Within the past couple of weeks, I have had some insanely bizarre dental encounters. What sparked everything is something got stuck in my teeth one night so I decided to floss, which is an activity I very rarely participate in. While flossing something violent happened in my mouth and a tooth felt really funny. I learned the next day that if I chewed on that side, I would know what excruciating pain really feels like. For a solid five days I just chewed on the other side. I hate going to the dentist... if I could just be a unilateral chewer, that was a fine enough solution for me. However, I kept forgetting, and even brushing my teeth was uncomfortable, so I decided that since I have the insurance (even though I've learned that it's CRAP) I might as well use it and get this taken care of.
I looked up a dentist on 1800-dentist and made sure he was covered by my insurance. I was particularly drawn to this DDS because it had a blurb about how they're good with "high anxiety patients." I think I mentioned I hate the dentist, and I get VERY anxious when I'm there. This guy sounded like a good fit. I called and was surprised they could see me the very next day. I went to their website to print off the new patient paperwork, and microscopic part of me felt good about going.
I walked in at 8:18am and was quickly whisked to the back where they started x-raying (EACH INDIVIDUAL TOOTH!!! talk about extensive...). Then the lady said "I'll go get the dentist." I waited patiently and within a minute or two, in walked a younger middle aged Asian woman with poorly applied lipstick. This was shocking to me. On the website, the dentist I made an appointment with was pictured as an old balding white man. Who was this impostor? There were no other dentists listed at the practice. Baldy was IT. The website is even http://www.baldy'sname.com! Being non-confrontational, I rolled with it and just kept thinking 'You'd better be covered by my insurance!' She found the filling that I had shattered with my flossing escapade and fixed it. They even gave me the laughing gas so it wasn't too bad. Among the top 5 things I hate in life are those oral Novocaine shots. MAN they HURT! She finished and told me there was another cavity they found on the bottom that needed to be filled a different day. She started motioning for me to go to the front desk to get it scheduled, but I thought I was getting a teeth cleaning out of this deal too. Afterall, when I called to set up the appointment I didn't really mention the immense pain that I was in... I just asked for a new patient appointment and I assumed that a teeth cleaning would be part of that. However, I was wrong. Lipstick then informed that I would have to schedule the cleaning as a separate appointment and that the hygienist is very busy, so it might be awhile.
I think that's bizarre. In my short 24 (almost 25 thank you very much) years, every time I've gone to the dentist they clean first, fix second. They never just bypass the cleaning. I shrugged my shoulders, kind of eager to leave anyway, so I scheduled the cavity for early the next week and left.
Bizarre #2: I was still weirded out by the whole first visit. Strange dentists... no cleaning... just an off feeling. My mom suggested I just get this whole shenanigan taken care of, then the next time I need a dentist I look elsewhere. Good advice. I walked in and got situated in the same dentist chair only to be greeted by Baldy! I felt a small sense of relief. Phew, this is how it was supposed to be. He started getting situated and made some small talk. Seemed like a nice old man. He asked me to open my mouth and he put his thumb on my bottom teeth and I felt it. A very strong tremor. My dentist has a shaky hand. The man who would be drilling into my molar was unable to control his fine motor movements. Then I remembered that huge Novocaine needle. His hand was still in my mouth and my eyes BUGGED out as I frantically searched for a fire escape or something to get me OUT. It was a very small little room and there was no escape! My heart rate increased and I'm positive my blood pressure was through the roof. I was sweating. Tears formed in my eyes. I pleaded with God to send Lipstick back. There was nothing I could do. He swabbed the topical numbing stuff on a Q-tip and put it where the deadly needle would be. No assistant was in sight. Maybe someone with a steady hand would rescue me and do the injection. Within seconds that torture device was ready and he even SQUIRTED IT INTO THE AIR BEFORE COMING AT ME WITH IT! I hoped I was having a nightmare. I couldn't breathe. Tears were streaming down my face at this point (so much for handling the anxious patient, eh??? I didn't even get gas this time!! I needed a stiff drink...) He started moving towards my mouth in what felt like uber slow motion and the needle went closer and closer to my teeth. I heard it clink against my pearly whites as he shook. I felt faint. It went in my gums and it hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. It went deeper and deeper and as sharp white pains went from all different directions in my face. As he worked he mumbled "there are several nerves that connect to this tooth... so we'll have to go from three different angles..." That meant two more injections. He finally pulled the first needle out and I felt like I had run a marathon. I was panting, my hoodie concealed the sweat drenched t-shirt underneath it. I felt pale and kind of shaky myself at that point! The same thing happened TWO MORE TIMES.
