Dental Surgery Update

I survived round one. After 2 1/2 hours (much longer than predicted), I stumbled out of the doctor's office, hubs holding me up and helping me not to fall on the ice. The surgery wasn't too painful until the shots started to wear off...then it got a bit uncomfortable. The great news, is that the dentist did some contouring to my gums while she was working on me, so I have bigger, prettier looking teeth now. The bad news, is that she only did the upper part of my mouth. I will be going back on Monday to get the lower half done.

So, minus the fact I kinda look like I've been in a fight with Mike Tyson and my mouth hurts pretty bad right now...all went really well. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes.

Heavens to Betsy - I'm a Little Terrified

I'm shivering. Not necessarily from the bitter cold lurking outside my door, but from the impending doom of my afternoon. This afternoon, in roughly two hours from now, I will be admiring life through laughing gas. Which, as a side note, may I just say how funny the term laughing gas is? My inner seven year old can't stop giggling just thinking about it.

Anyway, I'm going in for dental surgery. ACK!!!! Dental surgery makes me squirm and shiver uncomfortably worse than this horrid cold front. First of all, I am NOT pain tolerant. I'm a big baby, really...ask anyone who has ever had to deal with me post op. It's not that I can't handle the recovery. I think I'm a pretty tough cookie when it comes to pushing myself to get better, its just I hate pain. Not a pleasant thing, you know?

I'm a little nervous because I've never had dental "surgery" before and I'm not sure what to expect or prepare myself for, so of course, I hope for the best but prepare for the worst. They are going to be removing a bunch of excess gum tissue. Yeah man...super yikes!!! My grandmother, aunt and mother have all had this done so genetics mixed with some current medications I'm on, has caused my gums to be extra puffy. This is also a problem because I wear braces. In order for my teeth to finish the next couple of months as they are supposed to, my gums need to be less puffy...or so I'm told. The only way to fix this is with surgery. Luckily though, they will be treating me with a laser rather than a scalpel so I'm not supposed to have the bruising, bleeding or level of pain associated with the scalpel method.

I had really hoped it would never come to this, but I'm not sure what else could have been done to prevent it. I use a way too expensive toothbrush and now have a pricey Hydra Flosser, which is AWESOME by the way. This thing flosses your teeth with water...no more regular floss ever. No more turning your fingers into sausage links or spending an hour in front of the mirror lacing the floss through each bracket of your braces. And...this thing comes with four different heads so your whole family can use it. WAY worth it if you can budget it. But where I was going with this is that I have super healthy teeth and great dental hygiene. I have worked very hard at that since I was a kid. I never wanted my teeth to be gross or fall out because I didn't take care of them. Oddly, one thing I found attractive about Hubs is that he has great teeth.

I guess you never really can prevent everything. You can take care of your body, your hair, your car, your house, your kids, your pets, your money...but ultimately, the control is never in your hands. Things, well, things happen. You can't always predict them and you certainly can't always stop them. But...you can survive. I don't want this dental bill or this surgery, but I know it's important and its a must. Sometimes responsibility has to trump desire. Maybe that's a good little anecdote for today. You can spend all the time in the world trying to prevent disaster or bad things, but you really have no control over it. What you can do is prepare yourself to know how to deal with things when they happen and then not fear them because you know God is with you always. This bill is going to hurt a bit, but I have faith that we'll see through to another day and we'll be okay. So keep brushing your teeth, running, paying your mortgage, walking your pets and be hopeful that all will be alright. But also know that in times of struggle, its not the end of the world.

So today, as I prepare to sit in that chair and be lasered for an hour and a half, that's what I will be thinking. This is not the end of the world. I will survive this. It's really not that big of deal...and certainly...I've made it through worse.