Friday, August 22, 2008

Jaw-dropping day at the dentist

oh if only my dentist was as wacky as Steve Martin.
so far, i have survived visit 2 of 3 scheduled visits in the remodeling of my mouth (structural, not cosmetic- getting my first cleaning in 14 years, 2 molars restored with porcelain and a nightguard made. you night-grinders know what this is: we get to look like Rocky every night. Such a turnon! the only thing sexier than seeing your mate wearing a big rubber mouthguard is watching them take it out and seeing spit flying everywhere. Oh yeah!)

i have dental insurance (thank you, hubby's job) so about 2/3 of the cost is covered so far, but i fear i may be about to hit a cap. or is it a crown. HAHAHAHA. just a little tongue-in-cheek humor. HAHAHAHAHA
no they didn't give me laughing gas. and dang i coulda used some. my fear and loathing of the dentist outstrips my fears of both new york city and Best Buy. stay tuned to lupusandhumor and learn all Carla's neuroses, one by one.

the worst part for me is the novacaine shot. crap it hurts! i had to get 2 shots today- 1st one wasn't enough. i hate shots, i hate needles, i get more of each every year than McCain has houses. i never get used to it. you're being injured when someone stabs you in the vein and takes out, oh 20 vials of blood. but that's another story, one covered quite thoroughly on my "Sick Humor" CD and in my previous blogs.

Anyway today's visit was 3 hours and $750. oh but they validated my parking, so that was free.

Next time, and I'm not kidding, I'm bringing a blanket (too cold in there), sunglasses (flourescent light glaring in my eyes), a teddy bear, and Joe to drive me because- no kidding- I'm going to dope up on either attivan or a muscle relaxer. or both. they'll have to hold my jaw open. i'll be so zonked i'll have to wear wear a bucket to catch my drool. I'm exaggerating- but this is what I must promise myself, if I am to get motivated to go back for more torture in 2 weeks. I think i've found something I hate more than a pap smear.

When I told the dentist that i had these drugs in my cabinet (ok, bowl of bottles on my counter, not very feng shui, but i never forget my important meds), she looked jealous and said "wow." i told her if she wanted lupus, she could probably get some heavy drugs too (but I don't recommend it). It drives me crazy when people get jealous of folks with lupus ("oh i wish I could lay in the bed and read!"- after I had a stroke! I wished I could lay in the bed and read, too, but i see spots and zig zags all day long!) Point is, if your life is so messed up that you're jealous of someone with a debilitating chronic illness, first of all, keep it to yourself, and second of all, it's time for you to change your situation. Oy!

Anyway to find out why I'm putting myself through all this, tune in later for That's Inflammatory! Part 5
(I have no idea how many parts there will be to this series! I'll keep writing til my sed rate is zero).

3 comments:

Vicky said...

You are hilarious! Yeah....the dreaded dentist. Not exactly all fun and games.

Anonymous said...

Hi Carla,

My name is Justin Guild and I’m a graduate research assistant currently working with Dr. Jeong-Nam Kim (http://www.cla.purdue.edu/communication/people/jnkim.shtml) at Purdue University on a health communication study.

Specifically, our research explores how information sharing behavior through online communities influences coping strategies among people with chronic conditions including cancer, diabetes, lupus, etc.

I’m contacting you to seek permission to place a link to our online web survey on your blog to invite readers and other visitors to participate. The survey is purely academic in nature and takes no longer than 5-7 minutes to complete.

The web survey can be found by clicking on this link: http://www.createsurvey.com/c/70237-Os3LDl/

In the survey, we use the term “blog” to refer to any online activity where you might read or share information in communities such as personal web logs, internet forums, and discussion boards.

The findings of this study could lead to better management capacities of chronic diseases as well as an increase in funding for research related to online communities.

If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jguild@purdue.edu.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Justin Guild

Carla Ulbrich, The Singing Patient said...

Hello Justin!
I have posted a link to your survey on my blog.
My blog has an RSS feed to Wellsphere.com, so it will post there as well.

I also took the survey.
I was hoping the hypothesis was to prove that blogs are a good outlet for emotions, which are routinely ignored, neglected, negated, and invalidated in a traditional health care setting.

Upon taking the survey I'm left with the impression that perhaps the medical community is either threatened or annoyed by the fact that patients can now so easily communicate with each other. Perhaps also afraid that some misinformation is being spread through the internet?

I've had lupus for 15 years. There was far more ignorance and misinformation out there in 1993, with no internet, than there is now. Among doctors as well as patients. I had to go to the library to find out what lupus was, from the encyclopedia. I left there thinking I'd be dead in 5 years. Then I had to wait 3 months to get in to see a specialist before I could get any treatment. Now, lupus patients can go online, find people to ask questions of right away, find a support group either in person or online, and talk about their fears instead of letting them escalate in lonely silence, while their family members make things worse by adding their own fears on top of it all.

I realize this free access to information challenges the culture of modern medicine. Having patients who take part in their own health care and the decisions affecting their health is more of a pain in the rear that having patients who just obey orders. But if you were to create a survey or do research designed around this topic, I'm certain you would find that those patients who are most participatory in their own care are the ones who fare the best.

I hope you will use the data gathered from your survey to empower patients, and not to try to stifle them. First, do no harm.
Regards,
Carla Ulbrich
http://www.thesingingpatient.com