I woke up with a bit of tooth pain Wednesday. It wasn't that bad, and I had to spend the day helping the kids get ready for their trip (to Mexico) and helping Leslie get ready for her trip (to Hong Kong). So I ignored it. But Wednesday night came and I was pretty disconcerted, as the pain was becoming harder to ignore.
So Thursday morning came and I called Leslie's dentist, who she raves about. The doctor's name is Dr. Roya Arbab. She's a DDS and Leslie's angel. They were sweet as pie, got me in at noon! So I showered and headed over, 2401 Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), Suite 205, Hermosa Beach. In other words, they were sorta right down the road from our house. A quick couple of x-rays and it was determined that a wisdom tooth was not being a cooperative tenant and that it needed to be evicted. Dr. Arbab made a quick call to the folks over at www.omsurgery.com, right here in Redondo Beach (1812 Artesia Blvd.) and they made an opening for me two hours later.
The surgery itself was a piece of cake. It took longer to fill out the forms and to anesthetize my jaw than it did to pull the tooth. And the doctor (Dr. Jeffrey Donlevy) was fantastic, with great chairside manner. As we were getting down to it, I said "I don't know where the diamonds are" and he replied "Is it safe?" This really put me at ease.
Dr. Donlevy gave me a prescription for Darvocet, but that contains Propoxyphene, which is an opiate, which gets me carsick, even on the couch. So I've been taking Tylenol for the pain, which is almost entirely from the needles for the anesthetic. The pain itself is not bad, feeling like I got punched in the jaw by a twelve-year old.
Lastly, because of my insanely high gag reflex, I hadn't eaten anything all day, so I could get through the dental procedures. So as soon as lovely Leslie came home, we went to Billys and I had a very satisfying dinner of scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and baked beans.
This morning my jaw is a little tight, but no big deal. I got the tooth removed, so I'll feel better in the long run, and hey, I got a decent blog post out of it.
The Gift
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[Christmas, 1965 or thereabout]
The boy was very young; perhaps 7 or 8 years old. He loved everything about
Christmas - the lights, the music, Santa ...
1 year ago
7 Comments:
Geez, Stu, where to start?
Glad you're feeling better, of course. Toothaches are such a major bummer of my life. I may have detailed some of my dental battles on my own blog. Ugh.
OK. Scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes and baked beans? I understand the need for softer foods, but...
Finally, I love a dentist who can quote "Marathon Man". Did you read the book or see the movie or both? The scene is exquisitely painful in both, of course.
It's really not that bad. I feel wonderful, in that my biggest complaint about my life right now is that I had a toothache. Thank G-d that this is my biggest complaint.
I love eggs, and Billys, my local deli, makes great eggs. Normally I get onions and peppers mixed in, but this time I had plain, with lots of salt and pepper. The mashed potatoes are pretty good at Billys, but I just couldn't have eggs without potatoes (I love me some potatoes, I tell you what.), it's just that the steak fries would have been too difficult to chew. And the baked beans, yum, who doesn't love baked beans?
As for Marathon Man, I saw the movie first, when I was a youth (did you say "Yout"?... Yeah, youth, these two youths). As a young adult I read the book, falling in love with the writing craft of William Goldman. I'm a sucker for all his prose, especially his memoirs on his work for Hollywood, like Adventures In The Screen Trade. The man is a brilliant crafter of words.
That tooth is HUGE!
You got off easy.
I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed at the same time. Put me under - no novacaine for me! I fell asleep in the car, while Mom was buying applesauce and yogurt for me. When she came out I had bled all over myself even though my mouth was packed with cotton. My face was bruised from below my eye to my jawbone on both sides.
Be thankful.
That Marathon Man quote was awesome!
Sorry to hear about your quadruple extraction Sharfa, and indeed I am thankful.
The tooth is 3/4 of an inch long (or tall, if measured in its natural orientation). I have no idea if that is big or not.
Speaking of quotes, remember the wisdom of Sam Seaborn, demonstrated during this exchange with CJ Cregg:
SAM: Your teeth are the best friends you got, C.J.
C.J.: They are?
SAM: You take care of them, they’ll take care of you.
C.J.: When’d you start talking like this?
SAM: I’m nuts for dental hygiene.
wow Stu I had no idea!! I hope you are ok and doing better now. You poor guy!! But it gives me hope that my impending wisdom teeth (yes i said TEETH - multiple - all 4 in fact) extraction goes that smoothly!
I'm super, thanks for asking! (Yes, I am a South Park fan)...
There is little discomfort post-surgery (do we have to call it surgery? They just yanked a tooth)... Anyway, really, I'm fab, so don't worry.
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