Toothache, cont.

I went to another Thanksgiving dinner (my third! such abundance and so many blessings!) at the house of a friend whose family gatherings include extended family. Best food (best chestnut stuffing ever) and great company.

However, while everyone was having a drink or two, I was counting down the time until I could take my next oxycodone for the worst and longest toothache I have ever had. I have gone from dentist to dentist seeking the cause of the pain. Who knew I would now be talking in tooth numbers? It is not actually coming from #3, the tooth that feels like the culprit. My dentist opened up and refilled the tooth beneath it, #30, which actually did have a small cavity and might be causing the pain in the upper tooth. No luck. So now it might be #31, also on the bottom row, in which I had a root canal many years ago. The endodontist who did that one can't see me until Friday. The endodontist who looked at the first tooth can't look at this one because they are so specialized that each can only look at his own tooth.

Geez. I say, pull 'em all out. No I don't, not really. But my dentist did say that some people in my situation end up doing just that. I hope it doesn't come to that.

Yesterday morning I went to the emergency room because the pain was spreading into my ear. I thought maybe I had an ear infection and that it was referring into tooth pain. I saw a PA who told me I did not have an ear infection but that the gum next to #3 (got that?) was inflamed, so he gave me a strong antibiotic, Clindamycin, to treat that, and hopefully it will help with the tooth pain.

I woke up at 3 a.m. in agony, wondering if I should take another oxycodone or not. It was time, but oxycodone does a weird thing to me, disturbing my sleep. I wasn't sleeping anyway, so I probably should have taken it, but I had left the bottle all the way downstairs, and I didn't feel like going there. I took half an Ativan instead and kind of dozed off until 6:30 a.m., the usual wake-up time for Maddie and me.

I have writing and editing to do, and if I don't time it just right, the words swim in front of my eyes. Leg pain is still also a problem. Melissa wants to set me up with an orthopedist in Boston.

I am eating apple pie for breakfast as I write this. I think I'll have some more.