I eventually surrendered to my fate and that I might have to sacrifice a molar. At least it was in the back and wouldn't be too obvious.
After what felt like eternity, he was finishing up. At this point, Baldy told me that my back teeth are moving and that there is space between my molars that will allow food to get stuck and cavities to form. He said he wants to "bulk those teeth up" to prevent it. I looked at him with the fear of God in my bloodshot eyes and feebly asked "when does that need to happen?" He told me he took care of one already (I am 90% sure I blacked out during that filling...) and that I needed to come back for the other side. I must have replied... a gurgle of some sort came from my throat. My whole face was numb. Not just one side, the entire thing. On the right side of my face it went all the way to my ear. I was certain I would never regain feeling in part or all of my face ever again and I entertained ideas of what to do with the $$$ from the law suit settlement.
I reluctantly scheduled a "buffering" appointment. I felt a teensy ray of hope when she said it would be with Lipstick, but still vowed to never return to that place again.
Bizarre #3: At 9:50pm that same night, Baldy called me. I didn't recognize the number, so I let it go to voicemail. His message sounded so creepy. His purpose was just to follow up to make sure that as the Novocaine wore off (twelve hours later...) that my bite felt okay blah blah blah. On the surface his intentions seem quite noble, but I just think it is SO WEIRD to call that late at night if it isn't... emergent.
Bizarre #4 (YES THERE IS MORE!): At work one day I noticed I had a voicemail so I listened to while eating lunch. Lo and behold it was the dentist's office. The receptionist (who is so nice, by the way) said that Baldy wanted to be the one to do the buffering so I needed to reschedule for a time that he would be in the office. Hell no. I didn't call back until the day before the scheduled appointment. I just called to confirm that I wasn't going to show up and that I would call later to reschedule. I have no intention of rescheduling.
While I want to swear off dentists, I know they're necessary. The original filling that Lipstick fixed still hurts. Not nearly as bad, but it's far from comfortable. Anyone know of a good dentist in Seattle???
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Strike one, Seattle
It snowed. A lot. Now it's very cold.
On Sunday as church was ending, I heard squealing from people standing near me and looked at them, curious why they were creating such a commotion. I saw that they were pointing out the window at giant white flakes floating from the sky. NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I could have cried.
Fortunately, that nonsense stopped before anything stuck and I breathed a sigh of relief and refused to listen to anyone trying to warn me that it was coming back soon.
On Monday, Mr.Wonderful and I delivered a meal to a fellow small grouper who just had surgery. As we drove to Queen Anne, that pesky white stuff came down again. He giggled like a school boy with glee as I glowered in the passenger seat. We chatted with our friend for about ten minutes. I wanted to stay longer and play; she has FUN kids that I got to briefly babysit on the day of her surgery. However, there was no denying the fact that the weather was turning quite fiercely and it'd be wise to get home sooner than later.
I was shocked at how quickly it got 'bad.' It was the kind of snow that you see at the ski lodge... tiny white flakes, super strong wind... When you look at it under the street lamp you think "holy blizzard!" It stuck to the ground at an alarming rate. The roads started getting slick and traffic started going painfully slow. I was quite tense and so relieved I wasn't the one driving. We were almost back to my apartment. There is one sick hill before you can turn to my parking lot and we prayed as we inched up it. About halfway the wheels started slipping. We fishtailed and then just stopped. A horn honked behind us--- really, Toyota Camry??? Can't you see we're slipping?! Mr. Wonderful did an awesome job at being patient and safe and doing everything possible to get up that hill. We tried to go where there was snow (not just ice) to get some traction, but it was to no avail. We decided to park on a side street and walk the remaining way. Once on the side street, however, he wanted to try to get up the hill one more time on a parallel residential street. We couldn't make it a block. After three valiant efforts (and a lady watching us out her window...), we surrendered and parked six blocks away. We scurried to my apartment, cranked the heat.
