Outside The Media. Beyond the News. Live from Greensboro, NC.

It's been a rough few days. My cheek is currently the size of a chipmunk with a dozen nuts in her mouth thanks to a family of bacteria which has taken residence in a tooth in my mouth. I unfortunately had to drive home from Ohio yesterday in excruciating pain as it developed yesterday from the 80F heat my dad had my Grandma's house set too. The stress, and tiredness of the funeral, grandma dieing and the craziness of a 590 mile drive twice in a week may have had something to do with it too. I'm at home now. Went to Prime care on battleground, where I got some penicillin in the butt and some fancy hydrocodone pills which have me a bit loopy at the moment.

I meant to provide updates, but unfortunately... there just wasn't time. Luckily the website seemed to do what it was supposed to do why I was gone and function without me.

So we drove up on Tuesday after a horrible experience which left me car-less at the Alamo counter at PTI. I will never rent with them again. Enterprise came to the rescue with a Dodge Journey, but that almost didn't happen because NC shut down because of 2" of snow. Luckily we got Savannah to Cozy Kennels off 421 (which I highly, highly recommend, if you're in the Greensboro area and need a kennel) and got loaded, and out of town by about noon on Tuesday. Wenesday was the showing, a 11 hour showing which was exhausting and overwhelming, followed by another showing the following day at Little Sisters of The Poor and then the service. I was asked to speak a verse from the book of Wisdom, and while I was a bit conflicted at first... I felt as though I was delivering a message rather then giving it. The service was odd (and Catholic) almost a bit difficult to accept as anything more then an infomercial for Jesus. But it was done. I've cried puddles, I'm emotionally spent and my employer was pretty much as much of an asshat as they could be, ringing me every five seconds telling me to come back to work even though they know I was at a funeral. It's at this point I've officially declared myself in the market for a new job. I'm done with this company. If you can't even go to a funeral and mourn the life of a loved one, that what's the point in living?

So Friday we drove home. I was tired, and exhausted and that's when my face became like Edgar from MIB. I barely made it home, jumped in the bed and woke this morning trying to determine if I was going to go to work. The mere fact my mouth is clenched closed and my cheek looks like a tobacco chewing baseball player with cancer made my family react with terror and fright. I drove to Prime care and they immediately went into action getting me help. I came home, scared the pharmacist at CVS who rushed my prescription afraid that my cheek would explode with puss upon their counter.... and here I am.

There's a whole lot more to the story, and I got some very unexpected things hidden at Grandmas... I'll tell more later, but I've got a lot of unpacking, cleaning, resting, and getting back to life.

Sorry to hear that.

Antibiotics are wonderful things and infections in the jaw should be seen to immediately - it's a short hop to the brain. If they don't have an immediate effect then go back and make a nuisance of yourself. You don't want to end up like Mariana Bridi.

Thanks... I'm feeling fairly well with hydrocodone running in my blood right now.... I'm going to get to the dentist this week hopefully.

When you're up to it, you can haz cheezburger... Sorry to hear your news. *hug*

Thank you.

Damn Liv, you get that checked pronto!

Much love from this end of the city!

I'm so sorry about the loss of your beloved grandmother. Your employer sounds like an awful person. How could they be so insensitive, rude and inappropriate. You had enough to deal with. I hope you are able to rest and grieve with your dear partner and kids. This sounds like a most unkind experience.

I'm very glad you are on an antibiotic for that tooth. Tooth infections are best taken care of right away. Hopefully, the hydrocodone will provide adequate pain relief. In any case, I'm glad you have an appointment with a dentist. They also say putting a clove in your mouth between the gum and the infected tooth is an old remedy for toothaches.

I tried calling several dentists around my house to price a "simple extraction" and none called me back. Apparently they don't want to serve clients who know what they want and can only afford removal. So I turn to my readers.... any recommendation in the area...?

I have tequila...
Sanjuro has pliers...



Sorry for your pain, but even more sorry I don't have a recommendation.

I'm almost to that point....

I called "Mcelhaney DDS" in Burlington and they said $200.00 and it would be a month before they could get me in....

The other place said they take one patient daily at 8:00am and 2:00pm.... WTF?

Liv wrote:I tried calling several dentists around my house to price a "simple extraction" and none called me back. Apparently they don't want to serve clients who know what they want and can only afford removal. So I turn to my readers.... any recommendation in the area...?

Well. I use a local dentist, though whether he'd be what you'd consider "cheap," I dunno. But he has always manged to squeeze me in for dental "unfortunate events" in the past. I'll PM you the name.

