Tuesday, March 31, 2009

It's March!

I'm not gonna lie, I'm phoning it in this time because I haven't written in a while and I want to keep this up at least once a month. I have also found a new motivation to blog in the form of passive-aggressive voicemails from my father. "Hello? I don't know if you remember me, but this is your father... my phone number is..." Yeah, I get it Dad. I remember you - the guy who would never buy me a pony. Okay, okay - how many "Are you dead?" messages do I need to hear before I get my arse in gear and update my blog? Hopefully no more. I will do my best to pop in with an anecdote every now and then just to let you know I'm alive. Perhaps something like this little gem:

I try to avoid Dentists as much as I can, even after they tell me I have cavities. Since I don't have money, I just put it on my to-do list until a later date. When it hurts to brush my teeth, it starts to become a priority. It was way past time to just grab my wallet and head to the doctor. So I did.

I went to my dentist and told him it hurt and we went through the whole drill.
*tap*tap* does that hurt?
No
*tap*tap* how about there?
No
*tap*tap ho..
YEOOWWW! Yeah. That one hurt a little.

Turns out I had an exposed nerve. It didn't hurt unless something touched my molar right on the gumline. Something like a toothbrush or an evil masochistic dentist. Since there is a huge filling on that particular molar he said he'd pull out the filling and put a crown on it. If the crown doesn't cover the nerve and it still hurts for a couple months, I may need to go to an endodontist and get a root canal. Sounds expensive.

I thought about it for a couple of days and was not crazy about going through a couple months of pain to find out if I need a root canal. Since it already hurts like hell, the process of getting the crown done sounds more painful than a root canal. So, I jumped rank and went to an endodontist recommended by a coworker. Before I did anything with my molars and naked nerves, I wanted to consult with the endodontist. I went in before work one morning, went through the whole *tap*tap* nonsense again and here's how that conversation went:
Doc: If it hurts that much now, a crown isn't going to make it go away. I think you're going to need a root canal either way. Do you want to just do it now?
Me: *sigh* Yeah, I guess so.
Doc: [stands up] Okay. I'll go get the novacaine. It'll take you a few minutes to get numbed up and then we'll go in and...
Me: Whoa! You mean NOW now? Like, right now?
Doc: [reaching for a gigantic needle] Well yeah we have time. If you need some time to think about it you can make an appointment to come back.

I'm thinking - What the hell is this place? Jiffy Lube? You walk in and twenty minutes later you get a root canal? I came in on a Monday morning to find out if I needed a root canal. Then I expected to make an appointment. Perhaps mentally prepare myself for the agony that comes with oral surgery. Now I have this endodontist sharpening his needles getting ready to drill through my tooth? I am never comfortable in making snap decisions. Especially on something involving doctors or a great deal of money, and this happened to involve both. I sat there for a moment, breathed heavily and realized that I was eventually going to end up back in this chair one way or another. At least this way I didn't have to take more time off work. So, he gave me the novacaine shots, I sent a text message to a coworker:
Plz tell boss my appt. will take longer than expecting. Getting root canal today.
And then he did it. I got a root canal at the drop of a hat.

Hah! I finished up and it's still March! I'll be back next month!