Dentist, Etc.

I love my dentist, guys.

Like, truly.

She and I came full circle last night. The first time I went to her, it was because I was in so much pain, I’d needed a root canal. My second appointment was said root canal. I was so impressed with her and how she and her whole office treated me that I quickly adapted my life-long poor oral hygiene habits and became a person who takes care of their teeth.

Dentally aware”, we called it last night.

Now, after the root canal and gum surgery and multiple temporary fixes, a few years of constant pain (though varying degrees), I’m now completely pain free. As far as my teeth are concerned, anyway.

I almost started to cry last night when I was leaving the office. I haven’t felt this good in so long, I’d forgotten what it was like to not hurt. There had even been a piece of tooth which had chipped off and was rubbing against the nerve every time it moved, causing pain under even the temporary crown. My awesome doc cemented the fragment back into place, then put the crown on top and made sure all was well before fastening everything in permanently.

And THEN they gave me a discount because they’re amazing beyond words and knew my insurance wouldn’t cover the crown. I’d increased the limit on my credit card because I was ashamed at how little I could afford to pay right now, and wanted to at least cover the majority of it right away. Now there is a distinct possibility that I can pay the remaining amount in January, and I couldn’t be happier/more relieved/grateful than I am right now.

In other news, it would appear the only friend I feel I can talk to at the moment is the new one who barely knows me. Haha

I don’t know WTF.

Life can be so stupid sometimes.

At least I always have a friend when I need one. I just wish once in awhile it would be the same one.

Aside from my therapist, of course. I wonder if she’s around next week?

Legit

On the way home last night, I used my shiny new legit credit card to buy my metropass for November. The transaction went through, so that’s good.

Then I got home to all kinds of mail, including a parcel notification (which I’ll pick up tonight), and a notice from the secured credit card company telling me that I’ve done so well thus far, they would like to increase my credit limit with them, too! Without requiring a further security deposit!

I’ll turn that down, because I’m just going to cancel the card soon, anyway, once I get authorized payments and such transferred over to my new card, but still. I’m pleased that, a little over 6 years after being released from personal bankruptcy (I should TOTALLY run for President!), I am back in good standing as far as my credit rating goes.

Proud of myself – but not proud enough to take more credit than I gave myself on the secured card, of course!

I’m hurting in all kinds of ways today. My neck, my heart, and my jaw are top of the list. Naturally, my mind has begun to occasionally entertain paranoid concerns over the possibility of infection either below the gum-line along the surgical site, or within the tooth itself from where it split after having had a root canal previously. I’m sure it’s just a part of the post-surgery healing process, but I’ll keep an eye – or the back of my paranoid mind – on it between now and my next appointment, anyway.

In ongoing news, I hate people.

Goings On

So much going on today!

Had a dental consultation earlier this afternoon, because I realized that I see my regular dentist tomorrow morning and that I was supposed to have the consult before then! Luckily, they fit me in today, so that’s all good. It looks like I am going to be spending a ton of money in the near future on saving a molar, though. Which…like, part of me is glad it can still be saved, and proud of having strong teeth that I’m finally taking better care of than I did for the first …40 years of my life, or whatever it was. And I’ve already had a root canal on it, which is holding up really well despite not having a crown yet, so I also would feel bad if I just gave up on it now after I’ve already done so much to keep it.

Another part of me is broke and sees no light at the end of the dental bill tunnel if I do this.

But I think I am doing it.

I’m actually kind of glad I talked to the guy today, even though I know he was biased about which route to take. It just kind of reinforced my doubts about yanking the tooth out and not getting an implant. Plus, he said I’m still young, so that got him Brownie points. Haha

Wait, is it Brownie like the mini Girl Guides? Or brownie like the delicious treat? Suddenly I have no idea where that expression originated.