I know it's a bit of a drive, but have you considered using UNC's dental school? Their rates on most stuff are lower than private practice dentists. They have an urgent care clinic that you could possibly drop by if you're in a good amount of pain. Many hopsitals also have dentists available, but I don't know if they are called on for that sort of thing. Obviously, call ahead to verify that this is a viable option, but it's something to consider.

Don't need pliers..

All I'm getting is Answering Machines!!! It's frustrating.... I might call UNC... see what they say.

Okay I'm still looking but I got a hold of one SFI recommended... and have an appointment for next week... I'm still looking for something sooner.... but atleast I have an appointment....

They want $200.00 for extraction and x-rays.....

Remind me why I need X-rays?

Liv wrote:Okay I'm still looking but I got a hold of one SFI recommended... and have an appointment for next week... I'm still looking for something sooner.... but atleast I have an appointment....

They want $200.00 for extraction and x-rays.....

Remind me why I need X-rays?

To discover if there is any infection or damage to the jaw or surrounding teeth, perhaps?

I take it you have an abscess and don't want to/can't afford a root canal? I would have thought that an emergency root canal or extraction would be covered by Medicaid. Have you tried http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/DMA/dental/dentalprov.htm

That is an serious condition if not treated promptly - a week is too long.

The X-Ray is necessary to see if the infection has caused bone damage. The infection can weaken the bone which can cause complications with an extraction.

Goddam US health care. When my wife had an abscess on her front tooth, she was admitted to hospital that day, on IV antibiotics and operated on the next day. We did have to pay for the subsequent crown but the infection was treated as a medical emergency.

Go to the Merce clinic in Asheboro. 672-1300 only $75!

Eph wrote:Go to the Merce clinic in Asheboro. 672-1300 only $75!

I'll check it out.

A Person wrote:I take it you have an abscess and don't want to/can't afford a root canal? I would have thought that an emergency root canal or extraction would be covered by Medicaid. Have you tried http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/DMA/dental/dentalprov.htm

That is an serious condition if not treated promptly - a week is too long.

The X-Ray is necessary to see if the infection has caused bone damage. The infection can weaken the bone which can cause complications with an extraction.

Goddam US health care. When my wife had an abscess on her front tooth, she was admitted to hospital that day, on IV antibiotics and operated on the next day. We did have to pay for the subsequent crown but the infection was treated as a medical emergency.

Right now I make too much money for state health-care... but my employer is currently trying to fix that... if that happens... I plan to apply...

Yeah I don't have dental insurance... so everything has to be in cash... I'm pretty sure they're my wisdom teeth as they're the furthest back ones.... and from Wikipedia, infection is common....

I looked up my HMO and they only cover dental if it's accidental... apparently good old fashion tooth decay isn't.

I've been really tempted to take some vice-grip pliers and have a go at it, but quite frankly I'm scared of doing damage....

Wisdom teeth.. yeah, that extraction cost me like 3 or 5k I think. Nothing to mess with. Those roots go down FAR and attach to a very major nerve cluster. Try to extract yourself, and you could lose all feeling in your jaw, tongue, sense of taste or all of the above up to and including death (because you'd never get it all). I had my sockets get infected after the surgical extraction and it felt like ice picks being driven into my eyeballs. Get to whoever will see you pronto.

A Person wrote:

Goddam US health care.

Quoted for truth.

Liv wrote:I'm almost to that point....

I called "Mcelhaney DDS" in Burlington and they said $200.00 and it would be a month before they could get me in....

The other place said they take one patient daily at 8:00am and 2:00pm.... WTF?

FRAK!!!! I HAD an appointment with Dr McElhaney today but I called yesterday to cancel it! I would have sent you there in my place!

Drs SFI, Sanjuro, and Serendipitous at your service!

Yeah the 'intelligently designed' human dentition system is such marvel of perfection.

I'd second the pronto bit. Don't wait a week just to save a buck (or several hundred), it's not a vacation - indeed cancel next years vacation.

Cancel the kid's college education fund too. If they're any good they'll get a scholarship.

Well I still have the appointment for next week... Shannon tried calling around while frankly I went into a coma this afternoon on the couch, but had no luck.... I'm a bit lucid right now, and tried to eat some gumbo concoction Shannon made for me so I didn't have to chew much.... It's the first thing I've ate in awhile...

I'm going to continue to try tomorrow, and see if I can find someone....

Liv wrote:Well I still have the appointment for next week... Shannon tried calling around while frankly I went into a coma this afternoon on the couch, but had no luck.... I'm a bit lucid right now, and tried to eat some gumbo concoction Shannon made for me so I didn't have to chew much.... It's the first thing I've ate in awhile...

I'm going to continue to try tomorrow, and see if I can find someone....

I hope you can get in somewhere tomorrow. Dental infections can be really really dangerous. I'll not tell you any horror stories I've heard...