All the same
Laugh or cry
Then we die
I believe I called it "tooth pain" in one blog post and later
on, realized that people usually call it "toothache". But what is the
difference? There is not much; each is a kind of suffering.
So, I could cry about it. However, as always, I choose to laugh about
it.
In the last few weeks, I have
been to an endodontist, a dentist and a periodontist. Apparently, I have severe
bone loss in my teeth and it needed “serious intervention”. I knew this was
coming for a couple of years. I have
actually seen my teeth move! The cost of 4 hours of dental surgery spread
over 2 sessions of 2 hours each is insane. I am not going to say how much.
Part of the surgery involves
bone grafting. I was told I could get animal or synthetic bone. As soon as Hans
heard the bit of news, he was worried. He wanted to know if he could hug me
before the animal bone got into me! I tried to calm him down. Later, he got to
listen to a cool exchange between Craigley and my friend Y. Craigley felt a
monkey bone would be great whereas Y opted for a shark bone. Both of them made
it seem like I was going to get some special powers after the bone grafting. It
put Hans' mind at ease. How cool is it to
have a mom who could perhaps swing from trees or swim with sharks!
Today was my first 2 hour
surgery. First thing I asked the doctor was about the animal bone. He had a
good laugh. He said that it is a synthetic gel, not exactly a bone. When I told
him that my 10 year old may be disappointed, he told me (after the surgery) to
tell Hans that one of my 2 wisdom teeth had 3 roots instead of the usual 2! Small consolation, but might make the boy
happy.
Today's surgery involved the
right half of my mouth. Before the surgery, the doctor asked me what my
favourite music was. I asked him to play his favourite music. If he is going to
work 2 hours on my mouth and pull out 2 teeth and do some cool bone grafting, I
wanted him to be happy with the music being played. His selection of songs was
quite good - I especially enjoyed a Paul Simon song and a Billy Joel hit!
Today was the day my friends,
Y and Kay, accompanied me to my first session; waited around and picked me up
when it was done! Someone recently said that I have "phenomenal support". I do. My
friends also took me to a quick visit with my mom who cooked some food for me
to eat later!
All of the above made me realize how lucky I am. The 2 hour surgery
became a fun expedition. I am sure I will feel the pain later, but right now I
feel the joy inside of me.
It is overwhelming and I am grateful.
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