One very sick puppy

Hi you guys!

SOB! Coming to you from day 13 of Living Dental Hell. This is the first time since I posted last that I felt like I could sit down for awhile at the computer.

Last time I posted I thought I was experiencing a TMJ problem. Well ... not so.

About five or six days into Living Dental Hell (henceforward to be known as LDH teehee!), I developed a swelling, which felt like the size of a baseball under my chin.

YIKES! I went to the ER at UCLA and the initial consulting doctor agreed with me that it seemed to be TMJ - I wasn't in pain in a particular tooth, I had vague (believe me, not so vague!!!) pain in my teeth - but tremendous pain in my jaw - which was now locking.

But thank heavens, the senior doctor was more concerned about the swelling and directed me to get a panoramic xray to rule out an infected tooth. Problem was, it was too late in the day - I would have to wait until the next day. WAH!

So they gave me penicillin, prescription ibuprofen and vicodin (spelling?), and sent me on my way.

We went to UCLA Dental School for my xray the next day (a little late out of the gate, after the vicodin had made me barfie, terrific!) - I had the xray - and found out that I had an infected tooth. ARGH! This dentist prescribed a different and stronger antibiotic.

Thankfully the UCLA dentist sent me to an Endodontist I had previously been to - thank heavens he was in on a Friday and so we ran over to see that dentist. He has these witch doctor-y methods he uses to determine if a tooth is still viable - the final one is liquid nitrogen (I think I'm remembering that correctly???) and it freezes your tooth. If the tooth is alive, it hurts ... if it's dead, you don't feel anything in the tooth. I didn't feel anything in the back molar. WAH!!! To make matters worse, he says I have such a deep pocket and so much bone loss, that he recommends extraction.

So now we go off to the third dentist that day, an oral surgeon, all the while I feel like I'm dying. The third dentist doubles the UCLA dentist's dosage of the (second) antibiotic.

I have had to keep going back to the oral surgeon and follow the infection, as these kinds of infections are possibly "life threatening". sniffle sniffle SOB

At one of these evaluations, it's deemed that I'm getting worse!!! So they give me two new antibiotics, stating they are bringing out THE BIG GUNS. Sheesh. Sure would have been nice if you had done that a week earlier. :(

All of this is compounded by the fact that I am dental phobic. The dentist office is the last place that I want to be. So because I'm phobic, I can't have the stinkin' tooth just pulled. I have to be knocked out. I can't just be knocked out because I have apnea. I have to be knocked out at the hospital, so that my airway will be protected.



So ... I have to go to the hospital and be knocked out with general anesthesia. Crikey. I'm going on Tuesday morning, bright and early. Have to be there at five am.



Oh good grief, I've written a book, haven't I?! If you've made it this far, thank you so much for your care and concern, I greatly appreciate it (and you)! I miss you all and hope you are having a very lovely holiday season!

Sally