It was a fun night... one of the benefits of living on the corner of a big intersections and having a lot of windows is you get to see some action when there is inclement weather... We bounced around from window to window... "we've got a slider!" or "here comes a BUS!" We saw some crazy people... some unfortunate car abandoning... but no one was seriously hurt or anything so I felt less guilty for watching others struggle with the elements from my warm perch.
We were stranded for a day... Tuesday morning we went searching for a sled, but everyone within walking distance was sold out. Darn! We walked all around the neighborhoods watching kids have the time of their lives as they flew down the steep hills... secretly hoping someone would offer us a ride! We walked by several sleds just SITTING in someone's yard or propped up against a fence. It took all of our strength to not borrow them... and we definitely contemplated ringing a few doorbells and asking. I wanted to find some cardboard and write "Will work for sled" on it. Worth a shot.
We finally got the guts to drive and we found a weird foam saucer for $16.99--- ripoff? Yes. But our options were SPARSE so we embraced it anyway. After greasing the bottom with vegetable shortening, we found a hill with no kids on it and went at it. It was so fun! Within no time at all there were 4 other kids there and a parent who was monitoring the intersection at the bottom! Perfect! One kid let us use his sled that was WAY better than our saucer... We had no 'tracks' on the bottom, so the saucer just kept going to the curb... it hurts when you hit the curb! The actual sled was awesome though and it went SO FAST.
It's still 20 degrees. I still refuse to drive. While I was 'stranded' for a day, I was with great company so it was far less traumatic than it could have been! Dare I say... fun! However, I still claim my dislike for snow and am quite irritated at Seattle-- I thought I escaped this nonsense when I left Chicago! They've been having weather in the 60s as the snow has fallen here. Go figure!
It's been an interesting couple of months. Several blog-worthy events.. hopefully they'll make it here sooner than later.
I get to spend T-Day tending to sick kids and embracing time and a half. I never care about working the holidays until I hear other people talking about how awesome it is to be with their families blah blah blah. Then I get a little melancholy. I suppose I will just look forward to Christmas Eve that much more!
On Sunday as church was ending, I heard squealing from people standing near me and looked at them, curious why they were creating such a commotion. I saw that they were pointing out the window at giant white flakes floating from the sky. NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I could have cried.
Fortunately, that nonsense stopped before anything stuck and I breathed a sigh of relief and refused to listen to anyone trying to warn me that it was coming back soon.
On Monday, Mr.Wonderful and I delivered a meal to a fellow small grouper who just had surgery. As we drove to Queen Anne, that pesky white stuff came down again. He giggled like a school boy with glee as I glowered in the passenger seat. We chatted with our friend for about ten minutes. I wanted to stay longer and play; she has FUN kids that I got to briefly babysit on the day of her surgery. However, there was no denying the fact that the weather was turning quite fiercely and it'd be wise to get home sooner than later.
I was shocked at how quickly it got 'bad.' It was the kind of snow that you see at the ski lodge... tiny white flakes, super strong wind... When you look at it under the street lamp you think "holy blizzard!" It stuck to the ground at an alarming rate. The roads started getting slick and traffic started going painfully slow. I was quite tense and so relieved I wasn't the one driving. We were almost back to my apartment. There is one sick hill before you can turn to my parking lot and we prayed as we inched up it. About halfway the wheels started slipping. We fishtailed and then just stopped. A horn honked behind us--- really, Toyota Camry??? Can't you see we're slipping?! Mr. Wonderful did an awesome job at being patient and safe and doing everything possible to get up that hill. We tried to go where there was snow (not just ice) to get some traction, but it was to no avail. We decided to park on a side street and walk the remaining way. Once on the side street, however, he wanted to try to get up the hill one more time on a parallel residential street. We couldn't make it a block. After three valiant efforts (and a lady watching us out her window...), we surrendered and parked six blocks away. We scurried to my apartment, cranked the heat.
