Happy St. Patrick's Day, Dentists & Spring!

March 17th, 2011. 

First, a Happy birthday to my beloved grandmother Lucille Davis, who is loved and missed dearly. I wish that she was here to have seen me grow into the teenager and young adult I was, and the daughter, mother, and wife I am. Love you, grandma!

And Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! Hope you're having an awesome day! 

The worst toothache EVER appeared out of of nowhere Sunday afternoon. I tried everything, from brushing like 8 times a day, to Tylenol, to Goody's later that night, to rubbing rum on my gums. Nothing! The next day, Mister went to the store and bought this extra strength liquid oral-gel like medication. It seemed to only make it worse because as soon as I rubbed it on, I could feel every nerve throb with irritation. I tried to hold out as long as I could but the pain was unbearable. For two nights, I suffered. Tuesday afternoon, we went to the dentist. I was so happy that they were able to see me on such short notice. I walked in, weak because I hadn't eaten anything since Monday morning, and tired because sleep was something I was getting nothing of the nights before. A mess, was I. So, the dental assistant calls me back to the room. Usually by now, I'd be trembling, scared, ready to bolt out the door because I am not a fan of doctors, dentists, hospitals, nurses, etc. But this day, the pain was my motivator to sit still and get this over with. The dentist comes in to check out the problem. I tell him about the nonstop pain that isn't responding to any kind of pain relievers. He feels around, pulls out his little 'tooth mirror'. Then looks and says "Well, we won't be able to pull it out today because of the swelling, which is most likely because of an infection under the gums." Yes, I wanted to cry right then. I was looking forward to this being over. He prescribed 800mg Ibuprofen and some Amoxicillan for the infection/swelling. The receptionist scheduled me for Thursday morning. Two more nights, Tae. Two more nights.

So, this morning, after not getting to 'sleep' until 415am, I wake up at 6am to get the girls off to school as usual. I lay back down to try to get at least another 2 hours of sleep. In and out of bad sleep is all I got.

We arrive at the dentist office at 1130, fifteen minutes before my scheduled appointment. I hadn't taken any Ibuprofen this morning because I didn't know if it would interfere with anything I would need later. So, while the pain is not too bad, it's also letting me know it's still here. At almost exactly 1145, the dental assistant calls me back to the room. The dentist (who is not the same one from the one two days before) checks my tooth out and says, "why didn't you get this fixed earlier? You've got such pretty teeth." And I told her "Because I don't like dentists." lol She chuckled and then stuck that big, red, nasty glob of orajel into my mouth. Gross is an understatement! But I'm glad she did because the needle that followed with the Novocain just LOOKED painful so I'm sure it was painful. A few minutes go by and I feel like I am numb.

I close my eyes. She begins to pull and yank. 

The pressure on my jaw and the noises send my brain into overactive imagination:

In my mind, I see a small hand holding a large set of rusty pliers with an

evil grin behind the white goggles and face mask, which I'm so certain

is now covered in so much blood that it's dripping back down into my face.

The sound of the suction tube is louder than a vacuum in my ear. I feel nerves

severing my jaw, teeth bits flying all around the room, loudly 'plinking'  onto the steel

table with all the surgical tools. Oh my God, is that a drill!?! 

It feels heavy and I can see the dentist standing on her tiptoes  with the jackhammer

making it's way under my gums. Hot smoke rising from my mouth, lights dimming.

My mom warned my dad about letting me read Stephen King books at the age of five as my reading lessons. lol

It wasn't that bad. It was just when she couldn't get the last few chips of tooth out that I became uncomfortable. Oh, did I mention the Novocain started to wear off? 

Yeah. Something about my body and anesthesia...like when I was giving birth to Erika the epidural didn't numb my left half. So, I could feel ALL of that on the left. It was a weird uncomfortable feeling.

I guess my face was giving it all away because the dentist asked me "Are you uncomfortable from the pressure or are you feeling any pain?" I said, as best I could with all the tools in my mouth "both". She stuck more orajel into my mouth and pulled out that needle again and numbed me up. This time, it immediately numbed me and I felt NOTHING!

Another 10 minutes of pulling at the tooth and pushing on my jaw, it finally let go. She started sewing me up and sent me on my way with a prescription for Hydrocodone (Vicodin) for the pain.

I wish that I had taken care of that tooth years ago when it was only a little cavity and maybe wouldn't have needed to be extracted. But, I tend to make sure everyone else is okay first before I start to worry about my 'little problems'. 

Spring is only three days away! March 20th, come on! Today we reached a good 62 degrees here in NJ. A very comfortable day. Tomorrow is supposed to get to almost 72 degrees! Definitely a day that I have to get outside and enjoy the weather and maybe even get in a few spring photos. I have been waiting impatiently to be able to get back outside to do photoshoots. I don't mind the 'in-studio' shoots but there's nothing like having the beauty of nature in pictures to bring out a whole different level of beautiful.

Well, as I'm forced to endure a pretty much all liquid or very soft diet for the next 24 hours, I'm off to find something to eat for dinner. I haven't had anything to eat since Wednesday afternoon and I am STARVING! Mister suggested some mashed potatoes and I think that's exactly what I can go for right now. Potatoes are my weakness.

Enjoy the rest of your day, world.