Teeth and Angels

While working one of my jobs Thursday night, I was hit unexpectedly by a pain in my mouth. Now, I'm not talking about a little twinge of pain or a random broken tooth that ached. This was almost enough to bring me to my knees. For the remaining four hours of the shift, I stuck it out and kept working. However, I called in at my other job, telling them not to expect me the next day. This freed me up to set a dentist appointment for any time the office could take me.

On the way to my Friday appointment, I got sick. I kept trying to eat since dinner the previous night hadn't been til after ten pm, when I got off work. Everything I ate came back up almost as soon as it hit my stomach. My girlfriend, who was so sweet to drive me to the appointment, said I probably had an infection. At the office, in the chair, I found out she was right. After a brief examination and several x-rays, I was told my wisdom tooth was impacted and infected. I was given a shot for the infection, some painkillers, and some penicillin. I was then referred to a dental surgeon to have the tooth removed.

There's something strange about leaving the dentist's office and still being in the same amount of pain you were when you walked in.

Now, I'm continuing to go to work every day, trying to keep any cold air from my right ear, which also hurts. Every evening around six or seven p.m., the temperature drops and I enjoy a fresh dose of pain. Since the holidays are upon us, I have to wait at least three more days before the dental surgeon's office is even open. When scheduling the surgery, I'm not even going to let myself look at my work schedule unless I absolutely have to because this needs to be done. I have got to get this tooth out of my head.

I was working yesterday, distracting myself from the ache and pain really, when a customer came to my register. As I'm ringing up her merch, she asks how I'm doing and I'm honest. I explain about my tooth and how it hurts and how I'm trying to ignore it. She asks if I have any pain reliever or anything to numb my mouth. Yes on the pain reliever, but I'm not taking it yet because it tends to make me drowsy. No on the numbing agent because oragel doesn't last long and I have no orabase. I'll probably go to the business next door and get some on my dinner break. Wouldn't you know it, ten minutes later the woman walks back in with a freshly purchased tube of orabase? I thanked her so many times and here, I'll do it again.

Thank you for proving that angels still exist.