moneys is for...and GG is in a lot of pain and needs this done sooner than later."

I never seem to get too comfortable.  And I guess that is just was well.  Curve balls happen and, luckily, we are flexible enough to handle them when they do.  Plus, GG on good drugs for recovery could be pretty funny!

Post Op Surprises

The Girl's oral surgery went well yesterday. In fact, once I left hte room, pre-sedation, the doctor was out to tell me things went great in about 40 minutes. It was another hour almost before I got her to the car and we headed home. But that hour was one of the funniest I can remember.

I know that anesthesia does different things to different people. I knew that, but still didn't expect the hilarity of yesterday's post-operative recovery.

The Girl was so stoned. And I mean that in the very best sense of the word. She was watching her hand as she flopped it on and off her lap. She would hold her head up only long enough to turn it and flop it back over to the other side--real hurky-jerky. And she couldn't stop smiling. Considering her had a mouth full of gauze squares folded up to stop the bleeding, the smiling was pretty amazing.

She couldn't stop giggling though. That was funny. I still don't know what her drug-addled brain was thinking about but it must have been funny.

After a drop off of prescriptions--may I add, that drive up pharmacy windows are the best thing I have seen developed in a LONG time?!--we got her into the house. Luckily for me, and her, Genius Golfer had taken a personal day from work to paint the house yesterday otherwise I am not sure she would have made it into the house at all. She is getting taller and heavier and I am getting older and weaker, apparently. GG had to almost lift her up the stairs to get her to bed. She was wobbly and staggering like an old wino.

As she got settled into the recovery bed--mine, since it has a DVD and TV to hold her attention--she tried to ask me a question. Still having a mouth full of gauze, she motioned for a paper and pencil. I found those and gave them to her. Then she wrote a message about calling the neighbors to borrow a movie IN SPANISH. Hilarious.

Later in the day her BFF, Nicole, came over and babysat her/watched movies with her/kept her from falling off the bed. Slowly but surely she came out of the anesthesia fully and then we spent the rest of the day dealing with pudding, pain meds, and ice packs.

Still, her reaction to the anesthesia was so unexpected, I am still smiling about it when I think of her face yesterday. GG got some of that on video. And if I figure out how to load it, we'll post something here. I just hope she doesn't ever have friends who need to be entertained so badly that they give her drugs. She'd fill the entertainment request, but who knows what else she'd do!

Extraction

Today The Girl is having her wisdom teeth extracted. She seems very calm about the whole thing. That is good, because I am freaking out just a little on the inside.

I had my wisdom teeth pulled too, but I was a little older that The Girl. I was in my junior year of high school and I had all four impacted teeth pulled over Thanksgiving break. What a rotten time to do that to someone. I laid around on the couch all weekend slurping Jell-O while I could smell my mom's turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, pies, and stuffing. RUDE!

As I recall the extraction process itself went well, but the complications I encountered were of the post-op sort. I ended up with lock jaw. I can't recall anything more uncomfortable until childbirth. But, may I say, the drug used to treat the lock jaw was FANTASTIC!

I remember being given Valium. What a wonderful drug. So soothing, so peaceful. So calm, and unlocking.

Maybe with my history from wisdom teeth extraction, I could have the doctor give me some more of that, then I'd be so much more pleasant to deal with while I nurse The Girl back to health from her surgery. Yeah, that would be great.

I've Fallen, But I'm Back Up

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.