It was a fun night... one of the benefits of living on the corner of a big intersections and having a lot of windows is you get to see some action when there is inclement weather... We bounced around from window to window... "we've got a slider!" or "here comes a BUS!" We saw some crazy people... some unfortunate car abandoning... but no one was seriously hurt or anything so I felt less guilty for watching others struggle with the elements from my warm perch.
We were stranded for a day... Tuesday morning we went searching for a sled, but everyone within walking distance was sold out. Darn! We walked all around the neighborhoods watching kids have the time of their lives as they flew down the steep hills... secretly hoping someone would offer us a ride! We walked by several sleds just SITTING in someone's yard or propped up against a fence. It took all of our strength to not borrow them... and we definitely contemplated ringing a few doorbells and asking. I wanted to find some cardboard and write "Will work for sled" on it. Worth a shot.
We finally got the guts to drive and we found a weird foam saucer for $16.99--- ripoff? Yes. But our options were SPARSE so we embraced it anyway. After greasing the bottom with vegetable shortening, we found a hill with no kids on it and went at it. It was so fun! Within no time at all there were 4 other kids there and a parent who was monitoring the intersection at the bottom! Perfect! One kid let us use his sled that was WAY better than our saucer... We had no 'tracks' on the bottom, so the saucer just kept going to the curb... it hurts when you hit the curb! The actual sled was awesome though and it went SO FAST.
It's still 20 degrees. I still refuse to drive. While I was 'stranded' for a day, I was with great company so it was far less traumatic than it could have been! Dare I say... fun! However, I still claim my dislike for snow and am quite irritated at Seattle-- I thought I escaped this nonsense when I left Chicago! They've been having weather in the 60s as the snow has fallen here. Go figure!
It's been an interesting couple of months. Several blog-worthy events.. hopefully they'll make it here sooner than later.
I get to spend T-Day tending to sick kids and embracing time and a half. I never care about working the holidays until I hear other people talking about how awesome it is to be with their families blah blah blah. Then I get a little melancholy. I suppose I will just look forward to Christmas Eve that much more!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Back in the Saddle Again
Praise the Lord, I finally went back to work. The beautiful chaos was insane, but I couldn't help but smile inside amidst it all. My legs and feet are throbbing after thirteen hours (love me some over time!) of running around like a crazy person, but it hurts so good. Wouldn't you know it I worked today, and am not scheduled again until the 12th! Another workless week ahead, but some fun activities are planned so hopefully boredom will not come back.
The past four weeks have been mind numbingly boring. It was ridiculous and I struggled with it a lot. But who can legitimately complain about being bored... especially when those you would complain to are so busy and overwhelmed. It was kind of a lonely place to be. Just makes me all the more excited to get back to normal life!
I think one of the best things about going back to work is that I'm exhausted, and I think I'll sleep through the night tonight without waking up eighteen times. Also, I hope that I'll fall asleep without taking Tylenol PM or Nyquil or tossing and turning for several hours. The whole insomnia bit does not suit me well.
Today was great, and to top it off, Mr. Wonderful surprised me by making me dinner when I got home. AND DESSERT. How'd I get so lucky? However, he proceeded to beat me (twice) at our favorite card game. Whatever, I'll take it. :)
The past four weeks have been mind numbingly boring. It was ridiculous and I struggled with it a lot. But who can legitimately complain about being bored... especially when those you would complain to are so busy and overwhelmed. It was kind of a lonely place to be. Just makes me all the more excited to get back to normal life!
I think one of the best things about going back to work is that I'm exhausted, and I think I'll sleep through the night tonight without waking up eighteen times. Also, I hope that I'll fall asleep without taking Tylenol PM or Nyquil or tossing and turning for several hours. The whole insomnia bit does not suit me well.
Today was great, and to top it off, Mr. Wonderful surprised me by making me dinner when I got home. AND DESSERT. How'd I get so lucky? However, he proceeded to beat me (twice) at our favorite card game. Whatever, I'll take it. :)
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