About a year ago I bit into a pumpernickel bagel and there must have been a small rock in it. Don’t ask me how. Anyway, the molar I bit down with (I’ve since learned it’s called #31) was killing me so I went to my trusty dentist and told him I must have busted it. He x-rayed it and poked and prodded it (Oh joy!) And declared it okay. Slowly it seemed to get better and I took a watch and wait approach. Two weeks ago, I was chewing on oatmeal. Oatmeal! There’s nothing more innocuous than oatmeal. Right?
Good old #31 made a cracking noise and provided me with a whole new definition of pain. So, I knew I had a bunch of things that had to get done this week and next week so I decided that if I didn’t chew food on my right side, I could make it through and then go see the Doc. Well two days ago that strategy failed catastrophically. The tooth was throbbing and aching really awfully. So yesterday I went to the dentist hoping he’d fix it before Saturday when I was starting a trip. Instead, he punted to an outside endodontic practice. Well, I wasn’t going to get an appointment yesterday. It’ll be next Thursday! In desperation I told him I needed something for the infection and pain and he gave me the generic amoxicillin prescription and a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Well, the amoxicillin has been in my system for a little over a day and it has brought the pain down from blinding stabbing pain to grinding ache. But for some reason I’m incredibly tired and kind of feverish. So, here’s the thing. I have a super long travelling day tomorrow and a social occasion. If I get home Saturday night, I’ll have Sunday to rest. If I don’t then I’ll go from that directly to a two-day event at work with each day running about fifteen hours. Then Wednesday I have to drive a friend to a doctor’s appointment about an hour away. And then Thursday I get to go to the endodontist to be vivisected and dumped bleeding and groaning on the sidewalk before driving home.
This is a warning that output and quality on the site for the next six days will be very questionable. If I start sounding loopier than usual it’s the gangrene talking and not me. Well, anyway I’ll do my best. The quotes and photos are already in queue and I will endeavor to get the stuff on the site but there may be some late posts. Mea culpa, mea culpa.
Camera Girl tells me I’ve been like a pathetic loser and a baby who needs pity; pieta (although in the dialect of her family’s Italian it’s pronounced as if it’s spelled “peacod.” Well, she’s probably right. I would give a thousand dollars to stay home for the next week. But promises were made and responsibilities are non-negotiable. So, raise the curtain on my Greek Tragedy, “Photog Agonistes.” Count no man fortunate until he is safely dead.
End of whine.
I had something similar about 12 years ago, on a weekend. It was days before I could get to a dentist who then kicked me to a dental surgeon. But he did take pity on me and wrote a few days supply of some opioid for me. Talk about relief! Before, the incessant throbbing precluded all life functions except misery. There are so many drug addicted people out there that opioids are being withheld from non-addicted people who really have a short term need. Other than post surgical on two occasions, the only other time I need opioids was from… Read more »
Spoken like a true addict.
Hahaha, just kidding! You are absolutely right, Tom D. I haaaate being on any kind of painkiller, but there is no pain quite like dental pain. If the opioid has some place to go (in other words, if there is a pain to soothe), a doctor once told me, it is safe. I broke my wrist in 2017 and was afraid about being on an opioid in the ER, but the doctor explained that to me. I was worried about getting hooked!
Photog—I hope you get well soon! Godspeed with your busy schedule.