The Tooth Saga Part 1 in Still Listening to Spirit

The Tooth Saga Saturday, September 28, 2013

I haven't been journaling lately as I have had too much stress, too much upset, too much, just too much.

I sent Bill to the Clinic. He agreed to go if there was no bullshit involved. So, I called, talked to Val the receptionist, determined that Lynn was indeed there but with a patient. I told Val to give Lynn this message: "Bill has a badly infected tooth. He needs to see you. He says he will come if there is no bullshit." Val hesitated, then said, 'okay'. I told her to get this message to Lynn at the first opportunity.

Val called back about 20 minutes later to say "Have Bill come in at 11:30. Lynn says she will keep the bullshitting to a minimum." I have been giving Bill my Penicillin V 500mg that I had from June for my tooth, twice a day, trying to treat the infection. I made sure to send a note with Bill to Lynn telling her that and that I was giving him 222's every 4 hours. (222's, pronounced two-twenty-twos, is tylenol with codiene sold in Whitehorse over the counter. They limit purchase to one per person. Madame had some and when Greg went to Whitehorse Tuesday, he got one bottle for Bill.)

Lynn sent him home with more Penicillin and instructions to take 4 times a day. She also told him she was going to call the dentist that comes to the clinic every so often to see if she could get an emergency appointment for Bill on Thursday. Madame had gotten an emergency appointment with this dentist for her toothache and it was set for Thursday. The dentist's office called to say Bill should be there at 10:30a, then called back later to say 9:30a would be better.

So, I talked to Madame, I think this was Monday or Tuesday, I forget. She was flying to Juneau on the 7:25am flight Thursday morning and then flying back Thursday afternoon. So, I made reservation for Bill--$250 round trip! Someone had given me the 1 way fare of $124 which I thought was round trip. There was the first shock...but no use worrying over it.

Wednesday dawned with fog almost to the ground, no planes flying, worrying, very worrying because the only ferry that would get them to Juneau for their appointments was leaving Our Town at 3pm. And, of course, no one could guess if or when it might clear up. Madame called me around 11am at work to say she had made a reservation on the ferry for her and her van and that Bill should be there no later than 2:15p to purchase a ticket.

Hub doesn't do well when plans are changed so quickly, not well at all. Fortunately, I was at work and could only talk to him on the phone. He was NOT happy, he hates to ride the ferry, but he hurt and wanted to get things taken care of. I reminded him to get his 222's and penicillin, pack something to sleep in, take all the money we have and leave me $20.

I got off work around 2:30 and went to the ferry terminal, snuck up behind him and knocked his cowboy hat off his head. That always brings him up from a sitting position to a fighting position. I won't say what he called me, but we hugged, I told him I loved him, and then left for home. As I was driving home, the sun broke through the clouds and I heard the first plane of the day take off for Juneau. No guarantee that could happen Thursday so they were better off on the ferry.

I got home and changed clothes, got the dogs and came upstairs. Oh, crap, Bill didn't take his blood pressure meds with him! The dentist told me that if his blood pressure was too high, he couldn't do anything for Bill. They asked that I find out from Lynn what his blood pressure was when he saw her. I told them it was fine and asked if they take the blood pressure in the office. They DO! So, I called Jo at AK Seaplanes to see when the next flight was headed for Juneau. I had half an hour to get to the airport and get the meds into one of their envelopes so it would get to Juneau. The Juneau office opened Thursday morning at 6am, so they would be there to be picked up before the dentist visit.

I called Madame on the cellphone before she sailed far enough away that she couldn't get a signal and told her about the meds.

Now, here is the part where some of you might be scandalized, or question my judgement, or whatever... The plan was that if they couldn't get home on the plane after their appointments, they would stay over at a hotel in the same room, and take the 7am ferry back to Our Town on Friday. Madame suggested this in one of our first conversations about arrangements. When she found out they would ferry down and need a room, she called the Super 8 and got a room with 2 queen beds.

