If you have read my book, Memoirs of the Bathtub Psychic, you know that I have had to deal with several critically ill animals in my time and one very handicapped Newfoundland dog. While dealing with him and my other Newf who had a completely compromised immune system, I moved from California to Vermont on my own. All my attention went to taking care of the dogs, the house and my cats. During the warmer months mowing the yard took a good 4 1/2 hours on a riding mower usually once a week along with other yard work like weed whacking. I sowed a field one year and tore down wallpaper and painted another. During this time I went from being a fit trained body builder at a lovely size 6 to a woman whose gums often bled and whose body felt a bit sluggish at a size 12. Blah! My personality type is such, however, that all my attention is pointed outward not inward. To take care of myself was a challenge and something that did not often cross my mind. Yes I had been an athlete when I lived in Northern California. But that changed when I got a Newf who was compromised by a vaccine which ultimately killed her. The dogs came first just like with so many mothers their children come first.
That in mind, it was not long before the tooth aches started. All my stress and compromised immunity from being over worked, over stressed and never getting enough sleep or exercise showed up in my mouth. Finding a dentist that I could work with seemed very complicated. I also wanted amalgams removed. After several failed tries of dentists who couldn't get me numb, ones who were against my more holistic means and one who shot me with an anesthetic I am allergic to even though I told him not to, I found a very gentle soul who was quite good at what he did. In my head I kept hearing to move on that this was not the right place for me. But being tired all the time and busy with work, dogs, house, life I shooed those warnings aside.
If I were the sort of person to have regrets in my life, the ones I would have would be not listening to what I am hearing from spirit or from myself. To me these should be the driving factors in all decisions. Wouldn't it be nice to have that 20/20 eyesight from the start instead of in hindsight! But as River Song in Doctor Who would say, "Spoilers!"
I started dealing with chronic fatigue at a low level and did not associate it with having root canals. When it came time to have two molars extracted (not at the same time but over the course of a year) several people in my life and the dentist were pushing me towards getting them replaced with implants. In my head I knew this was a very bad thing to do but after much pushing and prodding I agreed to have this expensive procedure done. It happened over the course of a year - getting the molars out, having the screws put in and then having them crowned.
The day I had the screws put in I almost cancelled the appointment. I knew something awful was pending but I also felt like I was in a dream state and off I went to get these screws inserted. I was awake through the surgery (BIG MISTAKE!) and cried when she started literally screwing in the titanium. All I could think of was how I had fumbled up putting screws in things myself and had this image of her doing that into my jaw bone. Not the right thing to be thinking is it but all went well.
In fact, according to the dentist and dental surgeon these screws and then the screws with the crowns were the most lovely thing in my mouth. But were they really?
Two days after the screws went in I started a mild cough. My throat felt dry and a little swollen. I assumed I was coming down with something. The caps that went on top of the screws that had to stay there for four months until the bone adhered to the screws were cutting into my tongue every day. I pointed it out to the dentist and he said it was temporary and nothing else was to be done about it. Four months I dealt with those cutting my tongue.
February 14th, 2011, I went into the surgeons and had an x-ray which showed that the screws were ready to receive the crowns. The implants technically were a success. As I left the office I heard myself say, "strap in girl, here comes the ride from hell." Shortly after this visit to the oral surgeon I was up late working one night in my studio. I forgot to eat and decided to make a grass finished beef burger on sourdough bread with pickles and a glass of hard cider. I turned on the DVD player (I don't have television just DVD and streaming on line) and started watching an episode of Doctor Who. As I was chewing I started to feel my tongue swell and crack and my throat swell. I could not stop coughing and when I looked in the mirror I saw just how swollen everything was and the fissures in my tongue were deep enough to nearly start bleeding. Under my tongue my salivary glands had blown up as well and were hard as rocks. It scared me. I immediately put the food out of the reach of my dogs and cats (there is that focus outwards again!) then took a dose of the homeopathic remedy apis 200c and repeated it.
I called a friend and was reminded that I should drink baking soda and water. What I had been eating was very acidic and I had not been drinking fluids most of the day and the acids were painful. I got the swelling down enough to not feel threatened and the baking soda and water became my best friend that night. A teaspoon in a glass of water to sip on. My thoughts turned to why. I kept seeing drawers and mounds and mountains of screws. Was this a no brainer?
Continued tomorrow.
0 comments:
Post a Comment