saving some for later

I survived! I made it through the dental appointment, and I actually did it without the nitrous (the wonder gas)! You wonder how such a miracle occurred? Let me explain... I told the assistant right away that I wanted the gas. I met the doctor, we went over the game plan for what was to happen, and she asked if I wanted the gas before the shot (you know, the 3-foot long needle that's supposed to help you by injecting numbing solution in the area they'll be working on). I thought I'd be brave, and I told her I'll take it after. She swabbed some of the topical numbing stuff on the area. She actually swabbed quite a bit of it. Enough that when she was slowly injecting the stuff in my gums, the solution mixed with my saliva and started going down the back of my throat. Of course, with the way the table was tilted, it was all gravity. Yeah, I was flat on my back, and I'm pretty sure my head wasn't level with the rest of my body... felt like my feet were definitely higher. You can guess what happened... my throat started to numb up. So, after the shot, she hooks me up with the gas. Little piggy mask, as we called it with Kirsten. I don't normally have issues of claustrophobia, but this definitely was a closing-in scenario! My breathing was labored in the mask, and I couldn't even feel myself swallow, let alone breathe through my mouth. I immediately said I'd do it without the gas. I was so fast with that statement, she didn't even have time to back away to turn the tank on! Thankfully, I was a bit more level, even elevated slightly, when she was working on my tooth. They used that weird blue plastic spit shield (it's supposed to keep my mouth more free of the particles and such) on me. I think I kind of liked it, actually! It made my tongue feel protected from the instruments. You never know if one of those things will go rogue. Comical moment: my arms started shaking a bit from holding onto the arms of the chair so tightly! Almost like a Mom's death grip on the steering wheel when her teenage son's driving for the first time! I almost dozed off a few times, too. I think after my nerves calmed down enough (at first, they were so bad - I thought my heart was going to pound right out of my chest!), my body kind of went complete opposite on me, almost putting me to sleep. I did keep my eyes tightly shut the entire time, too. I didn't want to see a single thing they were doing! After about an hour and 1/2 of working on me, she had to stop. She was working on a molar, and she cleared out two of the canals, but one was being stubborn. Not quite sure on the details, but she said she'd need me to come back again. Then she mentioned something about if she can't get it, she'll have to refer me out. No clue what that all means, but I'll deal with it if & when the time comes.

So, with my mouth numb and my jaw sore, I left with my head held high. I made it through the whole procedure without a whiff of nitrous. Guess I could've had that sangria at lunch, Vickie! *wink*