Thursday Thoughts # 94

from A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness:
" These days vampires gravitated towards particle accelerators, projects to decode the genome, and molecular biology. Once they had flocked to alchemy, anatomy and electricity. If it went bang, involved blood, or promised to unlock the secrets of the universe, there was sure to be a vampire around."

'Red Reddington' (The Blacklist): "never underestimate the power of glitter"
'Red':  "I don't need visas, passports, travel documents. give me a bug-out bag and fifteen seconds and I'm on my way to anywhere in the world."

ME: wouldn't that be great? Pick up the phone, say 'I need to travel' and a car pulls up ready to take you to your own private jet to anywhere. Just like on TV.


from Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor:
"Now I've seen everything," she thought. 'The 'Shadows That Live' doing chicken impressions."

from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor:
"Humans have gotten glimpses of things over time," he'd said. "Just enough to make the rest up. It's all been a quilt of fairy tales with a patch here and there of truth."

Today's Thought:

Last night I watched Today Tonight, our local current affairs program and they featured painkillers and how easy it is to become addicted to them. They mentioned Nurofen Plus,  and Panadeine. 
Then they went to an ad break. What were they advertising? Nurofen Plus. and a little later in the same break, Voltaren, also a pain killer with anti-inflammatory properties.

Is it only me that thinks that was a little inappropriate?  
Just like when they show articles on healthy eating and the importance of consuming much more fruits and vegetables, then showing advertisements for MacDonald's burger meals.

In other news, I may have mentioned, last year, that my dentist was taking time off to have a baby. She had a little boy and is now back at work. I saw her several weeks ago for a check up, then a small filling, I'm pretty sure I mentioned this a while ago, and again this npast Tuesday to prepare a molar for a crown. The tooth was cracked and the filling was too, so a new crown is to prevent it becoming infected and/or breaking up and crumbling away.
I now have a temporary crown in place, with the permanent one being fitted in two weeks.
Prior to all this work, I'd last seen Dr S  in July and August of 2015 to have a couple of crowns fitted on my front teeth, where I'd had off and on toothache for years. I'd had root canal treatments on them, so they were now dead and badly discoloured.

I'm happy to say that since the 2015 visits, I have not had any toothache at all. 

A FULL YEAR WITH NO TOOTHACHE!!

This is after having multiple episodes of pain and infections resulting in many root canals over the last thirty years. You've heard me tell the story -I go to the dentist, he says 'I can't see any reason for your pain'- and sends me home, then the tooth becomes a raging inferno and so on and so on. 

It's really nice to have a dentist that knows my teeth, knows me, and works up a treatment plan, with costs,  for the receptionist to print out, so I can take it home and start saving for the work. Dr S indicates which of the teeth needs to be done first and that's the cost I start putting money aside for.

Comments

  1. Toothache is the most horrible pain. Of course it is absurd that you have to save money to attend a dentist but at least you are a satisfied patient.

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  2. Andrew; it helps that I now have dental cover with my health insurance. And in the past I've been allowed to pay off treatment on a weekly basis. My poor teeth were inherited from my mother.

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  3. If you are truly in pain, you don't get addicted to painkillers because they stop the damn pain. What people get addicted to is the feeling of floating and if they're floating they didn't have pain. I hate taking the strong painkillers, they tend to clog up the innards but after a pinched nerve in the spine, I couldn't get the bottle open fast enough. Worst pain ever. Voltaren gel does help the fingers and calms the two hot spots on my spine. Ice packs are also good but even I couldn't handle them this winter.
    I too have some health cover for dental so don't have to mortgage the house when I see her.

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  4. JahTeh; I remember feeling fabulous after a dose of morphine at the hospital after my hysterectomy, at the time I thought, "no wonder people get addicted to this stuff". But I never felt the need for anymore.
    I really believe a person has to have an 'addictive' gene. Think about people who give up one addiction only to switch to another. And all the people addicted to smoking or drinking when thousands of others who also smoke or drink, but only on social occasions, and are able to leave cigarettes and alcohol alone the rest of the time. They'd be the ones who don't have an 'addictive' gene.
    Pinched nerves are the worst, worse than a muscle spasm in the lower/mid back.

