Wednesday, October 26, 2016

October's almost ober

I know I haven't posted much this month, what with all the long Scripty gig and the moving and the background acting and my breathing being fucked up and my tooth hurting enough for me to get it pulled before I lose my dental insurance and the hubby having a birthday and whatnot. Oh wait, you probably don't know about all of those things.

I know you know about the long Scripty gig, and the move. I talk enough about background acting, I imagine you've put the two and the two together, to know that I have of late, been blessed with a day of work each week since the Scripty gig ended.

But I haven't mentioned the rest, so here goes:

You know I have allergies; I've mentioned that plenty. The working long days in a very dry environment, combined with packing, downsizing, transporting, unpacking, and cleaning have really done a number on my sinuses. Some days I clear my throat all day, with short-burst coughs, hoping for a little productivity there. Some days I cough my fool head off all day, hearing my lungs bubble, and I really hope to cough up all that bubbly phlegm. Yum! And some days, I honestly can't collect a full breath.

It got so bad one day, that as I was walking past the Kaiser Permanente facility, I pulled out my Kaiser card and called to make an appointment. That was on a Thursday, and the earliest appointment was for Monday, but the chick told me I could call Friday morning to see if there had been any cancellations. She also asked, very pointedly, whether I was having difficulty breathing right then. The answer was YES, but not to the point that I was incapable of breathing at all. I simply couldn't fill my lungs. I felt like I was at about 65-70% capacity, which, while incredibly uncomfortable and probably not "healthy" in the long run, would be sufficient before my appointment, especially if I could be seen on Friday rather than after a long, arduous weekend. I did not feel a need to call 911 or get rushed to an ER.

I was able to be seen on Friday, and wouldn't you know it? It was a "throat-clearing" day. Like when you finally take your noisy car to the mechanic, only to have it purr like a kitten. Ennyhoo, the doc prescribed for me a rescue inhaler and taught me how to use it. He was unable to specifically diagnose anything, but his assumption was that I had a viral strain of bronchitis, and was in the clearing stages of it anyway. The inhaler would only be used if needed, and if things got worse, I'd check back in, and he'd order some x-rays. I have, so far, taken fewer than 20 "hits", and you take 2 hits each time, so in the past week-ish, fewer than 10 incidents of needing it. That's good, right?

Except today, I was back to wanting to cough up a lung again. And I used it last night, in front of Stephen, and we had a convo regarding my breathing getting better. He seems to think it is; I'm on the fence. It's not like I'm logging when/where I have difficulty vs. am breathing "just fine". This morning's coughing fit combined with insufficient intake tells me I'm not yet outta the woods. I'm okay, though! Don't panic! Not time to say good-byes or anything! I just need to be back to 100% capacity, and I'm really not there yet. The inhaler helps, though. I'm glad to have it.

That brings us to my tooth:

We got back to California a couple of years ago, and somewhere along the line, I started grinding my teeth at night. I bought a couple of bruxism guards, just OTC, so I could stop that. Then I started grinding them in daylight hours, and I noticed it when it was happening; kinda like "chewing" on my own teeth. Somewhere else along the line, I got dental insurance. So I saw a dentist. Had a cleaning and whatnot. Decided NOT to get the root canal and crown, because rea$on$; got my gums irrigated instead.
Slow-forward to today (or really, yesterday)... the infection in my gums was actually in my tooth. My front lower right molar (you might call it your "six-year" molar) has been infected for at least a year, if not a year-and-a-half or even longer. I generally have pretty good dental hygiene, so I just did a little oil-pulling and maintenance, and if I chewed gum, I always made sure it was from Melaleuca, knowing that it was sweetened with xylitol, which is actually GOOD for your teeth, as well as having a little tea tree oil in it, too (microscopic quantities of a healing antiseptic oil).

But anytime I would chew said gum, if I happened to chew on the right side, I started tasting the infection.Yuck. This also happened a little with general chewing of basic foods, but it wasn't as noticeable as with minty-fresh gum. Also, sometimes chewing would cause pain. Huh; you been chewing on your chewing surfaces, unconsciously, night-and-day for eighteen months and you find that chewing something edible hurts? Go figure.

