Post #82: Dentist Madness!

Greetings Anita fans!

How are you all doing? I hope well. I talked with Mama on November 4 (she was ironing at the time) and got an earful about - not what you think - but about the dentist! As I mentioned earlier, chemo patients develop dental problems and Anita has been no exception. However, count on her to have an exceptional dental experience.

Off she went to the dentist last Friday for what she thought would be a 1 to 1-1/2 hour session. When last she was there, she was told that she had an infected tooth and that hopefully with some treatment the tooth could be saved. Moral: Don't ever trust what they tell you! She was there FOUR, count 'em, hours for FOUR, count em', ROOT CANALS!!! Talk about adding injury to injury!

She got a very handsome dentist mind you - good looking, foreign, tall, etc. - in fact, reminded her of one of her friends from the East coast. Anita even commented to him that he "looked like a model" to which he responded, "I was!" But the work wasn't steady and he decided to go for dental security, so to speak. Meanwhile, back to the present at the dentist's office, he did a good job preparing Anita (novocaine shots, drilling the teeth, etc.) but then he turned her over to his assistant to pack the teeth etc. in preparation for the impressions.

Well, the assistant waited too long and the novocaine started to wear off before the assistant got to work. Plus she had BAD BREATH! Have any of you ever had a dental assistant with bad breath?! The assistant also kept leaving and coming back while Anita kept feeling more and more pain. Well, you can imagine what Mama thought of this development: "I'm getting out of this chair! I can't stand it! Would you take a breath mint or pull that mask over your face?!!!"

It was all a bit too much for Mama. She started sobbing. And totally understandably - this is apparently a normal reaction for people who have been through what she has been through. After all the cumulative pain she has had, as she says, she has been such a trooper. With cancer you have to be. But this? Pain at the dentist? This didn't have to be! Mama said that she should have taken some of her own "happy pills." Anyhow, after she started crying, the dentist came back in to the room. Anita: "I want to go home. I want to get this thing done! I don't think she [the assistant] knows what she is doing and she's got bad breath!!" Dentist: "I'm going to give you another shot of novocaine."

As Anita freely admits, "I got mad in the dentist chair! Afterward I took a Vicodin and I haven't needed to have one of those in a long time." But, she's glad that the ordeal is over. The only further thing needed to be done, dentally speaking that is, is for her to get the temporary caps removed and the permanent caps put on.

I think all of us can empathize with her! Dentists and happiness don't necessarily mix until you get the great results! And comparatively, our regular checkups are breezes! So keep smiling everyone and show off those teeth!

Melissa