Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Root canals are so much FUN

It wasn't my first root canal, but my previous dentist gave nitrous oxide for the procedure, so I don't remember much of it.  That was a more typical procedure (root canal, crown prep, temp crown, permanent crown).  For my tooth today, over a year ago it was a broken tooth, but my dentist did not believe it was damaged deep enough to require a root canal.  We went straight to a crown.  Every few months, the tooth became painful and I was placed on antibiotics, which would clear it.  And give me a yeast infection.  Every single time.  It's great being a lady.

We were trying to avoid the inevitable root canal because we didn't want to drill through the permanent crown. Well, on the fourth course of antibiotics, the decision was made that we were going to have to do the root canal.

So that's how I ended up in the dentist's chair this morning.  I halfway expected nitrous oxide because of my previous experience, but I was curious enough about the procedure to not be disappointed that there was no nitrous.  So first I was numbed up pretty good.  My dentist is really good at numbing you.  I never feel the injection, which I can't say about every dentist I've been to.

After I was good and numb, he drilled through the crown and the tooth.  After that, he located the canals, filed them out, and took an xray with files in place.  The xray was the most problematic part because I wasn't allowed to close my mouth, so they had to hold the film in place, and try to make sure they were capturing the full depth of the canals on xray.  It took a few tries.

I did have to get additional injections to numb my mouth again toward the tail end of the procedure, but otherwise the root canal was uneventful, thankfully.

Something strange that my dentist did that I wasn't expecting is that he left the pulp chambers open for drainage, which means there's a giant hole in my tooth.  He did pack it with a cotton pellet soaked in eugenol (clove oil), but otherwise, it's staying open until we do the filling next week.  The way it was explained to me is that because this tooth has been infected so many times, he wants me to finish my current course of antibiotics before he seals up the tooth.

After my dentist appointment, I did go to work to allow my employee to take a lunch break because my other employee is in training this week and could not cover lunch today.  I was completely numb and felt like I kept having to explain my face to everyone.  When the campus dean came back from lunch, I was pretty much kicked out of the building, which was honestly really nice.  It is nice having someone in a position of power realize that sometimes work is not the #1 priority and getting rest is important too.

I'm lucky enough to have hydrocodone to help with the pain, because it feels like I've been punched in the face.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Why you don't want to borrow my car keys...

So I told this story to a coworker this week and she laughed heartily at me, so I thought I'd tell it here too.

A few months ago, I changed jobs. During my very first week on the job, there was a three day long campus-wide management training. Our college has three campuses, so each day of training was held at a different campus to allow each campus to host and allow each campus one day of not driving long distance. So the first day was at a campus I'd been to, and I didn't really have any issues getting there. The second day was at my home campus. The third day was at a campus that I'd never been to.
I have a tendency to grab an energy drink when I get gas and drink it while I'm driving. The driving directions indicated it was only going to be 1hr 10min, but it took slightly longer. So the drive to the campus was uneventful, but I was rushed as I made the last turn into campus and didn't notice that I missed the turn for the building I was looking for.

Remember that energy drink I mentioned? I pulled into the parking lot and desperately needed to find a bathroom. I really didn't want to be late for my training and I was cutting it close. I didn't see the building I was looking for, but saw a bathroom on one building and decided to hurry up and use it before getting back on the road to go into the other entrance (the parking lots were not connected).
I rushed into the bathroom and only brought my car keys with me. I didn't have any pants pockets, so I set the keys on the back of the toilet while I did my business. I flushed, went to grab my car keys, and knocked them directly into the swirling toilet bowl.

I was going to be late for my training; I had no choice and no time to think. I plunged my hand into the flushing toilet and retrieved my keys.

I quickly washed my hands and keys at the sink, but had to race to my car and go. I arrived at my training at 8:03, and quickly found a seat.

So there I was, at my training, surrounded by a bunch of people who didn't know me that well. I had just had this serious adrenaline rush/panic because of this hilarious and stupid thing that happened and I could tell no one.