Post-Op...

My root canal took part over two visits... The first, he started it, and then I was in discomfort/pain for a couple of days... I understand why... He was filing the canals of the tooth... Which, really means he's going to town with destroying my tooth/the gum around the tooth... So, yes, pain... It sucked... But it was mostly better after a couple of nights... (I worked the next day... if I have to do this again, I will know better)... The next appointment, he finished separating the roots from the tooth, and then cauterized the nerves... It's the oddest thing when you see wisps of smoke coming from your mouth...

Didn't feel a thing...

And the best part was that afterwards, there was no pain unless I bit down on that tooth... Now, a week later, I can chew normally again... No pain at all...

I wouldn't say I would do it again if I didn't have to, but it's nowhere near as scary or horrible as people say it is... Kudos to my dentist for making it somewhat easy on me...

Now, let's hope my insurance also makes it easy on me by paying 80% of the costs, eh? ;D

Will try to get back into the stitching... I am soooo far behind on my projects it's scary... And I only have 19 days until I go on my vacay road-trip with my bestie across half the country... And I'm working full-time until I leave too, so not a lot of time off...

I just want to stitch again... These past few months have been bad for my concentration...

Why I Hate My Teeth, Part 3...

Root canal on Tuesday... Just fucking shoot me now... :(

Why I Hate My Teeth, Part 2...

So, back to the dentist I go next Tuesday... The teeth which were fixed last month, hurt again... Currently I am staying pain-controlled (not pain-free) on lots of Tylenol and Advil... I really hope he doesn't have to put me back on those antibiotics...

This is so frustrating... I thought I was done with this mess... Apparently not... My teeth have lobbed yet another grenade and are intent on continueing this war...

No Suicidal Tendencies Here...

1. I had my teeth fixed... On the 8th, actually...

2. I passed my professional licensing exams for Pharmacy Technician! I found out yesterday...



So, no... I don't have to talked out of jumping off a high-rise building or from a tall bridge, or from renting an airplane to dive out of without a parachute...

This makes me sooo happy!!! The remainder of what I have to do to be regulated will be a breeze compared to this waiting around stuff... And it will also be done sometime in the fall... I am taking a vacation from education for a good 4 months...

Newfoundland, here I come! In July, baby! It's road-trip season!!!

Finish!!!

"Horse Pair"...
From Dimensions, Creative Accents...
Designed by Barbara L. Gibson...
Finished May 6th, 2012...

Goals for the Month of May 2012...

Well, my goals for April were a total bust... It's hard to concentrate on anything when your face is in agony... Pain can take a lot out of a person... I never understood that before... I'm hoping this month will be better for cross-stitch...

1. Get half of "Cardinals on Sled" finished...

2. Finish two small projects that are in my coffee shop carry bag... May 6th, 2012 - Just finished "Horse Pair"...

3. Finish the needle book from the latest edition of CrossStitcher Magazine...

I'll be finding out if I passed the MCQ and OSPE this month... Cross-stitch may keep me sane for the next two weeks...

Why I Hate My Teeth... Or, Why Pain Should Equal A Doctors Appointment...

Yes... I hate my teeth... Three of them speicifically... All my life, my teeth have been good... They've behaved... Oh, sure there was the rebel uprising when I was twelve, but those teeth were all sacrificed to the Tooth Fairy anyway... She could have them... No, this time, they mean war...

A month to a month-and-a-half ago, my right lower jaw started aching... Then the upper jaw started in on it too... Sensodyne and Anbesol were my only friends... My dentist took some X-Rays and we set an appointment for early next month to fill the three caveties that had developed... I thought I would be fine until May... It was only a mild ache...

Until it wasn't...

Last night it didn't matter what I did, I just could not deal with the pain... I had tried so many things: swishing vanilla, swishing rum, massive amounts of ibuprofen, tylenol of varying strengths, Anbesol, brushing obsessively with Sensodyne, Xylocaine viscous gel (and that last one is truly disgusting, by the way)... After two hours of rolling around in my bed with tears trailing down my cheeks, pretending I could find a way to sleep with my jaw throbing, I drove to the midnight pharmacy looking for something else, some magical cure... I had expected to walk away with some 222's, a codiene/aspirin mix that is legal to sell over the counter... Instead, I was turned away by the pharmacist with nothing...

I need to thank that man someday...

Weird to thank him? Not so much... When I detailed everything I had tried, he said I needed to see a doctor because massive OTC-untreatable tooth pain usually meant an infection...

And this makes sense... The pain had been getting worse... The amounts of Anbesol I had been using had increased... One bottle lasted me three weeks, and then I used up another half of a bottle in 5 days... And then there was the headache... This fucking tension in my head that no amount of anything was touching... It was a cloud in my brain that seemed almost hopeless to be gotten rid of...

I had been totally in denial, thinking that I could survive without some kind of professional assistance...

So, at 12:30 last night, I visited the local ER... I waited an hour in a waiting room, then another 45 minutes in a clinic room before being seen by the doctor (who was fantastic!!!)... By 3AM I was home with a high dosage Clindamycin prescription and a bottle of prescription painkillers... I downed my antibiotics as directed and one tablet of painkiller, surfed the internet for about half an hour, and then went to bed...

It was the best sleep I've had in a long time...

I know the antibiotics can't possibly be fully working yet, but my teeth feel better today... There's very little pain... It's almost only a discomfort again... And the headache, while not totally gone, is somewhat receeded... Today I felt like I was having a normal life again...

I am so glad that pharmacist told me to see a doctor...

Moral of Story: See a doctor for pain before it becomes unbearable...

Note: I am not advocating that narcotics are the awesomest things ever... Once I have my caveties filled in May, the bottle and remaining tablets are going in the waste disposal at my work... I am hoping there are many tablets left to go in that bucket...