Six of the 18 mentions of "pain" in my Bible's concordance relate to childbirth. Must be pretty bad if it would get that kind of attention in The Word. Except the pain of childbirth was used as an example the result of the fall so its prevalence to be expected...but you ask, what does this have to do with right now?
Mom says excruciating jaw pain and abscesses are worse than childbirth.
OK, this is the best news I've heard all day. Almost as good as the good news I heard yesterday, which is that I have said abscesses. (These were caused by a dental snafu caused by a dentist several years ago whom I've forgiven, but if you are looking for a dentist, I will have you run your chosen dentist's name past me so I can screen it and make sure you don't experience the h-e-double hockey stick I did with this lady.) Anyway, all of this started a week ago. I won't bore you or gross you out with the details, but over the course of Thursday through Saturday, it became clear to me how painkiller addictions happen and why some people feel it necessary to have Kervorkians in this world. And my ER visit was blog-worthy.
Saturday, 1:30 a.m., I woke up and noticed my now-swollen neck was beginning to restrict my breathing, and I now not only could not chew or open my mouth, I couldn't swallow. I found myself driving to the ER. This is where all you married people have it made, because you're not having to call your parents
and a local friend to let you know where you are headed. You are forced to sometimes think the thought, "OK, how soon would I be found if..." as morbid as it is. Waking up your parents who are 500 miles away with the ER call is just not a pleasant thing to do.
Anyway, ER guys weren't as concerned about this restricted airway phenomena as I was, but then again, they couldn't crawl into me and feel the sensation I was having. Plus, they had a guy in the next bay (? is that what it's called ?) who had been hit by a car, and a woman out in the hallway who was trying to manipulate them into writing her a prescription for painkillers. My what-we-thought-was-TMJ-associated-swelling was quite low on the list of importance, but they said I did the right thing to come in. Sleep finally came as all of this action buzzed around me and I waited my turn--I had to take a painkiller so I could exist through the whole thing. I only remember a few things from my visit. The receiving nurse had just lost a favorite cousin (How do I find out these things in five minutes? Poor guy.)--he was very polite and accommodating. The resident with prominent lips who took my information kept saying "Very well...very well...very well," which would have made
much more sense if he were British. Rather, it just kind of puzzled me. I had a short conversation with the attending about the WVU/Virginia Tech rivalry and goalposts with hinges (I was wearing a Tech shirt), and he gave me another prescription for pain meds and sent me home. So I went home, slept shortly, and woke up with an even MORE swollen neck, the propensity to cry constantly because of the pain, and the need to see my dentist/oralfacial pain specialist again.
So I was one of those lurkers outside the College of Dentistry yesterday afternoon, waiting for my fix of whatever one would wait for out there. I was choking in the exhaust from all the smokers out in the commons area and praying that my source of the pain would be solved. X rays commenced, and there was the problem. Ah, abscesses. Who can say that having their tooth drilled was the best thing that had happened to them all week? Yes, I can. Who can say she's looking forward to her root canal in the next couple of days? Yep. Anyway.
So this whole thing ate up what essentially became a 3-day weekend, but it made me be still. A lot. To the point where I'm almost tired of being still, and even sleeping! (Did I say that out loud?) In my alert time, I was able to watch The Last of the Mohicans finally and stuff my Team in Training envelopes when I was feeling up to it. I was almost myself tonight and practiced some salsa moves.
So bringing us back to the subject of pain, I was thinking earlier today, with a laugh: "God must be preparing me for childbirth, because that was pain like
no other." And later Mom enlightened me about how the tooth thing is worse. It's good to know that one far off day from now (God willing) I won't be subjecting myself to the pain of TMJ + tooth abscesses by choice when I have kids. That childbirth might actually be smoother.
Praise God! Or shall I say..."very well."
