ProfessorTomoe

Had my final GELSYN-3 injection into my knees today. My left knee went okay, except that it bled like a stuck pig, but my right knee? WHOOOOOO! Ohmydearlord. Man, did that one hurt. I was doubled over after that one. It hurt worse than all the previous ones combined. Fortunately, the pain has worn off. Both knees are doing okay, although I still can't tell any immediate relief from the GELSYN-3. The real relief is supposed to kick in between weeks 4-6. We'll see what happens then.

I had to take an Uber to the Orthopaedic Specialists on Monday of this week, since Mrs. Prof was busy with cat business. There are multiple levels of Uber: UberX, which is your basic, no-frills transport, and Comfort, which offers newer, roomier vehicles with amenities like water, gum, mints, and even temperature and conversation preferences. It costs about $6 more for the ride I have to take out to Rockwall, TX, but that's all, so I went ahead and scheduled a Comfort ride—mainly because I was getting injections into both of my knee joints, and I wanted to treat myself. As the driver pulled up to my house, she drove right past, turned around, and came back. Odd, but not unusual. She asked if I minded sitting in the back seat, to which I answered no. Right as I was about to put my foot in the vehicle, she said, "No, I don't wanna go to Rockwall," and almost drove off with her rear door open. She was extremely rude. I had to schedule a last-minute UberX pickup, which fortunately got me there on time. Once at home, I complained about the first driver through the help system. Uber apologized and gave me $5 Uber cash or Uber credit (still not sure what the difference is), even though I wasn't charged for the Comfort drive. I assume I can use it on a future ride.

I'm done with the root canal. Turns out to have been less expensive than expected: just around $1570 dollars. Long story. I asked for nitrous oxide, and I'm glad I did. I was relaxed throughout the procedure. I was a bit woozy for a while afterward, though, and I had trouble controlling my body temperature. Neurologically, I seem to be having an issue with my upper left lip recovering from the shots. It doesn't want to do what I tell it to do. I hope that'll go away overnight.

Trump is on TV, fighting for his political life, hyping a raid in Syria in which ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed. Kinda takes away the hyperbole when the target takes his own life by detonating a suicide vest. Now they're going to have to rely on "DNA and biometric testing" to make sure it was him they got.

... and it's notable that most people now are not vaccinated against smallpox, since it has been eradicated. Doomsday scenario living in labs in Russia and the United States ...

I'll be going in on Monday to get my root canal retreated through the crown, thankfully. No new crown needed. Total out-of-pocket cost: $1,811.00 USD. Could have been worse. Now we've just got to figure out which credit card to put it on.

Well, that escalated quickly. The dentist verified first-hand that she got her needle in a bit too close to a major nerve, causing the skin numbness and the jaw/face pain. She agreed with the gabapentin treatment. However, I pointed out a stationary point of pain which she identified as a lymph node under my chin. She suspected infection, but saw none on the lower teeth. However, X-rays confirmed a problem with one of my upper teeth - one which another dentist had done a root canal and a crown on. Apparently, my root canal wasn't complete, and I have an abscess beneath that tooth. That's what's causing the infection and pain in the lower lymph node. She's referred me out to a specialist to get the abscess dealt with. Depending on the situation, they'll either go through the crown and fix it, or they'll cut the crown off, fix it, and put on a new one. If the latter is the case, I'm going to be in trouble, because I'm not going to be able to afford it. I don''t have enough insurance left this year to cover it.

Dental/Facial Nerve update: The dentist's office called this morning prior to their opening time to check up on me. I explained that the pain is continuing, and that the gabapentin isn't helping all the time. After a consultation with the dentist proper, they scheduled me for a 2pm appointment to follow up. I agreed. Why the fark not. She did the damage - let her figure out what she did, if anything.

I remember finding out about it. I was dead asleep on my sofa after a late night shift at 3D Realms when George Broussard called me. He asked if I was watching TV. I told him I was asleep. He said I'd better watch television - something has happened. That's it. short phone call. It took me a while to shake the cobwebs out of my head and figure out what was going on. In fact, I didn't even realize what was happening at first when I saw the north tower collapse live. I thought it was a replay of the collapse of the south tower. It was just too much to process.

She.

Nothing to get furious over, my old friend. I've been inconvenienced worse. It's not like she broke both my ankles or anything.

This pain was not there prior to her working on the tooth (which included removing any cavity material). Besides, the pain stems from a site behind the tooth on which she worked. Three doctors agree: nerve damage. Just have to ride it out.

The doctor has tripled my dose of gabapentin to 300mg, 3x a day. I'm still getting pain when the stuff wears off. The dentist's office called me about the situation. I explained. They checked with the dentist, who said she'd "bruised" a nerve and I'd just have to wait for it to heal. As for my appointment with her tomorrow, that's pretty obviously cancelled. They're going to call me next week and touch base with me about the pain - if it's gone, we'll reschedule.

