OUCH

I know I've been M.I.A. for a while now...we've passed a little intestinal bug around. After three days of taking it easy, watching lots of movies, and napping, I was suspicious T was pulling my leg...and now I know he wasn't kidding. At all.

And I've been working on a big project. More on that later.

Let me tell you about my morning. I'll intersperse a few pics of little MC to keep you smiling, 'cause the story isn't so pretty.

When I was a junior in high school (that would be roughly eleven years ago) my dad dropped our dental insurance. Therefore, I ceased going. T and I married in college. He had his last dental check up just shy of meeting me at the altar.

For two kids "livin' on love," insurance is, well, not cheap. We didn't go to the dentist for a number of years. Like...eleven for me, seven for T. By the time we could afford insurance, I was terrified to go. I've brushed religiously since my junior year...at least twice a day, flossing every night, using mouthwash, and chewing trident...all in a terrified effort to avoid oral problems.

Well, last fall I bit the bullet and went. It wasn't bad at all and the hygienist and dentist actually complimented my brushing, etc. They found one new cavity and one old one that needed to be re-done due to some shifting??? Since I was early on in my pregnancy they opted to wait to fill and x-ray me until now.

So...I went this morning to have one of the two cavities filled, as well as x-rays taken. Um, post x-ray, they found SIX that needed filling and decided to fill four of them today. Two on the top and two on the bottom. The two on the bottom were supposedly quite small. Dr. asked if I'd be up for drilling without anesthesia, since it was "only in the enamel."

Now...this leads to another story.

When I was much younger on a bright Sunday morning at church, Mom sent me to the car to get $.50 so she could get a diet pepsi from the vending machine. Being a child and all, I accidentally locked the keys in the car. You know, kids do those kinds of things at times. Dad found it utterly unacceptable and informed me I would be paying the locksmith bill. Mr. Locksmith charged $50. How is a kid going to come up with that kind of money???

I had a cavity. According to our dentist, the cost of anesthesia was $50. I weighed my options and figured I could opt out of the anesthesia and tough it out for half an hour or slave away for months. I white knuckled the arm rests of the dental chair and had that sucker filled sans anesthesia, and settled the debt with my father.

So today when Dr. asked me if I wanted to try it without anesthesia, and since we aren't getting dental insurance until January, and we're saving for the garage project, I gave her the go-ahead. I DON'T KNOW HOW I DID THAT AS A KID. Must have been the grace of God. I remember it hurting, but I don't remember it hurting so bad I felt light headed. Seriously. Today I just about jumped out of that chair. It went past the enamel. So she numbed me up on the bottom and went to work on the top. She drilled some on the left side and suddenly I could feel it. Again, I got a little air in the chair. She apologized and gave me another shot in the top (that's#2 on that side). She went to work on the other side, up top. Finished it up and headed back to the left side. She got going once more and I jumped AGAIN. Still not numb. Another shot on the top left (#3) and down to the bottom. She got that one drilled and then decided she needed x-rays to make sure she'd gotten everything. We did the x-rays, I sat back down. The bottom was finished, so she went back to work on the top. STILL NOT NUMB. At this point I began to feel light headed. Shot #4. WHAT??? Evidently my body "metabolizes the anesthesia quickly." She finished drilling and by the time she was "drying" the tooth to fill it, I was feeling it again.

I am sore from clenching my fists and wrapping my legs around each other to deal with the pain. And to top it off, the entire left side of my face is numb. EVEN MY EYE AND EAR. I had to call T to come get me because I couldn't quit shaking and I felt so light headed I didn't dare drive. Oh, and the best part about it was the bill. $544.

Between the two of us, we've spent $1200 at the dentist this month. OUCH. Of course, if we divide that by a cumulative 18 years of not going, I guess it isn't too bad.