Pain in the jaw...

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was fabulous up on the Sonoma Coast. I didn't want to come back into the big bad city but really had no other choice. It was nice to hang with friends and cook together.

Monday back at work everyone was asking about everyone else's Thanksgiving, etc. It is fun to hear how other people celebrate the holidays.

Tuesday, I went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I had just been there in May and thought I had a corn chip caught in my gum in the back of my mouth so he looked at it and said he thought I had gotten it all out and it looked clean and should close up. Well, when he got in there this time, it didn't close up, it got bigger! There was a hole in my gum between my two back teeth with something sharp inside (I could feel it with my tongue). The hygienist cleaned my teeth and then took me to the oral surgeon on the floor above them. The oral surgeon looked at it, took some photos and x-rays and then told me he would have to cut it out, whatever it was. It was moving a little when he poked it with is poker tool, but was stuck to my jaw bone on one side. He told me he needed to do a biopsy. I told him to knock me out and go for it if he had time. Gosh, I was hoping he had time, the element of surprise is ALWAYS better for me when it comes to this stuff. I didn't want to have to come back and have it done. I would be sick until then because I am so scared of the dentist. Thank God, he had time. He numbed me with Novocain and then got the scapul and cut my gum between my two back teeth. He pulled a bit with the forceps/tweezers and then showed me this rock that was growing on my jaw bone. It was the size of a tic-tac with sharp edges and hard as a stone. He made sure he had everything by taking a file and rubbing it against my bone and then packed me with gauze and told me to come back in a week for the pathology report. I got excused from work for two days but only took the one. I was traumatized, went home and slept and took a lot of Advil. Yesterday I was still sore, but not enough to stay home. Today, I feel almost back to normal. The mouth heals pretty fast. I am just waiting for the hole to close up.

Life is an adventure isn't it? You never know what is going to get thrown in your path. I love it. I think we have better coping skills when things hit us by surprise, it forces you to be in the moment and go with the flow - at least it does for me. If I would have had to make an appointment for the biopsy later in the week, I would have been so nervous about getting in the chair, it would have been awful. I dont like the dentist, although I am starting to come around because mine is so nice and hot too!

My one regret is that the entire time I had my camera in my purse and I didn't get one photo to document the ordeal. Well, maybe next time.

Keep on flossing!