THE PAIN CONTINUES

Extremely unhappy to report this morning that the pain has NOT been totally alleviated. In fact, this morning it was the worst it’s been. I did have a root canal yesterday afternoon and felt pretty good once the Novocain wore off. Then I went to bed and found it almost impossible to sleep. I’m wondering if it was the epinephrine in the Novocain that kept me awake. In any case, I dozed off now and then, but no long-term sleep.

I got up about 6:00 am and let the dogs out, made myself a latte and moved to the couch, hoping I could fall asleep there. Instead, the pain returned and was more widespread than before. My lower left jaw hurt, the back of my throat hurt and so did my chest. I actually wondered if I was having a heart attack, but it only hurt when I took deep breaths.

At about 8:00 am, I took a Percocet and waited to see what would happen. The pain lessened and I made myself some oatmeal with cranberry sauce and ate. Right now, as I type this, I’m feeling spacey because of the Percocet, but the pain has lessened a lot.

The endodontist did say that when he got into the tooth, there was evidence it was going bad, so he did the root canal on the right tooth. Both he and his assistant told me there would be some discomfort for up to a week, that I should chew on the right side, and that Tylenol should take care of any pain I had. They also told me to call if I experienced any problems. I’m not quite ready to call his office or to go on line with Kaiser. If it returns in four hours or so, then I’ll call one or the other and seek advice.

In talking to other people who have had root canals, they were better immediately and that’s not happening for me, at least for this morning. So, instead of getting caught up on stuff around the house, going for a walk, doing my exercises, I am going to again retire to the couch with the doggies and see what happens this afternoon.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if I had something else going on as well, but aside from the pain when I breathe, there aren’t any other symptoms of anything like strep throat. And, isn’t it amazing how I turned 75, was horribly ill from my Shingles shot that day and have now spent an equal amount of days being 75 and feeling great and being 75 and not great at all?

          This really has to stop. I’m trying very hard to stay positive and not become depressed, but today, this morning, I feel like Sisyphus trying to push that boulder back up the mountain.