I left the house yesterday in a state of high anxiety. After making a stop at the pharmacy, my destination was to be at the office of a periodontist who was going to do a gum graft. Aarg! A Gum Graft!
Just the thought of this scared me to death. I had put it off for some time, but had been assured that if I didn't have this procedure:
1. I would probably lose my teeth. They would just begin to fall out. And~
2. It was a simple procedure, with rare side effects. So simple, in fact, that I could drive myself to and from the appointment.
Just in case, I brought with me, three names of people who could pick me up and drive me home if needed. Maybe I wouldn't have been so frightened if Pete weren't half a world away in Africa, but I think I still would have been.
The fear increased after I was handed the consent papers to sign. With the laws now requiring that full disclosure of the dangers of any surgery be spelled out to the patient, you are given some pretty gory possibilities. Before I could finish reading them, I was ushered into the treatment room, and the doctor came in to say "Hello".
The advantage of being o woman of a 'certain age' is that I don't have to put up a 'macho' front, and I am not afraid to express my fears. So, I said: "Hi, I am scared to death!". Dr Rees, the nice man that he is, took a moment or two to go over what would be done, and told me to underline anything on the consent form that worried me. I did!
When he came back into the room, he patiently explained the situations that might result in those awful things, and again assured me that none of this is likely to happen to me. He said, however, that if anything at all did happen or that if I found myself worried I could page him morning or though out the night, even on the Fourth of July. He took my blood pressure, and in a few moments the procedure began.
I calmed down, silently saying my mantra and trying to remember to breathe. Dr Rees made sure I was comfortable, and continued to explain what he was doing every step of the way. Nothing really hurt. Somewhere in the middle of the procedure, the realization came that I was really lucky. That there was now is something that can be done that will save my teeth, and that I can afford to pay for this treatment. I left the office with an ice pack to hold on my jaw, and two prescriptions which were filled quickly by the pharmacy in his building.
At home, I followed the instructions to the letter, holding ice to my jaw in fifteen minute intervals for the next six hours. This was a good opportunity to catch up on some of the Stargate SG1 episodes I had recorded on the TIVO. The only pain medication I took was extra Strength Tylenol!
I awoke this morning with no pain, just a slightly odd sensation in my mouth. There may be another upside to this, in that because I can only eat pretty soft foods for the next few days, I will probably lose some more weight! :-)
I almost forgot to tell you, that about 8:00 O'clock last night, Dr Rees called to ask me how I was doing and reminded me that if I had any trouble, I could call him day or night!
People are just nice! And, I am so lucky to keep finding the really kind ones!
Posted by Judi at July 1, 2003 9:20 AM | TrackBack