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Going in For Surgery
9 years ago
General
Well, this is it. Wednesday I finally go in for surgery.
As many of you who know me in real life are already aware, I've had issues with my teeth my entire adult life. I inherited weak tooth enamel from my father's side of the family, which results in them wearing down faster than normal and eventually just crumbling away.
All the male members of my family as far back as we have stories have needed to have their teeth out. My father, my grandfather, my great grandfather, and even my great great grandfather all needed false teeth before they got far into their 40s. For my grandfather and myself, it came much sooner (not least due to my own love of soda and orange juice).
Lately, a spat of health issues and roller coasters of increased pain brought the resignation that the time had probably come to take the last few steps toward removing them en masse - something I had been putting off for far too long.
When I contacted my dentist, he found that I had been living with an abscess in the left side of my jaw, probably for months at least, and many of my recent health issues could likely be traced to my body fighting that infection. That made it imperative to get the procedure done as quickly as practicable - not least because I'm allergic to Amoxicillin and Clindamycin and was prescribed no painkillers.
Fortunately my work provides good dental insurance, but I still had a considerable amount of money to raise before I could afford the procedure, since complete removal of weak, fractured teeth is a very invasive task that takes a lot of time. And the longer I wait, the more chance the infection has to come back. That's difficult to do on one income, but I had some money already saved, so that helped take some of the pressure off. Stil...I've been living out of a tin can to afford it.
The dentist has all the castings he needs, and I've got my appointment set for Wednesday morning. So this is it.
If I seem to be making a big deal out of it, it's because I've been anticipating this for a long time. There are foods I've had to give up years ago due to how difficult or painful it is for me to chew them. I've lived with the discomfort for so long, that the recovery is likely going to be more of a relief than a hardship.
There's also the risk. Depending on how far the abscess has gone, I may not have enough bone left to do permanent implants (something I plan on for the future). And if they don't clean out all of the bacteria, it could interfere with my recovery.
Regardless, this is a big deal to me, and I'm both looking forward and scared of it.
As many of you who know me in real life are already aware, I've had issues with my teeth my entire adult life. I inherited weak tooth enamel from my father's side of the family, which results in them wearing down faster than normal and eventually just crumbling away.
All the male members of my family as far back as we have stories have needed to have their teeth out. My father, my grandfather, my great grandfather, and even my great great grandfather all needed false teeth before they got far into their 40s. For my grandfather and myself, it came much sooner (not least due to my own love of soda and orange juice).
Lately, a spat of health issues and roller coasters of increased pain brought the resignation that the time had probably come to take the last few steps toward removing them en masse - something I had been putting off for far too long.
When I contacted my dentist, he found that I had been living with an abscess in the left side of my jaw, probably for months at least, and many of my recent health issues could likely be traced to my body fighting that infection. That made it imperative to get the procedure done as quickly as practicable - not least because I'm allergic to Amoxicillin and Clindamycin and was prescribed no painkillers.
Fortunately my work provides good dental insurance, but I still had a considerable amount of money to raise before I could afford the procedure, since complete removal of weak, fractured teeth is a very invasive task that takes a lot of time. And the longer I wait, the more chance the infection has to come back. That's difficult to do on one income, but I had some money already saved, so that helped take some of the pressure off. Stil...I've been living out of a tin can to afford it.
The dentist has all the castings he needs, and I've got my appointment set for Wednesday morning. So this is it.
If I seem to be making a big deal out of it, it's because I've been anticipating this for a long time. There are foods I've had to give up years ago due to how difficult or painful it is for me to chew them. I've lived with the discomfort for so long, that the recovery is likely going to be more of a relief than a hardship.
There's also the risk. Depending on how far the abscess has gone, I may not have enough bone left to do permanent implants (something I plan on for the future). And if they don't clean out all of the bacteria, it could interfere with my recovery.
Regardless, this is a big deal to me, and I'm both looking forward and scared of it.
- The Desert Fox