In other news, major baby squirrel saga going on in my world. It started near the end of my workday last night, and has continued on into today, only now there are two of the little fellas instead of just one. I was blaming myself for making the wrong decision, but now I have hope that I did as much of the right thing as I was able, and the wee ones are hopefully in transit to a place that might be able to save them. That they survived the night was more than I’d dared to hope, and even though they are still in between destinations, I haven’t given up on believing that they have a chance to make it.

We’ll see.

Starry Sky and Decisions

When out with Brody last night, a small cluster of stars/planets caught my eye, as I’d never noticed them before. Which – I know almost nothing about the night sky, or day sky, for that matter – but I do notice it a lot. In a way, I might actually notice it more here in the city, just because there is so much less to see of it, but it’s always kind of caught my eye.

One of my fondest memories to this day was the night my friend and I took blankets to the park and stretched out in the middle of a baseball diamond to watch some of the Perseid meteor shower back when we were young. I still lived in Creemore then, and the conversation he and I had that night ranged over an insane variety of topics, to the point where shooting stars almost became an after-thought; a distraction from our talk.

Anyway, I’d downloaded the Sky Map app for my iPhone a couple of years ago, and used it all the time, so I’ve been missing it on occasion since I switched to Android. The cluster that caught my eye last night was the last straw, and I downloaded it to my current phone as soon as Brody and I got back inside. Turns out Saturn and Mars were both super bright last night, and they were part of what I’d noticed. I actually had to stop and stare at the stars to see if any of them moved, because I was sure at least one of those lights had to be a plane. So bright! I wish I could have taken a picture, but not even my real camera would do such a thing justice. Besides, I read somewhere that memories of things we experience with our own eyes are retained more clearly by the mind than those obtained via photograph or video and the like. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but in last night’s case, I really only had the one choice, anyway, so I went with it!

In other news, I’ve been getting the finishing touches together for our radio play reading tomorrow, as well as the Reelie awards announcements which will precede the play. I’m pretty excited already, and by the time we do it, I imagine I will be even more so! This is, however, the most racist, sexist script we’ve tackled thus far, so hopefully none of it triggers anyone or makes them feel bad in any way. I’m hoping we can…like…overall, the script is ridiculous. The writing and plot and characters are just silly, which is really all you need for a sci-fi radio show that was intended to entertain and nothing else. Well, also to sell stuff, usually.

Anyway, this one is Flash Gordon from 1935, and while I started off just laughing at how terrible it was, I was eventually just kind of uncomfortable with some of it. I even had a brief thought about not doing it, and choosing a different script, instead. But ignoring things doesn’t make them go away, and it changes nothing, whereas admitting we are uncomfortable is, at least, a starting point to something more meaningful. Maybe some of the power in such words and behaviours of the time can be stripped away simply by mocking it, too. Humour can be many things, including a tool for making a broader statement.

It’s going to be interesting, at any rate. And hopefully good ridiculous fun!

My lovely dentist put a very temporary patch on my tooth last night, so for now I am in way less pain than I was since it got cracked, but a decision has to be made very soon as to what to do next. She thinks it’s still salvageable, but is sending me to another dentist for a second opinion chat in the meantime. This tooth had a root canal done, and so far THAT is holding up really well, but without a crown all this time, the top part of the tooth is crumbling pretty quickly now, and won’t hold out much longer. She’s not even sure there is still time, but there is a potential extra step that could be taken before the crown that might still save it. If not, taking it out would really be the only choice. No way could I ever afford an implant. I can’t even afford the crown, which is why I haven’t gotten it yet!

On the one hand, it’s my tooth and therefore a part of me. I’ve already had the root canal and the dentist said there is still good strong tooth underneath, so it seems kind of sad to give up on it after everything already done to try and save it. On the other hand, it’s a back molar, and taking it out won’t really affect anything in the long run, at this point. Plus, that’s an option I can more easily afford. So it’s looking more and more like it’s the option I’ll be going with. First I’ll see what the other dentist has to say.

And then maybe just sit on it a bit longer before I decide.