I'm still not totally feeling 100%, still have some pain, so I may still disappear from time to time over the next few days or the week. But the good news is... the dentist was able to save the bigger part of my tooth, do the root canal, and build up the tooth attached to my own.
When I went to the dentist on Monday and he did the first stage of the root canal... drilling, filing, x-rays to make sure he didn't miss anything, filling it with medication and a temporary filling... the freezing he did on it worked so well that I never felt anything at all. However, the freezing lasted for 6 - 6 1/2 hours before it finally wore off. I just took a couple of extra-strength Tylenol along with my anti-biotic to clear up the infection further.
Tuesday, it began to hurt a lot more, but I dealt with it... however Wednesday morning I was awake at 5:30 AM absolutely sobbing in pain. I
*tried* to put up with it as long as I could, but ended up calling the dentist for some Demerol (the painkiller that I had been given in the hospital before, and it worked). Because it is VERY addictive, he prescribed only 5 pills for me. I took one at about 5:30 PM (had to wait until I was not going to be behind the wheel of a vehicle)... but because I was already in such extreme pain at that point, it didn't really take effect. I waited five hours and took another one (along with the anti-biotics of course)... and a half hour later because my head was throbbing too, I took a couple of extra-strength Tylenol. It took that time, and knocked me out for a couple of hours on the sofa. I was still okay when I headed off to bed, *and* when I got up in the morning.My dental appointment on Thursday was at 12:00, so I was glad that I wasn't in pain because I wouldn't have been able to take another Demerol because I had to drive. I was fine that morning... went to my appointment where the dentist completed the root canal (removing the temporary filling and cleaning out the medication, then refilling it with the permanent filling and rebuilding onto my existing tooth). It looks great (white filling, so it looks like a normal tooth instead of metal)... but as he told me it would still be very tender for a while and he added "And having Fibromyalgia, it will take a bit longer than most people for it to not hurt anymore... so just take it easy." The freezing didn't last half as long after that appointment... but everything still felt okay after the freezing went away... so I just dealt with the pain that was there with the extra-strength Tylenol and anti-biotics rather than use any Demerol.
Yesterday (Matthew had the day off and decided (and needed... strange things have been happening here) to spend the day with his best friend just hanging out and having fun like they used to), I drove Matthew to the city, picked up his best friend and did a couple of chores. Then I drove them to a bowling alley (where I used to bowl every Sunday years ago), where Matthew bowled for the very first time. They played three games, and he actually won the second game after finally getting used to the moves and controlling the twist in his wrist when he released the ball. They had a lot of fun, and I had fun watching them too. Someday (when I'm feeling strong and flexible enough... I do have some good days) I want to bowl again too.... of course Kyle (Matthew's best friend) said "Uh huh, and you'll likely be flat on your back for the next week afterward too. LOL Won't know if I don't try though. ;o)
After their bowling they took me to a fish n chips restaurant where we also had fun goofing around amongst ourselves between the waitress coming around to check on us. Then I dropped the boys off at the mall where they were going to do whatever and then head off to shoot pool for a while before going back to Kyle's place to play computer games, and I headed home. By the time I got home my face was killing me (and not in the way my sister says it if I say I have a headache "Yeah? How's your face? It's killing me!" LOL Family... you gotta love em!) so I took a couple of extra-strength Tylenol, an anti-biotic, and a HALF a Demerol (I only had three left, and they are quite strong). I put my pajamas on and snuggled under an afghan on the sofa to watch TV with the phone beside me (Matthew was going to phone later... about a half hour before he wanted me to pick him up), and I proceeded to zonk out.
When I woke up it was about 8:30 PM, and I was still feeling really bad with my face still hurting (but not *quite* as much as earlier). I knew that I needed to take the other half pill, but then I wouldn't be able to drive... so I called Kyle's and asked if Matthew could possibly stay there for the night (he works a half day today) and I would pick him up today after work. They told me it was no problem and that I should take my medication and rest... which I did. I took the other half Demerol (those little things taste REALLY gross, by the way), a couple of extra-strength Tylenol, and an anti-biotic with water, then had two cups of tea while snuggling on the sofa watching TV. Didn't actually fall asleep that time, but my face settled down a lot... and then about 1 AM when I had another 1/2 hour show that I wanted to see, I took the last anti-biotic for the day and the Tylenol... but no Demerol this time. I watched the 1/2 hour show, and then headed off to bed where I slept through until almost 9 AM this morning.
It's 2 PM now and I still haven't had much pain (it's there, but *barely*, and tolerable), so I've just been doing the Tylenol and anti-biotics today. I still have two Demerol pills left, which I won't use unless I really have to for extreme pain... and then only half at a time.
In any case, I was thinking about it last night and wondering if the extreme pain that I felt yesterday (but not the day before after the completion of the root canal) might have been aggrevated by the chewing while I was eating in the fish n chips restaurant? Afterall, it was the first really solid food I'd had in over a week, and although I didn't (and won't) chew on the right side, just the movement of the jaw that hadn't been needed in over a week *may* have done something to wake up the nerves in the affected area.
*shrug* Just a thought.Okay, ramble over.... see, I did tell you that when I came back you wouldn't be able to shut me up! LOL
Gemini