Exhausted and hurting

A few weeks ago I had my 6-month dental cleaning and check up. No big deal.

However I had a cavity on the bottom left (happens every 4-5 years or so), so I went back a week or so later to have it dealt with. The tooth wasn't bothering me before he fixed it, but it has been bothering me ever since.

Yesterday I went in to have a couple old fillings replaced on the right side. Dentist's suggestion, of course. Not something I would choose to do voluntarily.

Upon entering his office I tell him that I am changing his plans for the day. My newly repaired tooth is sensitive to cold, hot, sweet, sour, everything!

After a few minutes of dental torture (spraying it with cold water, cold air, applying a frozen cotton swab to the gums - Yikes!) to figure out exactly which tooth it is, he tells me that he is going to do a root canal.

Apparently when he drilled into the side of my tooth to remove the cavity the first time, he got close enough to the nerve to put it into a frenzy. Great.

Three shots of novocane later and we're ready to go. He does his magic, puts a temporary filling in and tells me that I will no longer have a sensitivity to cold/hot/anything with that tooth and to come back in a week so he can finish it. He gives me a script for Tylenol with codeine, just in case.

And he tells me to go home and rest, take it easy for the day. HA! I remind him that I have a 3-year-old and that it isn't gonna happen. He laughs and tells me to try anyway. (He's got two young children so he can relate.)

The whole left side of my face is pretty much numb, so I leave feeling pretty good. Except for the fact that I feel like my left cheek is dragging the ground.

So I decide against going to get my picture taken for my driver's license. Don't want to look any worse than I have to for the picture I will be carrying around in my wallet for the next 4 years. It can wait a couple weeks. I still have time.

I go about my day pretty much as normal. By the time the kids get home from school, the numbness is wearing off and I'm starting to hurt. I pop a couple Advil to help dull the pain.

By 6:00 when we are supposed to be leaving for the school's book fair, I'm about in tears. So instead of going to the book fair (much disappointment on my kids' faces), we go to the pharmacy to get that script filled - that I really didn't think I would need.

At 8:00 I make some Cream of Wheat because I can't eat anything that needs to be chewed, and I take my first pain pill. By 8:20, I'm feeling a little loopy and am trying to hurry the kids along so I can go to bed.

By 8:50 I crawl into bed thinking I'm going to get the best night's sleep I've had in a while because I'm so tired. NOT!

Doug and I talk for a few minutes. Then I proceed to toss and turn, dozing a little here and there until after midnight. I thought those pills were supposed to make you sleepy!

Sleep finally comes.

Then around 2:45 a.m., the pill wears off and my mouth is hurting again. So I get up, take another pill and expect to go right back to sleep. NOT!

Again tossing and turning, dozing a little here and there. And I'm itchy all over. I'm thinking - great - another allergic reaction!

Doug gets up for work around 5:30. I'm awake.

Doug kisses me goodbye around 6:10. I'm still awake.

Sleep finally comes again. And then Keira gets up early for school - like 6:50. Grrrr.

So I'm awake once again. (My kids haven't yet learned how to be quiet in the morning so others can sleep).

Alex comes in to snuggle with me. Then I finally drag myself out of bed around 7:20.

Keira needs to be at school by 8:00 on Fridays for strings practice. They have a Christmas concert coming up that they are practicing for.

So we all pile into the car to take her to school. Thankfully the school is only a mile up the road, so it only takes a few minutes and we are back home.

Nick catches the bus around 9:00. So he's gone now too.

If only I could find someone to take Alex for a few hours so I could take a nap. :)

But, alas, I can't nap. Too many things to do.

So I will drag myself through the day and hopefully take a nap while Alex naps this afternoon.

But right now, I'm exhausted and hurting.

And afraid to take another pill in case it does make me sleepy this time.

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