I've had to set up a new appointment with my regular doctor. The 100mg dose of gabapentin is no longer working on the facial nerve pain from the dental appointment. I'm going to ask the doctor for a larger dose, or for something else that works better. Until then, I'm doubling the dose here at home.

I've moved away from tea for the time being. I'm acting as the board coffee experimenter for the CounterSocial web site's #CaffeineClub hashtag. Some of my recent experiments have included the Primula Burke cold brew kit with different coarse grind coffees, K-Cups with Torani syrups, and illy Extra Dark Roast K-Cups. I'm now testing Torani Chocolate Milano syrup with the illy Extra Dark Roast, and I've got more coffee coming in from Laughing Man. Might want to tune in if you're interested in coffee taste tests.

Was not able to get in to see the dentist - had to go to my doctor's physician's assistant. She consulted with my doctor on the symptoms she saw. Basically, the diagnosis is that my dentist hit and inflamed a major nerve that branches throughout the face. No infection, fortunately - just a lot of irritation and pain. Treatment consists of a steroid shot in the butt and 100mg gabapentin 3x a day for 7 days. I'll see the dentist - and probably chew her ass out - on Tuesday of next week.

Addendum - my whole left side of my face is hurting, and it's only Friday. I've got to get in to the dentist to have this looked at today ASAP.

I'm just now writing about this because I've been so pissed off about it. I went to the dentist the other day and got my permanent crown put on my lower back right tooth. No problems there - that was scheduled. The dentist then proceeded to work on the problem I mentioned above - working on the broken tooth. Or so I thought. It took 7 shots - four in my jaw, and three directly around the tooth root - to get me numb, so I couldn't tell exactly which tooth she was working on (insert tone of ominous ominousness here). After some grinding and buffing, she had her assistant put a temporary crown on it. I went home and slept off the anesthesia. When I woke up, I noticed that there was still a gap in my teeth where I'd broken my tooth. I called the dentist and discovered that they worked on the very back tooth, not the one I was told was broken. They told me that both were actually broken, and that the substitute dentist had written me up for work on both teeth (without telling me). Fscking wonderful. Not only do I still have a gap in my teeth, I don't have enough insurance left to cover another crown. The receptionist said she'd talk to the dentist and find out what could be done. After about an hour, I get a call saying the dentist can do a "build-up" filling for $150 ($75 out of my pocket) to last until next year, at which point my insurance renews and we can do a crown. So, I'm stuck doing unnecessary dental work to cover up their screw-up, which they say isn't their screw-up, until they can do even more dental work to fix the underlying problem. Lovely. This whole clusterfsck takes place on Tuesday of next week. Another seven shots, probably. Wonderful.

MRI Results are in on my knees: Severe arthritis behind my left kneecap. Bone spurs on my left knee. Arthritis behind my right kneecap, not as bad as the left kneecap. Questionable meniscus tears on both knees' cartilage. Decision by doctor: no surgery. Inject GELSYN-3 hyaluronic acid booster into the joint over the course of three weeks. Damn. I was hoping he'd do arthroscopic surgery and get it over with once and for all.

My wife is just now bringing my antibiotics for my foot home. Her timing couldn't be better - I think I'm coming down with a freaking ear infection. Ow ow ow ow ow.

Well, mixed news from the dentist. Yes, I'm already home, number one. Turns out that the break didn't go down into the nerve per the X-ray. It was also in the molar just before the last one, not the last one itself. That tooth already has a treatment plan in place which involves a crown. The break doesn't change that treatment plan: the tooth is still salvageable, so it still gets a crown. It'll just have to wait until my regular dentist is back from jury duty. So, today was a big waste of Uber money, dentist co-pay money, and time. Very annoying, yet reassuring that I'm not going to lose the tooth.

My dentist got picked for jury duty. I get to see a backup dentist in 40 minutes for my broken lower left back molar. I have a feeling that I'm going to completely lose the tooth. Mrs. Prof is away on cat business, so I'm stuck taking an UberX to the dentist's office. If I feel bad enough afterward, I might step up a level and take a Comfort ride back home.

I have absolutely no idea. There's no metal on the floor that I know of. Well, now there really isn't, because it's at the doctor's office.

Finally, some good news from the podiatrist. He found the source of the ulcer problem on my right foot. I had a sliver of metal buried way up inside that wasn't visible upon earlier examinations. It explains why my foot hurt so bad even when I wasn't putting pressure on it. Anyway, he managed to remove it, and my foot feels different already. Not 100% better yet - just strange, like a weight has been lifted from it. I'll be on Augmentin antibiotics for 2 weeks or so, and Mrs. Prof will be putting Iodosorb on it and bandaging it until she leaves on Saturday. After that, no Iodosorb and no bandages. Prognosis is, finally, good.

Aw, @$%!. I just lost either a filling from or a large chunk of my lower left molar. Emergency dental time. Thank God I'm on oxycodone, or this would be really hurting right now.