This past Wednesday and Thursday was by far the most painful 48 hours of my life, physically speaking. To the moms reading this...I have not given birth yet, and yes I realize that labor pains will trump this. But for now, trust me.
It actually started Wednesday at work. I started having this radiating pain all along my lower right teeth and jaw that was coming on about every couple of hours. By lunch time, I also began to have an ear ache on the right side. To be honest the whole "radiating pain" thing is not really that new for me. With braces, I have pain a lot of the time. So, I just ignore it and it goes away...right? Not so much. I went home early that day, thinking I just have an ear infection. I need sleep, and I'll be better in the morning.
While at home, the episodes began to increase in frequency and in duration. It was like I was having contractions!! To the moms...again, I realize that I haven't had "actual" contractions :), but OMG!!! I would be writhing in pain for about 10 -15 minutes, to the point that I would be crying, and then I would have no symptoms at all for 10-15 minutes. Andrew and I tried everything we could think of to help with pain. We called our moms too...no relief. So, I went to bed praying and hoping to sleep through the pain. Again, not so much. My routine that night consited of pacing around the living room and sipping on warm water for about 10-12 minutes, lay down on the couch for 1-2 minutes of relief, then repeat. I think I slept a total of one hour.
At 7:30 am on thurs, I made appointments with my dentist and my PCP...still not knowing if it was an ear infection making my teeth hurt or a tooth infection making my ear hurt. Well, the dentist was first. They take an x-ray of my lower right jaw, where I already have a crown. He comes back 10 minutes later..."Good news and bad news. The good news is, I know what the problem is. The bad news...you need a root canal because you have an abcessed tooth". Hey, at this point a root canal was good news to me b/c that would take away my excruciating pain. So, he says that I need to clear up the infection first before we can do the procedure. Gives me a script for antibiotics and vicodin for the pain. Root canal is scheduled in 10 days. Finally, some relief...I have never taken Vicodin, but everybody loves that stuff, and that will surely take away my pain.
Yeah, not so much!! I took 2 Vicodin...and NOTHING!!! Seriously?? Seriously!! I mean what is everybody's fascination with this stuff? 200mg of Ibuprofen worked better than the "miracle drug". So, by late Thurs afternoon, the pain was no longer coming in contraction-form, but pretty much constant. I called Andrew crying. "Please call the dentist, and ask him to call me in something else. Vicodin isn't working." The dentist had a different suggestion..."Come in right now (4:45 pm), and I'm going to do an emergency root canal on you".
I drive back to my dentist's office. Now here's the fun part...so why does the dentist want patients to take antibiotics 10 days before procedures? So that anesthesia will work. Too much infection, and it won't work. Any guesses on what's coming?? Not only did I have a root canal (the most-feared dental procedure), but I had a root canal with little to no anesthesia. Good times!!! It was quite an ordeal. I had a nurse on either side of me holding my hand while the dentist drilled. Andrew had met me up there. He was great! He stayed down at my feet, rubbing my legs. So, for about 20 minutes, I experienced dental work w/out the proper numbing effect. Now, let me just say, the pain during the actual procedure was nothing compared to the pain prior to. And after it was all over, I felt almost immediately better.
Now, fast forward to today. Still no pain. I'm faithfully taking my antibiotics still (sorry, Leah :)). I'm going to my orthodontist on Thurs to have him take off my bottom brackets and wire so that I can have my dentist finish the root canal, replace my crown with a new crown, and repair a cracked porcelain filling on my back tooth on Monday. Good grief...I'll be happy when this is all over.
The saddest part? On Wednesday morning, I was informed at work about my Christmas bonus this year...Yay, we can use it to get an I-phone!! But, back to the moral of the story...not so much!! Instead, it will be used to pay for an emergency root canal, crown, and cracked porcelain filling.
And that, my friends, is my story of the year!!
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6 comments:
So sorry to hear about your pain, but glad it's resolved. Don't ever forget--when the Lord gives you extra money, something is about to break or die and you will need that money.
That sounds miserable. I might have just had Hayley take me out back and shot me like old yeller.
If I was Drew I'd send you back to the Island of Misfit Wives. You know, you could just brush your teeth a little more huh? Oh yeah, and tell your lord to send me some money. I brush my teeth twice a day so I should be good.
glad you're feeling better.
I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. That sounds horrible. I love the comment about when the Lord gives you extra money!
"If I was Drew I'd send you back to the Island of Misfit Wives. You know, you could just brush your teeth a little more huh? Oh yeah, and tell your lord to send me some money. I brush my teeth twice a day so I should be good."
what???
Auuugh that sounds AWFUL, and labor pains are still fresh in my memory. Sounds like Andrew will be a great labor partner, though. :) I'm glad you're feeling better!
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