Friday, April 25, 2008

My Experience With a Root Canal

I didn't sleep well last night, probably a tiny bit worried about my root canal this morning. At 7:30 A.M. the phone rang and it was Don, my handyman, asking if it would be okay to regrout the tub ceramic tile today...he could be here around 8 A.M. Of course I said sure and then hightailed it in for my shower before he got here.

One of the tiles had fallen off over the winter and I had a worry more would follow if I didn't do something about it...hence the regrouting. Don showed up before 8:30 and left his helper, Dan, to do the work. I sort of meandered around fretting about the upcoming root canal and suddenly there was a crash. Dan told me that more of the tiles had fallen off before he could catch them and smashed into the tub. There's no way of getting a color match to the tiles because I had chosen a weird shade of rusty beigy brown one day about 30 years ago when I must have been out of my mind. I'd often thought of replacing them with a nice neutral ivory but didn't do it because of the expense. Well, the time had now come for change whether I was ready or not. I told them to go ahead and retile. It should be done in about 3-4 days because this is Friday and Don and his workers don't work 7 days a week.

Off I went to the dentist and began what I'd accepted would be a miserable 1 1/2 hours. My dentist is really sweet and did everything he could to keep me calm and explain what he was and would be doing. The first freezing didn't take completely though, and I couldn't tolerate having this piece of rubbery thing put around the tooth. It's there to collect what comes out of the tooth and what the dentist will put into it. He had to refreeze before starting work.

I have to say that the experience was no picnic but it wasn't terrible, either. It felt like a very lengthy drilling and filling. There were a few moments when I felt him hit the nerve slightly and that did hurt quite a bit but not enough to require more freezing. We got through it anyway and it was all over and done in a bit more than the 1 1/2 hours. He doesn't want to put a crown on the tooth for at least 6 months to make sure the root canal was a success. Apparently, pain or the lack of it will be my clue.

When I got home Dan had removed most of the tile and said it was a miracle more hadn't fallen because the glue was so dried out. It's all going to be replaced with simple ivory tile with a pale mint green border to break up the height. I'm kind of looking forward to the way the lighter color will brighten up my little bathroom.

Sometimes we get a surprise like this that is going to cost us money and get depressed. I have learned to roll with the punches and just figure it was meant to happen today instead of 2 or 3 years from now. My handyman is very reasonable when it comes to cost so I know I can count on him to do the job as economically as possible.

Right now I'm eating my first meal of the day...homemade bean soup...and then I'm going to take a nap to catch up on the sleep I lost last night. Things could be worse, couldn't they?

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