Fancy Dress for Ducks

Well, now at last I am feeling good. Feeling very peaceful, a little swimmy, and with no pain or feeling of distress at all. A very good feeling. Waiting for the water to boil for my cup of tea, and enjoying the lovely serenity of the afternoon. The pond is very full, and there are orange leaves scattered all over the grey surface of the water, which give the ducks a more festive air -- sort of dressed up, if you see what I mean.

This morning, you see, was my dental appointment at Clackamas County Dental Clinic. I was to be there at eight-thirty, which would have been no problem at all, except for Neighbor, who wanted to use the computer again, and had sworn up and down he would be here before eight, so that I could leave in plenty of time. And yet, for the third -- or fourth? -- time, he did not get up in time. I did make it in time however, although a fat lot of good that did me, since it was eleven thirty before they called me in! However.

I explained the trouble to the dentist, and he took a quick X-ray of the tooth, and tsk-tsked at me --"You see, this crack? All the way into the bone!" he said solemnly. And gave me a couple of fairly painful shots, and off we went. But. I would not get numb. I had told them how very poorly I respond to anesthetic, and so he gave me shot after shot (total of six, altogether!) and kept asking. Finally they sent me back out to the waiting room and made me wait for half an hour, while whizzing through several other patients (this is the County, you know -- they are moving as rapidly as they can!) When I came back in, my face, including my nose and my eyelid were numb and floppy, but when he began trying to pull the tooth, it hurt like billy-oh. Truly. I was shuddering all over -- even my legs were giving great leaps -- and tears were pouring out of my eyes. And my tooth! Huge crunching waves of pain. The dentist decided that in spite of my lack of fever and swelling, I must have gotten an infection in the root of the tooth itself, (which was blocking any anesthetic getting to the nerve under the tooth) and must take antibiotics for a week, and come back next Monday. I staggered out of the office, with my whole head going kaBOOM! kaBOOM! and managed to drive home, get my prescriptions filled, call the office and tell them I wasn't coming back (one-thirty by this point) and take two pain pills.

And that was about two hours ago, and I am feeling very calm and happy now. In fact, I think I may smile out the window once more and then take a nap.