IHKW Report ... & More

I'm a bit late doing my International Hermit & Knit Weekend report.  In my post this past Saturday, I mentioned that I would be going back to the endodontist on Monday to have the second root canal infection treated.  I wrote that I anticipated a simple procedure, quick healing, & little, if any, pain.  Remind me not to anticipate things anymore.  The procedure itself lasted an hour & consisted of drilling a hole through my crown, through the metal post it was attached to, removing the old root canal filling material, & treating the infection.  The root canal was then filled with new filling material, the hole in the post repaired, & then the hole in the crown repaired.  I wondered how in the world a hole could be drilled in my crown without damaging it but I figured this procedure has been done thousands if not millions of times throughout the world so I had no worries. However, the endodontist filled the hole in the crown with regular cavity filling material & told me I now need to see a regular dentist to have the hole filled with porcelain, if possible.  If it's not possible, I will need a new crown.  Isn't that nice?  I just bought this crown last year & now I might need to buy another one?

Before the endodontist started my procedure, he said he was going to need to numb me (duh) & I asked him to shoot me with enough novocaine to numb an elephant. He stated that I probably didn't need a whole lot but thankfully he gave me a whole lot anyway & I felt no pain during the procedure.  I was not even worried when I heard him say "I can't believe how long this root is" or "I need a longer file."  I only had mild concern when he filed & filed & filed away at this second infected root canal, just like he did with the first one.  It never occurred to me that I would have any problems.

We didn't get back home until quite late (6 p.m.).  I was feeling a little sore as the novocaine wore off but it was nothing I couldn't handle.  The soreness seemed to intensify as it got closer to bedtime & I decided to take one of the leftover pain pills that he prescribed for me after the surgery in January.  I woke up yesterday morning still feeling quite sore.  The soreness turned to pain.  I tried to hold out as long as I could, wanting to take another pain pill at bedtime so I would sleep, but by 8 o'clock I couldn't wait any longer.  I was feeling like my face was swelling & sure enough, when I got up to take the pain pill, I looked in the mirror & the left side of my face was quite puffy.  I couldn't do much of anything for the remainder of the night because the pain got worse instead of better.  I cried & cried & cried.  The prescription stated to take 1 pill every 6 hours.  I went to bed near midnight with 2 more hours to wait until I could take another what appeared to be useless pill.  I couldn't get to sleep because of the pain & at 1:00 a.m. I got up & took another pill rather than waiting another hour.  I went back to bed & must have dozed off for a while because I remembered dreaming. Either that or I was hallucinating.  I looked at the clock & it was 2 a.m.  I decided to try sleeping in the recliner.  No could do.  The second pain pill was as useless as the first one.  The pain increased.  The swelling increased.  I cried throughout the night.  I finally was able to doze off for a little while after the sun came up ... maybe 45 minutes or an hour.

When the endodontist's office opened, I called & left a message explaining how swollen I am & how much pain I am in.  The receptionist called me back & said she is going to try to have the endodontist see me today.  He won't be in until after 11:00 so I am waiting now to find out what's going to happen.

I must admit that I have a nice looking upper lip.  I lost my lips several years ago.  I had no idea it was happening.  One day I just looked in the mirror & wondered what happened to my lips.  Rather than the pouty, kissable lips that had always been there, I suddenly needed a magnifying glass to see the 2 pink pencil lines that replaced them. Sure, this lip is giving me a lot of pain right now ... along with it's friends nose, cheek, & jowl ... but it's nice to have a lip again.  Here I am ... finding something good in the midst of a bad situation.

My IHKW was rather uneventful.  I did work on my sock but ended up taking it apart & starting again.

I turned the heel & was merrily stitching my way to the toe when I thought it looked a little big.  I decided to try it on.  It was just a tad loose everywhere except at the cast on edge which was way too tight.  I took it apart & started it again using a German twisted cast on which is supposed to be very stretchy.  I hope so.  These logs I have for legs need all the stretch they can get.