Blade 12 please.

      My crown lengthening surgery went very well. I’m not in much pain at all. I am so happy I heal fairly quickly with things like this. Hang with me, I'm not down with all these dental terms.
       I was pretty nervous going into it yesterday. I’m usually not nervous about things like this, but pushing back my gums and cutting them up aren’t exactly pleasing ideas to me. The DDS doing the procedure was not the one who originally looked at my tooth, but it was his brother. Lucky me I was put at ease to see he looked just like his brother. Identical in fact. A familiar face, even if it wasn’t the same person. He had the same mannerisms as his brother as well, which helped. Exact same profession….. all I can guess is they are going to start a clinic together some day.
     The assisting… umm… person, I guess, took my BP and it was 120/70, which is high for me. Hello nerves. So the Dr. starts going over the possible complications, and issues.. Bleeding, got it, some pain, duh, swelling, fine. Nerve damage… what?! I was nodding my head in agreement and I was as relaxed as I could be up until that point. I know the smile had to have melted off of my face and my eyes had to have widened a few inches… or feet. I know I gasped a little bit, too. I tried to play it cool and get back to my happy place and realize I had no choice but to keep on with the procedure. I signed the consent.
   He didn’t waste any time and I was tilted back and staring off at the napkins that are used to wipe spit, and keep shirts clean. Spilfyter. I always subconsciously cross the “l”. It would be more appropriate to call them “Spitfyter”, which is also a much cooler name. It could come in a variety of hot colors. Orange, pink, green, yellow. You’d never lose a Spitfyter napkin.
  Gah! On goes the strawberry flavored topical. Yea for flavored topical. That didn’t sit on long and I was getting some small injections, similar to what I get for cavities, I believe. After those few pokes I was given something stronger. 4 injections of that. The 1st one he said I wouldn’t feel. No big deal. He went on to say “you make feel some discomfort with the 3rd and 4th though” Ummm, 3rd and 4th?! I guess I should be thankful for being numbed up as much as I can. The 1st injection went up unto my gums, not sure how far, and I didn’t feel it. The second was painless as well. Three and four, yes… I did feel. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought. There would be a 5 as well… and even a 6.
   “I might need a 12 blade” He says. Gag… I really don’t want to think about blades and my gums and bone. I tried to think of other things. I prayed. Prayed and prayed and prayed nearly the whole time.
    He gave me a bite block, and then removed the temporary crown. Then he poked my gums to see if I could feel anything. I was totally numb on the front side, but I could still feel very, very, very small amount of pressure on the back side. Smaller than the pressure of a fly walking on your skin. Nevertheless, I was given more of the strong stuff (that stuff tastes nasty). And off to work he went.
  It was about 15 minutes in when I realized the prep work was done and he was actually working. He didn’t give me notice! But I was going to be ok!! It must have been about 45 minutes into it when I started wondering how long I had been sitting there with my mouth open and my tongue dry. I guessed 20 minutes. I don’t like dry tongue, but when I tried to wet it I’d just taste lots of blood. Salty, warm blood pooling in my mouth. Icky. I can’t think of a better word. The thought of swallowing my blood kind of grossed me out as well. At this time I thought I might sneeze. I didn’t, but it got me thinking about this. I wonder if anyone has ever sneezed in a dental procedure. I had the urge, but it was so small and went away quickly. Perhaps I’ll just open my mouth really wide next time I need to sneeze to see if it takes away the feeling.
      So then I start thinking. I can’t remember the DDS’s name. Shoot, why not start with “A”! Here I go… A…B…..C….D… D! Dingy! That’s it. Ah, I knew it was a different name. I almost laughed out loud. I had to control myself and actually think about what was going on for a second to scare myself from it. Well, let’s keep going in the alphabet, just incase that isn’t right. E…….K…….P…….R…S….T… TINGEY! Oh my gosh, that’s it. I am so glad I kept going. I don’t even want to think about how much of a fool I would have looked like if I were to have called him Dr. Dingy. I almost laughed again as I was reciting it in my head, “Thank you so much Dr. Dingy for your work.” I wonder how he would have reacted. Oh, what an idiot I would have been. And you know, I would have said something right then if my mouth wasn’t wide open. This is why I make an idiot of myself. I get too sure of myself too soon. Let that be a lesson to myself. “If you’re not careful, your Tingey could be Dingy.” Ok... it’s not nice to make fun of his name. I'm just making fun of myself. He really was a great, and I’m sure he and his brother will do very well.
