Busy Busy
OK... So I haven't posted since I heard I got the appointment to the National Deployment Force. Well, most of the time between then and now has been getting all my ducks in a row for that. Taking online classes, applying for a government credit card, purchasing luggage and other essentials. And taking care of health issues so I don't have to worry about them on the road.
First was a trip to the dentist. My teeth have been bad all my life, but for the most part they are more annoying than painful. But this past year I've had quite a number of them break. And I'd developed at least one abscess where the breaks were. So... I checked out which local dentists took my insurance and off I went. They told me I needed to have 9 teeth pulled, i tooth crowned & 1 root canal. I countered with pulling 11 teeth. They finally agreed. They also talked about a deep cleaning, a set of upper and lower partial dentures, a couple of drill & fills; all set to the tune of $5087.
Not happening.
We negotiated a bit, and I spent $1750.52 on 11 extractions, and temporary partials. The rest of it would have to wait a year until both my insurance & my Flex Account could reset. Then they started me on antibiotics for the abscess/infection.
The very next day, I got sick with a bad case of Not-The-Flu. Meaning that I had all the symptoms of a flu, but when they did the swab test, it didn't culture up as a flu. My first day out of bed after that was the day they pulled 10 1/2 teeth. Yup. 10 and a half. (Including three wisdom teeth.) Apparently when I got a root canal done back in 1989, the dentist managed to score the bone somehow, so that the recalcification fused the tooth root to the jawbone. And my original Oral Surgeon was unable to separate them. So I was scheduled for another surgery 20 days later, with a different surgeon who would actually put me out cold to finish the job. And three more weeks of antibiotics.
Six days after that, I got a tummy ache. A really sharp, painful tummy ache. Like a knot of pain right under the breast bone. Usually, this is a gas pocket that happens when I chug my Coca Cola. So I took my Phazyme & went to bed. But neither the Phazyme, nor the Vicodin touched the pain & I was unable to sleep. And as blaecstan was getting ready for work the next morning, the puking began. So, in spite of the fact that I had major plans to prep for my business trip, I spent most of the day in bed. And shortly after 8:00pm, I was on my way to the Emergency Room.
A couple of hours, one ultrasound and a blood draw later, I was told I had gall stones & a pocket of fluid around my gall bladder. My White Blood Count was up around 19 & my body temp was elevated which indicated an infection. They're suggestion was that I plan to have the Gall Bladder removed within the next few weeks, but they wanted to admit me for observation & rehydration. The next surgical resident that came by while I was waiting for a room suggested that waiting at all was probably not a wise idea, because the size & number of the gall stones meant I'd probably have a duct blockage sooner rather than later. I was admitted to the hospital about 1:30am. I was also told I wasn't allowed food or drink just in case they wanted to do the surgery the following day.
Which they did. Eventually. Because even though the surgical team woke me up at 5:00am to start the consult (I didn't get sufficient pain meds to let me sleep until almost 3:30, so I was not a Happy Camper™ at 5) they didn't actually get me into the OR until 9:30 that night. So yup, I'd had no food for 48 hours & nothing to drink for 24. My stomach was firmly wrapped around my spine by that time.
But I was told afterward that my gall bladder was badly inflamed & it was a good thing they got it when they did. My surgeon also did his very best to get the organ out with laparoscopic surgery so I could be released from the hospital today, since I need to be on the road to DC tomorrow for my training class. I have a very tender tummy, with 3 tiny puncture wounds, 3 one-inch scars and a bright blue belly button. I also have a 10# weight restriction until further notice --which will be a PiTA at work, since very few people pack baggage weighing under 10 pounds.
But I will make my class this week. Just a little the worse for wear.
And at the end of the month I'll be spending 3 days in Denver....
First was a trip to the dentist. My teeth have been bad all my life, but for the most part they are more annoying than painful. But this past year I've had quite a number of them break. And I'd developed at least one abscess where the breaks were. So... I checked out which local dentists took my insurance and off I went. They told me I needed to have 9 teeth pulled, i tooth crowned & 1 root canal. I countered with pulling 11 teeth. They finally agreed. They also talked about a deep cleaning, a set of upper and lower partial dentures, a couple of drill & fills; all set to the tune of $5087.
Not happening.
We negotiated a bit, and I spent $1750.52 on 11 extractions, and temporary partials. The rest of it would have to wait a year until both my insurance & my Flex Account could reset. Then they started me on antibiotics for the abscess/infection.
The very next day, I got sick with a bad case of Not-The-Flu. Meaning that I had all the symptoms of a flu, but when they did the swab test, it didn't culture up as a flu. My first day out of bed after that was the day they pulled 10 1/2 teeth. Yup. 10 and a half. (Including three wisdom teeth.) Apparently when I got a root canal done back in 1989, the dentist managed to score the bone somehow, so that the recalcification fused the tooth root to the jawbone. And my original Oral Surgeon was unable to separate them. So I was scheduled for another surgery 20 days later, with a different surgeon who would actually put me out cold to finish the job. And three more weeks of antibiotics.
Six days after that, I got a tummy ache. A really sharp, painful tummy ache. Like a knot of pain right under the breast bone. Usually, this is a gas pocket that happens when I chug my Coca Cola. So I took my Phazyme & went to bed. But neither the Phazyme, nor the Vicodin touched the pain & I was unable to sleep. And as blaecstan was getting ready for work the next morning, the puking began. So, in spite of the fact that I had major plans to prep for my business trip, I spent most of the day in bed. And shortly after 8:00pm, I was on my way to the Emergency Room.
A couple of hours, one ultrasound and a blood draw later, I was told I had gall stones & a pocket of fluid around my gall bladder. My White Blood Count was up around 19 & my body temp was elevated which indicated an infection. They're suggestion was that I plan to have the Gall Bladder removed within the next few weeks, but they wanted to admit me for observation & rehydration. The next surgical resident that came by while I was waiting for a room suggested that waiting at all was probably not a wise idea, because the size & number of the gall stones meant I'd probably have a duct blockage sooner rather than later. I was admitted to the hospital about 1:30am. I was also told I wasn't allowed food or drink just in case they wanted to do the surgery the following day.
Which they did. Eventually. Because even though the surgical team woke me up at 5:00am to start the consult (I didn't get sufficient pain meds to let me sleep until almost 3:30, so I was not a Happy Camper™ at 5) they didn't actually get me into the OR until 9:30 that night. So yup, I'd had no food for 48 hours & nothing to drink for 24. My stomach was firmly wrapped around my spine by that time.
But I was told afterward that my gall bladder was badly inflamed & it was a good thing they got it when they did. My surgeon also did his very best to get the organ out with laparoscopic surgery so I could be released from the hospital today, since I need to be on the road to DC tomorrow for my training class. I have a very tender tummy, with 3 tiny puncture wounds, 3 one-inch scars and a bright blue belly button. I also have a 10# weight restriction until further notice --which will be a PiTA at work, since very few people pack baggage weighing under 10 pounds.
But I will make my class this week. Just a little the worse for wear.
And at the end of the month I'll be spending 3 days in Denver....