Tuesday Truth 9/17/13

No Teaser today as I have done several in the past few weeks and because –gulp!– I’m having a root canal this afternoon. I don’t know if you’ve ever had an abscessed tooth, but let me tell you, I’m pretty sure that everyone in hell is going to have them all the time because anything more agonizing I can’t imagine.  I kinda started to feel it on Monday night. Then Tuesday it was a little uncomfortable, but I tried not to think of it. Wednesday I began to hurt more, but it wasn’t until Wednesday night that I was almost serious about finding a pliers and yanking that tooth out.

All night I sat in bed, holding my face and rocking back and forth while sobbing. Tylenol didn’t even touch it. I went to work at 5:30 am (because, hey, I couldn’t sleep anyway, right?) and counted the minutes until 8am when I could call the dentist. At 8:01 I got the answering machine telling me the office would be closed the rest of the week for training.

I may have screamed. Maybe. Other workers twisted around at their desks to stare at me. I listened to the message again and jotted down the emergency number to call. It was the dentist’s personal cell and at first he had no idea who I was or why I was calling. I guess I didn’t enunciate clearly enough through my sobs. Once we cleared up who I was and why I was calling, he asked me some pretty detailed questions (Was it swollen? Which tooth was it? If I pressed gently on the gum did it feel spongy?) He said he would swing by the office and review my chart and xrays and call me back.

Anyway, to make a long story short, he concluded it was probably an abscess and called a prescription for penicillin and Tylenol with codeine in to the pharmacy. The pain was pretty bad the rest of that day, but on Friday morning the penicillin seemed to be kicking in. I still have some pain, but it’s mostly bearable. I have an appointment today at 2:45 which the dentist believes will be a root canal, but I guess I’ll find out for sure then.

The dentist has phoned me two more times just to check on me and see how I’m doing. So far so good. The pain is like a simmering pot instead of one boiling over. A bit uncomfortable, but not horrible. If you have a minute today around 2:45 think good thoughts for me!