Fine by me, fine with Bill, fine with Madame and Greg. Believe it or not, this is done all the time and no one thinks anything about it. If you have to stay overnight in Juneau and can share a $100+ a night room, share with anyone you are friends with, male or female. Madame told me on the phone when she called to see if Bill had arrived home safely that they had a great sleepover, were up half the night sharing Barroom stories, handling drunks stories, and having a lot of laughs. She also said it was hard to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to get Bill's pills, get some breakfast and get to the dentist as her appointment was early, early. She said to tell Bill that the next time he wanted a sleepover to call her, she had a good time. (Madame worked for years and years at bars as waitress, manager, Planet Hollywood, in the big mall in I forget where, Minneapolis? the biggest mall in the US?) Anyway...

I called the airport at 2pm to see when they expected the 1:30pm flight to arrive so I could pick Bill up. Jo said he was just stepping off the plane! WOW, flight time is usually an hour, but the strong stormy south winds blew the plane here in 30 minutes!

I rushed to the airport and got out of the van. Bill came out the door, looks at me and the van and says "Where the F**K is my Jeep?" I reminded him that it was at the ferry terminal. He had forgotten. He was also still dopey from the dentist visit where the offending tooth was pulled. "I need to get the Jeep" Bill said. I disabused him of that idea and told him he wasn't going anywhere but home.

It took an hour and a half to get him to take his clothes off, get into sleeping sweats and get upstairs. I finally got him moving when I told him he could not have a pain pill that the dentist prescribed until he was upstairs and in his recliner...Whatever the pain pill is, it knocked him out for 6 hours, he stumbled around to the potty and I fed him another pill and he went back to sleep.

I can't write anymore now. He is better but still in pain. He hasn't smoked since Thursday morning per dentist instructions that scared him so bad that he would be back in pain if he smoked for the first 48 hours... The dentist did tell him he had NO idea how Bill withstood that much pain.

The pain during these 7 or so days has caused Bill to be angry, confused by the pain pills i gave him, he was nasty and would argue with me about almost anything. He took Vicodin that Madame gave us one day--2 of them, without consulting me. I had been giving him 222's and I was alarmed! I asked him why he took 2 oval pink pills and he said because that's what I had been giving him for 2 days.Nope, I was giving him round white pills. This resulted in a big argument, especially when I told him to get upstairs in his recliner because I had no idea if he would pass out or what would happen. He told me there was no difference between falling upstairs and falling downstairs. I reminded him the floor in the garage is concrete and Al M almost died when he passed out and cracked his skull on a concrete floor! That made no difference, he was surly and carrying on so I just came upstairs and prayed.

I kept the dogs upstairs with me overnight. They usually go down to the garage around 10pm for the night. They were very confused, even though I brought their food dishes upstairs, and kept telling them no, they were not going night-night. They woke me up every hour and a half with one or the other's nose in my face. I would get up to let them out, even though I knew they didn't need to go. Last night they also spent the night up here and they were more calm about it. Tonight they aren't even questioning where they are to sleep.

Last night, I got up to potty and when I came back Lou was on the bed and wouldn't move. I finally got him off the bed and Daisy jumped up there and laid down. There's not enough room on the futon for me and either one of them. WTF? I got them off the bed and quick hopped under the covers before either one could jump back up there.

Okay, I am done. I am relieved that Bill has stayed upstairs all day today, mostly sleeping but when he was awake, he was back to his normal self, not surly, growly, or out of sorts at everything I do.

The tooth extraction was $300, ferry fare $50, air fare $124. We got off fairly inexpensively. I already know Madame won't let us pay her half the room, she will say "I had to stay over anyway." In fact, she had to stay another night to catch the ferry back on Friday at 7am because she had the van with her. Of course, she went shopping in Juneau, JoAnn's fabrics especially.

Ah me, blessed be, I had money enough to get to the market and get soft foods for Bill as well as food for me.

Yessirree, blessed be!