    Pushing back on my gums. Spraying my face with water- more like hosing my face with water. I’m sure I lost all my make up. They tried to keep my face dry by wiping it up. But, water must be used with the high power tool, or drill, whatever, to cool it off as it’s grinding away bone.
    I was still nervous and began praying again when there was more pushing. Praying for my peace and calm. I just knew God was there with me guiding his hands in my mouth. I was so grateful at this moment for knowing God. He doesn’t leave me. It was so comforting. I sighed and relaxed again.
   “Can you hand me 12” I was so pleased he didn’t say “blade”. As silly as that sounds. I knew exactly what he was talking about, but the word “blade” just, I don’t know. It makes me think of am axe murderer or something.

    In no time at all he said he had to check with the doctor to make sure everything was looking good. She came back and asked quietly if I was sleeping. I told her “no” and she seemed kind of surprised that I looked that relaxed. She checked the amount of gum taken off, and left. I was stitched up, given 800mg of Ibuprofen and I left. The surgery only took about an hour. I was so pleased. I was given an estimate of 2 hours.
  He asked Andrew (assitant) to clean up my face. I said “It’s no big deal, I can go to the bathroom and clean myself up.” He looked at Andrew and they both laughed a little. Dr. Tingey looked down, chuckled a second and said “We don’t really like to send patients out like this.” I can only guess my face was splattered with blood. I must have looked hilarious. I go back in 2 weeks to get the stitches out.
    I called Joe and had him pull the boys away from the mall’s play area to come and get me. We went to McDonald’s where Joe ordered for himself and the boys. I didn’t eat at this point. We ran around and picked up a table and chairs from craigslist. As Joe was strapping the table top to the van roof, standing in the open door to get some height to tighten the straps, Andy saw Joe’s zipper. He reached up his hand and touched his zipper with the most wonder in his eyes, and then looked down at his own pants  and touched his zipper.  He did this a few more times. I smiled and chuckled to myself in the midst of the cold and rain coming in the door, Alex screaming his hungry head off and Jack asking me about… something. It was a moment of calm and peace in my mind. I thank God for those little moments with the moments of “about to scream my head off.”
     Then we went off to Walgreens to fill my RX. Wow…. I waited 45 minutes for it! I had never been to a Walgreens before. I wasn’t impressed. In fact, as I was picking up my medication I almost told one lady I’d never use them again, I was very displeased. But I didn’t have to, she handed me 2 coloring books for Jack and Andy. Instantly redeeming herself before I even said anything. She apologized for the wait, and was pleasant, smiling,  calm, and not rushed. THAT is good customer service. She turned me around instantly by one little gesture when she could have gotten an earful. I wish more people were so considerate at observant and she was.
    After this I realized I was very hungry and a yogurt was not going to do it for me. I broke down and had a fish sandwich from McDonalds. It was soft…. and easy to chew, so yummy.
    I began to feel much better. So, we went to the mall. The boys played and I was on the hunt for some walking shoes. I didn’t have any. So I went to Lady Foot Locker 1st. And I saw a pair I liked right away, but I decided to look at other places in the mall for shoes, so I left. I wasn’t impressed with others’ selection and prices, so I started to make my way back. I saw Pac Sun had a 50% off lowest ticket prices sign. I had to stop. I picked up a Billabong dress for $2.50. Yeah, pretty sweet!! Ok, now back to business, Lady Foot Locker…. or Aerie. I had never been there before so I looked around a bit at their stuff. Ok, all done…. off to Lady Foot Locker… or Victoria’s Secret… after all, I don’t want to take the boys away from playing too soon! I went in to smell their scents. Mmmmm! I absolutely love Delicate Petals!! I just think I like the scent of roses over all. I’m always trying to find that one special scent I love. One my sister won’t take from me. *cough* Bottled Emotion, Romance *cough*…. *cough* Happy *cough*. Enough. Anyway, now I am second guessing my “p.s. i love you” scent. I have so many smells. I really just want to pick one and be set. I feel so incomplete in this area. I have a loyal mascara, foundation, other make up in general. Loyal jeans, toothpaste, etc. I’m just ever looking for a scent. I keep smelling the paper strip, and I still love it. I think I need to have a Scent Showdown.
  I did make it eventually make it back to LFL but the shoes I wanted didn’t fit. So what.. I’ve got fat feet! They only had 2 shoes in wide, so I went with a New Balance pair. They should last me forever.
  So, I just had the urge to sneeze and opened my mouth really wide. It didn’t work. I guess you have to be nearly upside down for it to work.
  Off to work on the house. Alex’s 4 month check up is today in an hour and a half. I can’t wait to see how much he’s grown. Have a good day, all!