Thursday, October 27, 2022

 Thursday, October 27, 2022 

     It would have been Mike’s eighty-second birthday. Oh, well. I scheduled myself to have five teeth extracted today. I worried about it. Losing any teeth is sad. Losing five is downright freaky. What will I look like? How will I speak? Will I cancel my tutoring class until I get my fake ones installed? I slept well despite those concerns. I got up early because I wanted to get a lot of steps in before Yvette’s driveway yoga class.

      Another concern was a possible break in my daily step count. I had completed ninety-six consecutive days toward my goal of three hundred sixty days straight. I got up to three hundred thirty-seven days in a row before a problem with my foot stopped me from walking regularly. I was twenty-three days short of my goal. It was heartbreaking.

  I got four thousand steps in before I went home to feed Elsa and prepare for class. Scott was driving me to the dentist.   We could leave at eight, once the class was over, and make it in time for my eight-twenty appointment. I changed my mind and told Scott that I preferred to leave early.

  It had occurred to me they wanted me there early to take the antibiotics I needed to take before any dental procedure because of my recent hip replacement. I called the surgeon’s office promptly when they opened at seven-thirty. No, they would not give me the antibiotic when I arrived and have me sit for an hour. I would go right into surgery prep at eight-twenty. The doctor would administer the antibiotics intravenously. My primary care physician told me I had to take the meds an hour before the procedure. I chose to take the prescribed pills immediately.   

  Scott and I arrived early, and we had to wait. The nurse ushered me into a surgical suite. I got on the gurney. No, I couldn’t wear my hooded sweatshirt; they needed access to my arms. One nurse put the intravenous drip into my left arm; another put the blood pressure cuff on my right. Then, one put electronic sensors on my chest to monitor my heart. On the doctor’s advice, I chose complete anesthesia. I had done one extraction a few years ago with only Novocain. I asked the doctor what he would do given he would extract five teeth. He said, “Total anesthesia.” That’s what I went with.

  The doctor had told me it would take about an hour. I didn’t ask how long it had been when I regained consciousness. A nurse told Scott I was ready and that he should pull the car around the back of the building. They ushered me out the back door. I got a glance at myself. I had two blood-soaked gauze pads sticking out on either side of my mouth to staunch the flow. The pads forced my mouth open in a ghoulish grin, exposing my crooked, discolored bottom teeth. I was a sight.

  It only occurred to me afterward why they ushered me out the back door. Can you imagine the response of patients waiting in the reception area? They would have run for the hills.

  I had to pick up an antibiotic. Scott drove to the Kaiser clinic. I gave him my Kaiser card and driver’s license. He went in to get the meds while I sat in the car. I expected to sleep for the rest of the day. However, the post-operative directions were not to sleep. I was supposed to sit and walk. I did take a nap. The instructions said I was allowed to if I was tired. I was.