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My First CrownPain is real when you get other people to believe in it. If no one believes in it but you, your pain is madness or hysteria. |
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Tuesday, October 20, 1998
One year ago: Yay, Lance!
What a strange, dislocated day!
Yesterday I worked for sixteen hours. I knew that I'd be staying home from work today, and I wanted to make some progress on the stuff I'm doing. I was so tired by the time I left, and coughing, too -- I seem to have a slight cold.
Because an evil caramel broke off part of an extremely marginal tooth last week, I had a dental appointment for my first crown today. I wasn't scheduled until 11:30, so I had time to sleep later than usual on my new, smooth, Egyptian cotton sheets, which do live up to my expectations of luxury. (New fad for journalers -- fancy, expensive bed linens. Enough with the soaps, already!) I got caught up on email (some of the lists I'm on are very high-traffic right now), then took the bus downtown.
Dr. I---- is a very nice woman, with a comfortable, competent aura about her. "My first crown." Are there greeting cards for this rite of passage into middle age? I really wish that I hadn't slacked off dental stuff for a few years; I really did myself some damage by such neglect! And even though I wasn't covered by dental insurance for some of that time, I still could have afforded to pay for it all myself.
I was standing in the waiting area, talking to the receptionist, and started to say something and then stopped, I suppose because I forgot what I was going to say. She finished my sentence for me, thinking that I was asking for a Xanax! I'd no idea that pills like that were on offer there. "Do you think I need one?" I really didn't feel that nervous about the procedure, so I didn't take the "relaxing" drug.
Dr. I--- always seems to call me by my sister's name. She is also a patient there, and even though my full name is on the schedule and my chart, and Dr. I----- knows us apart, the name "M-----" just slips out.
There were various molds and impressions made, then the long process of getting numb, which seems to take longer than they thought it would. Am I especially sensitive, like the princess and the pea? Dr. I---- did seem surprised when I said I could feel what she was doing, even after the Novocaine should had been working. The most difficult part of the process was the time spent waiting for the cement to set, mostly because by that time I had to pee! I'm to come back in a few weeks for the permanent crown to be installed.
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Since I was downtown, and not feeling pain (the anesthetic took full effect as the procedure was over, of course!), I decided to wander a bit. I walked all the way around one block, before I realized that the sign for "Bed, Bath, and Beyond" was merely ballyhooing a store that would be there after the construction project was done. I got some cool hair clips (of course) at the accessories store in the Westlake Center. I'm especially fond of the large alligator clip, flocked in burgundy sparkles. I wanted something to eat, but I wasn't sure about solid food yet, so I went to the food court on the top floor and got a pina colada yogurt smoothie. I sipped it while reading The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies. (This is my next bookclub book.) I've been reading this most days at lunch, and I like it!
I'd been wanting to see the new downtown Nordstrom store. It is nice and big, but otherwise not different from any other Nordstrom's. But I found that only the Bellevue and Northgate stores carry the brand of stockings that I like! I did try one pair of another brand (red!) and got a pair of tights in a very strange blue and turquoise print.
By this time my jaw and tooth were starting to throb, so I took the bus back up the hill towards home.
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Interesting, the foods that I pick when I want comfort food! Feta cheese spread to go with crackers that I already had, and cinnamon crispies. (No, not mixed!) Some ibuprofen helped my jaw. I alternated for the rest of the afternoon between getting online and dozing off on my bed, finally recognizing the inevitable and taking out my contact lenses. I wear hard lenses, and it's not a good idea to sleep in them! I'd intended to go to the Cacophony meeting, but I just didn't feel up to it, so I called one of the other members to let them know. I'd wanted to see everyone, since I missed the puppet show event last Saturday. (See JulieR's report on this production.)
Late afternoon napping can be very discombobulating when one wakes up. Is it daytime? Nighttime? Where am I? The pain isn't bad, but I do feel like I've been wrenched around a bit.
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