MISERABLE

What Happened to Last Week?
A good bit of dental pain happened last week. I was busy, in pain, not sleeping. By Sunday, which day I usually work on my blog, I was so incapable of doing much beyond basics. Blog? Not happening.

Why didn't I go to the dentist last week? Just like Ken cannot explain some of the issues he has as an autistic/Aspergers, I cannot always explain my Anxiety. Just read this: 1. dentist, 2. NEW dentist (have to find), 3. finances (my teeth always come out expensive!). But by Sunday night, all of those issues blew away in the wind of agony.

Monday...AY AY AY!
I got up for Seminary, touched my tooth and... In literature, you might read how a scream tore from someone. That happened to me. Literally. My husband woke up from a sound sleep. My daughter, who I had just awakened, was startled. I could have passed out. I kept it together. And then I saw Mr. Mouse run across the kitchen floor and behind the dishwasher. Another shriek, but not pain. Walking out the door, shaking in pain and crazy rodent antics (Dear Mr. Orkin Man who said this is not really mouse season: I beg to differ), I picked up the keys for the van and accidentally threw them out the open door and...almost into the bushes. Thankfully, they caught on the metal railing. It was not my most stellar day.

I think I got through Seminary without breaking down. I told Analiese that no way am I walking. Because as soon as I got home, at 8 a.m., I called a brand new dentist and said...this is an EMERGENCY. And I was not exaggerating.

Two hours in the dentist's office and a whole lot of Novocain later (I felt numb still at bedtime), I had a nerve removed out of my tooth to prevent the extreme the pain. Also, I had an abscess drained. I could actually smell it - ew! - while going through it. I asked the dentist what I could have done to prevent it from happening. Nothing. Dentist said some people, you can tell, have bad dental hygiene, and that causes problems. But I was clean. My tooth was pretty much committing suicide. And it did not go gentle into that good night!

Of course, it was also very expensive. I only had the first part of the process done until I could save up for the root canal - hopefully in two months. Then I have to save up for the crown. You would think I should be ashamed, why didn't I take care of my mouth? But it's not true...I do! I just was "gifted" with the trial of lousy teeth.

We had planned that evening to go see Avengers:Endgame for FHE that evening. I was on enough painkillers to go. We went with a co-worker of Ken's and his brother (who's in our Branch) to the city to a nice theater. But the lobby smelled so unusual (the concessions?) that I started coughing (not great on a tender mouth) and had to use my jacket to filter the air until I got into the theater room.

And I slept like a rock when I got home.

But the Rest of the Week
Tuesday wasn't too bad. I was still kind of on the meds and was kind of sleepy throughout the day. Not much happened, but I was okay. It was a rainy, tornado watch sort of day, so staying home and being chill was a safe option.

Then Wednesday happened. I had a doctor's & allergist appointment at 8:45 a.m. in Norman. I had to have blood testing for the doctor, so no eating. I had to be retested for allergies after a year of shots, so no medication. Uh-oh. Between the two appointments, I was there for a long time. The allergy testing itself takes almost an hour. I left on very shaky legs. The nearby Carl's Jr. had an egg sandwich that was soft enough for my mouth to handle. I couldn't go on without something. But I sure missed a little something to take the edge off the pain.

I couldn't go home without an important trip to OKC. I had to drive through Norman, past Moore to OKC. I realized that yesterday was a tornado watch day and here I was, the day after, driving through the center of the tornado target of the state of Oklahoma! But I'm grateful, none of us got hit yesterday and today!

I went home, had Jonathan help me put stuff away, took some meds, and went to bed. Trying to sleep away the pain.

Thursday wasn't great, either. More rain, more pain. Seriously. I think all of my plants are going to drown and die. Even the ones with great soil drainage. Some of my seminary students went to the temple open house last night when it was storming. I just kept praying they'd make it there and back okay! (Which, they did).

I have been teaching VIPKid lessons (one or two) every night this week. After the one Thursday night was over, I broke down in tears. My mouth was killing me. Not the tooth per se, since the nerve was gone, but everything around it. Down my jaw and neck, up into my ear, even giving me a headache! I took the strongest stuff I had, and tried to go to bed. Laying down hurt worse!

Jonathan came home from Institute to see me in the recliner, weeping, with an icepack on my face. I think finally, around midnight, something (the Spirit?) told me to go take a warm bath. I did and it relaxed me enough - the meds started working? - so that I could go to sleep. For a few hours. Before getting up at 5:30 for Seminary.

Friday wasn't too bad. I let myself sleep things out right after I came home from seminary. It was another wet, soggy day, and the pain has been minimal so far. I've been eating soft food in tiny doses...my mouth does not want to open! Applesauce, pudding, jello, yogurt, soup. I had tried to eat scalloped potatoes and ham Thursday and I think it made things worse. Friday, I was being super careful.

Saturday was a big improvement. Except for the mongo headache I had in the afternoon. But I attribute that to lousy sleep...and still having to get up early for classes:
Which were great! Well, crazy boy Andy, who is now overly comfortable with me, was so silly I nearly didn't get through the lesson. (Did you know that VIPKid considered "silly" as an offensive word? So in the feedback, I ended up saying that maybe next time we would concentrate better. Oy vey!)

My second was a new 11yo boy named King (Hey, I don't assign the names!). He was very polite and loved conversation! We were talking about clothing for different seasons and I asked him if he wore a skirt in the Spring. His face screwed up in disgust. "I do not! I am a BOY!" I laughed so hard. He was great...and I got a 5 apple review from his parents. I hope I get to teach him again; he was delightful.

Sunday was even better for my mouth, but I'm not up to a lot of chewing. That makes my jaw ache. I am getting heartily tired of applesauce, pudding, jello, and protein shakes. Gee, maybe I'll lose a little weight!

Pictures Old & New
Here are some I managed to take last week and a couple from this. It gives you some idea about my life currently.