Dental implant and LASEK part 10: The final stretch, I hope
So I go to the eye doctor two weeks ahead of schedule because I'm flying to LA tomorrow and was concerned that all my starry special effects were going to impede my driving, and LA is one town where you need to be tack-sharp to drive. LA drivers, while not fond of unnecessary risks, drive fast and aggressively and you need to see them coming. So I go to my doctor and tell him I'm nearsighted and that I'm seeing these double images at light sources...
Why did nobody else tell me that this is pretty much how nearsightedness works? I haven't been appreciably nearsighted in twenty years and just don't remember that! The doc indulged me a pair of glasses for driving, and the optometrist/assistant warned me not to wear them too much as they could give me headaches. It's really, really cool being able to see though. It has also allowed me to realize that distant building lights have starry special effects even for people with normal vision. Again, why does no one mention this?
What's funny is the reason the doctor gave for why I'm still nearsighted at the six month mark. Remember, farsighted eyes like mine have to be overcorrected because the naturally try to revert to their old shape. The doctor tells me that some UV exposure is needed to nudge that process along. Apparently my Goth-inspired habit of wearing a black corduroy hat all the time and otherwise avoiding UV exposure liike it's nuclear radiation has slowed my process. No more hat, he says. But where will I pin my Narrative Clip camera? Oh the irony.
I complained about how my eyes get dry which hurts their focus even more, and the doc suggested a hot moist towel before bed. It works, and it feels lovely besides. I no longer wake up in the wee hours wanting eye drops, and my eyesight in the morning is better than I remember it. Of course part of that is brain perception--understanding that all the Air Jordans and Jim Carrey ballerinas aren't an artifact of the surgery so much as a function of myopia drops my anxiety levels over them considerably.
Anxiety that now focuses on my tooth. Also ahead of schedule to accomodate my LA trip was completing the implant process. They screwed the bolt in the socket, fitted the coffee-stain colored zirconium into the space, and cemented it down over the screw-post. Yesterday it felt fine, minus the usual post-dental sort throat. The day before my right throat gland was swollen, as it had been for some days. This morning I woke up with a cramp in my jaw and the new tooth sitting too high in its place, so I went to the dentist who kindly filed it down for me.
Right now my whole upper jaw is complaining, and I have a plane to catch tomorrow. The drill thing that filed down the tooth made a breathtakingly awful noise and I'm sure it offended all kinds off bone-tissue in my mouth. The interdental brushes--which are de rigeur for this kind of implant--slip a little too easily in the gaps next to the new tooth. The cold coffee late this morning felt awfully cold. Is this my anxiety over my trip ahead, or is there really an issue? Or is the bone just offended and it'll be fine in the morning? Or worst--will things suck badly enough in the morning to make me miss my flight, or will going up in an airplane make everything horribly worse?
I'm far too good at building these mental snowballs.
Why did nobody else tell me that this is pretty much how nearsightedness works? I haven't been appreciably nearsighted in twenty years and just don't remember that! The doc indulged me a pair of glasses for driving, and the optometrist/assistant warned me not to wear them too much as they could give me headaches. It's really, really cool being able to see though. It has also allowed me to realize that distant building lights have starry special effects even for people with normal vision. Again, why does no one mention this?
What's funny is the reason the doctor gave for why I'm still nearsighted at the six month mark. Remember, farsighted eyes like mine have to be overcorrected because the naturally try to revert to their old shape. The doctor tells me that some UV exposure is needed to nudge that process along. Apparently my Goth-inspired habit of wearing a black corduroy hat all the time and otherwise avoiding UV exposure liike it's nuclear radiation has slowed my process. No more hat, he says. But where will I pin my Narrative Clip camera? Oh the irony.
I complained about how my eyes get dry which hurts their focus even more, and the doc suggested a hot moist towel before bed. It works, and it feels lovely besides. I no longer wake up in the wee hours wanting eye drops, and my eyesight in the morning is better than I remember it. Of course part of that is brain perception--understanding that all the Air Jordans and Jim Carrey ballerinas aren't an artifact of the surgery so much as a function of myopia drops my anxiety levels over them considerably.
Anxiety that now focuses on my tooth. Also ahead of schedule to accomodate my LA trip was completing the implant process. They screwed the bolt in the socket, fitted the coffee-stain colored zirconium into the space, and cemented it down over the screw-post. Yesterday it felt fine, minus the usual post-dental sort throat. The day before my right throat gland was swollen, as it had been for some days. This morning I woke up with a cramp in my jaw and the new tooth sitting too high in its place, so I went to the dentist who kindly filed it down for me.
Right now my whole upper jaw is complaining, and I have a plane to catch tomorrow. The drill thing that filed down the tooth made a breathtakingly awful noise and I'm sure it offended all kinds off bone-tissue in my mouth. The interdental brushes--which are de rigeur for this kind of implant--slip a little too easily in the gaps next to the new tooth. The cold coffee late this morning felt awfully cold. Is this my anxiety over my trip ahead, or is there really an issue? Or is the bone just offended and it'll be fine in the morning? Or worst--will things suck badly enough in the morning to make me miss my flight, or will going up in an airplane make everything horribly worse?
I'm far too good at building these mental snowballs.