A Painful Passage Of Time

The toothache was first felt during the night of 29th December. I was experiencing short and very intense periods of pain between extended periods of normalcy. Although I could make it through the periods of pain, I felt that the situation merited my seeing the dentist ASAP. Who knows what was going on in my mouth! I tried to set up an appointment but could not get through to anybody at the dentist’s office. Turned out it was closed until January 2nd.

I decided that I did not want to declare a full emergency and that I would bear the pain until January 2nd. Methods for handling the pain were researched and suggested – and tried. There was only temporary relief.

The weekend passed. January 2nd arrived. It was snowing when we woke up – our first snow storm of the season. Snow was accumulating on the ground. There was the chance that the doctor would not open his office under these conditions. And how would I even get to the office if it was still snowing and the road conditions were bad. There was the possibility of my not being able to see the dentist.

Fortunately, the office was open in spite of the weather. I decided that there were some limits to how much pain I would bear. I drove to the office even though the conditions were not ideal. The local road had not been plowed, and the main roads were still slushy. (I had even considered walking to the office if the driving conditions were too bad.)

The dentist was unable to isolate the source of the pain I am feeling. He has recommended that I see an Endodontist. He prescribed some medicine to try to make the pain more tolerable in the meantime.

Meanwhile, the endodontist’s office is not picking up the phone and has not responded to my email…

The story continues. Life goes on. I suspect that there is a Root Canal procedure in my future.