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  5. I have not long ago read A Discovery of Witches too. And suspect I will track the others in the series down.
    Sigh on the pain front. I would be more than happy if I could convince a doctor to prescribe something which did more than take the edge of my pain. They wont, because of the potential for addiction.
    I have also noticed just how often the ads are inappropriate to the program they appear in.
    And I am very, very glad that you have had a year free of dental pain.

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  6. Elephant's Child; life is pretty wonderful when you can open your mouth without worrying that cold winds will hit a nerve. I think I've smiled more in the last year than I have in the previous twenty.
    A discovery of Witches is great, right?
    Sorry to hear of your pain, that 'taking the edge off' just isn't enough, which is why I used to double the OTC stuff when I had to be standing up so long at work. It was a relief to quit that job. I rarely take anything now.

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  7. After taking hydrocodone for a year prior to my hip replacement surgery, I thought I could just stop taking them. WRONG. Had the most awful withdrawal and learned I needed to wean myself off slowly. I know why people become addicted. How funny that the same drugs were advertised on the program telling people to beware of them.

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    Replies
    1. Granny Annie; I'm lucky to not get addicted to stuff. I love what I take, but once the pain is gone, I don't need it, and don't get any withdrawal. The box recommends not taking it for more than three days, and I never take even more than one dose. It makes me sleepy and when I wake up, my pain is gone.
      TV needs proof reading I think, to be sure ads don't clash with programming.

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  8. Dental insurance is great if you can start out life with it and continue without interruption of genetics, finances or accident.

    I have problems with pain pills, so I don't use them. BUT when I had shingles, I went looking in my husband's medicines when my pills ran out. Side effects be damned. (I was in bed anyway) When the shingle pain went away almost 5 weeks later, I was never so relieved in my life! The shingle pain was every bit as bad as an abscessed tooth's pain - only on a larger scale.

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    Replies
    1. S.J.Qualls; I never had health insurance until several years ago, I can't afford the premiums, so my daughter pays for me (thank you K). I'm otherwise healthy apart from teeth and needing glasses, so don't need to use the insurance too much.
      Shingles sounds terribly painful, I've heard stories in the past it's the nerve inflammation version of chicken pox.

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  9. I really like the quote from Daughter of Smoke and Bone "quilt of fairy tales with a patch here and there of truth.

    I agree with you that surely some people are just predisposed to having addiction issues. I have never taken a prescription pain med so I can't speak to how it makes one feel but the idea of having on-going pain makes me sympathetic.

    As for advertising...that gets me as well that I will be watching a program about diet and exercise then a "all you can eat" buffet at Cici's pizza or something like that comes on. Some how seems counter productive.

    I have only had one tooth ache (for a very short duration of time) that resulted in a root canal. That and one filling are the extent of my dental dealings. The very thought of an ongoing pain as you described sounds awful. I am happy for you that you have a dentist that is working with you both from a "keeping the pain away" perspective but a keeping you informed from a monetary prospective.

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    Replies
    1. Cheryl; Daughter of Smoke and Bone is book one in a trilogy by Laini Taylor and they're excellent reading.
      I've had prescription pain meds in the past but didn't feel the need to continue them once the pain was gone. It eventually returned, as back pain always does, but I manage it with rest, hot water bottles and OTC pills; the episodes are far fewer now I'm not working.
      Counter productive! That's the phrase I was searching for and couldn't find.
      I love my dentist and she's much younger than me, so I'm not worried about her retiring before my teeth are finished. Although I do wonder if 'finished' will ever happen. I've had eight root canals in the last twenty years and a couple of extractions; which makes me very glad my children inherited strong teeth from their father's side. No troubles there.

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  10. How smart some people are that they can tell you you're not in pain when it is you who is feeling the pain, not them!!

    I miss Red!

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  11. I know the feeling with the teeth! I always have one giving me problems. Soft teeth that are easily cavity prone. I have to get prices for each procedure and save money. Sux. This results in me going ONLY when I cant take the pain any more.

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