So two days ago, I made another dental appointment, for yesterday. For an extraction. I'm tired of this thing buggin' me; yank it OUT! New dentist, since

  1. we'd moved, and
  2. I wasn't honestly all that impressed with the one who was so eager to recommend crown$ and root canal$
I was seen pretty quickly by new, local (walking-distance) dentist's hygienist, who, after understanding what I wanted, took a couple x-rays... of Just The #BadTooth. Showed me onscreen how we "knew" it was bad, asked if I was planning to replace it (not today), and then sent the doc in. Doc reiterated what Hygienist had said about it being a #BadTooth, beyond hope or help. Recommended that we remove it! Huh! So the cashiers informed me of what my bill would be for the day (not bad at $23 for the extraction and $25 for my not-yet-used annual deductible), they had me sign some more paperwork regarding SURGERY and all the possible #BadOutcomes, and then the doc came back to give me the first (really unpleasant) shot. When he left to let that take effect, I took a pic of my x-ray and then tweeted "buh-bye"... not that that tweet ever left my phone, but whatevs.

Doc came back to check on me; found that my mouth was sufficiently incoherent, and gave me a series of a few more, slightly-less-unpleasant shots. Then he said "you're going to feel some pretty intense pressure but you shouldn't feel any pain"... and then #BadTooth was outta my head and on the tray next to me, after watching his right hand see-saw just a coupla times. Suction out the blood; apply some gauze; gimme after-care instructions and send me to billing. Wham-bam, thank you, Doc!

Part of my after-care instructions involve eating only soft foods. So, so far, I have consumed a fruit-yogurt smoothie that I blended, mashed potatoes that Stephen made, another blended fruit-yogurt smoothie, and I'm currently consuming more mashed potatoes that I just made. Three days of soft foods. Who's complaining? I'm just feeling a little #Bitey, that's all. And curiously wanting to eat salty things. I would kill for some potato or tortilla chips right now, y'all. 

Also have three days of not really brushing or rinsing my teeth, which definitely sucks. Last night, I soaked a bruxism guard in a tiny amount of mouthwash and then slept with it in, so I wouldn't accidently bite/grind into/over a new wound. I've rolled the smallest volume of mouthwash around and then just let it fall out into the sink, careful not to spit. No spitting or sucking allowed until I get a nice big bloodclot in the toothhole, that will fall out on its own in the next (hopefully less than three) days. But here's the upside: I have not been day-grinding! Just no need, I guess. Yay!

So ... you remember when I told you Stephen was up for a promotion? He got it, and that's part of the "why-we-like-the-new-apartment-so-much" euphoria we're experiencing. We bought him a new bicycle so he could easily get to work at his pre-promotion store, but the promotion was also a transfer to another store. The new store is a good hour-long busride from here, but that's only because of waiting for transfers, etc. It will end up being a really good bike ride, once Stephen figures out the best route for that and time-of-day, etc. When he gets fully settled in, his commute will likely be a combo of bus and bike, variable from day-to-day, depending on his shifts.

But He Started Working At The New Store ON His Birthday. In the past, he'd been the kinda guy to request off for his birthday. I have never requested "off" for my birthday, because I have #FOMO, and if I'm at work on my birthday, you're probably going to celebrate with me there, right? And now, with entertainment being my industry, Any Day On Set is A Good Day, so the only way to top that is to be On Set on My Birthday. Right? Well, that's how I feel.

But anyway, back to Stephen's birthday. Thursday the 20th was his last day at the old place, and he came home a bit melancholy. It had been a bittersweet day, because that crew is definitely going to miss him. But also, he was feeling a little trepidation regarding starting the new gig on his birthday, not knowing if his mom would try to call and get frustrated when she reached his voicemail or whatever. So on Friday, he went to work, very early because he had to catch unfamiliar buses, and when I got up, I called his brother. To chat. About the fact that it was Dudebro's Birthday, Dude. He said he knew; he'd already tried calling, and Stephen would be at lunch at 1:15, so he'd make sure that mom would call in that timeframe. Yay. Nice chattin' witcha, Dude.

So Stephen came home from his first day at his promoted position feeling only slightly overwhelmed by the schedule of when he'd need to know all the new stuff he was learning, but overall, he'd had a good day, and we enjoyed a good meal, and all the things were working out. He'd had a brief but lovely phone visit with his mom, and his brother had relayed some lovely things about the extended family as well. And his new team is a good one! And he hadn't had to get to work from our lousy place in Burbank! Yay!

I hope to get back to a more "regular" blogging schedule; I hope you haven't been missing me too much. Comment here, and I'll reply!

4 comments:

  1. You poor thing. It sounds like you have been through the mill. I really need to get to a bloody dentist! I am sorry to hear about your breathing struggles - sounds really scary. Congrats on Stephen's promotion/new apartment - sounds like a lot of good stuff has happened too.

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    1. If we didn't have to suffer through bad stuff, might we still recognize the good?

      Thanks for checking in... I need to catch up on your blog! I know you've posted a few times recently; any updates on Holly Jr's arrival?

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  2. Happy to hear from you...glad things are working out..looking forward to more of your blogging..πŸΌπŸŽƒπŸŽƒ

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