January 1, 2008

• Driver

  I remember having a wisdom tooth pulled in my twenties.

  He was an Air Force dentist, and maybe he had a quota of Novacaine he was allotted for the month.  I was in pain during the extraction process, and told the dentist as much.  "Wimp!" he said.  So the rest of the procedure was a white knuckle process, drove myself home, then on drugs laying on the couch at home for five days.

  When the dentist told me to come back the next week for the next wisdom tooth extraction, I refused the appointment.  The dentist offered to issue an order (he was a Captain, I was a Staff Sergeant) to me for the appointment.  I told him that he might issue the order but I was not obligated to obey an order that was not lawful.

  So I still have three of my wisdom teeth.

  Then a several years later, and just a few years ago, my daughter had wisdom teeth extracted.  When she came out, she was groggy and disoriented, and part way home she threw up the blood she had swallowed during the extraction process.  A couple of days recuperation, and she was telling her side of it all.

  Yesterday, Pendragon, SonnetJoy's husband, had six (that's 6) teeth pulled, including four wisdom teeth.  Gladly, SonnetJoy's dental insurance paid for most of it; it is a really good dental plan.  Pendragon was nervous about it, but mostly because SonnetJoy was making him crazy because she remembered her experience. 

  They actually went to the same location, the same office, for their procedures.  The same pictures were still there on the walls!  I'm sure that some of the office people had changed, but I think the dentists were the same ones.

  When we stopped to get the pain and antibiotic medications for Pendragon, the pharmacy said it would be over an hour before we could pick them up.  So, we took Pendragon home so he could rest, and not sit in a car for more than an hour.  I went back and got the meds for him, but he was hurting pretty good by the time I got back with the meds.

  I was so very privileged to get to help them by driving them to and from the dental office in Memphis.  I knew where it was because SongsFriend used to work in an office kitty-corner from the dentist, and SonnetJoy had had her work done there, and I had been there for a consultation myself.  I knew the back roads to get there and avoid the construction on the overpasses and freeway.  I'm glad I got to help.

  • 12:18 pm
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