As simple as possible, but no simpler
Jul. 26th, 2023 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brin_bellway[cw: medical, illness, drugs]
I had a dental checkup today.
(I called first and asked if they still wanted me to come in, given the sick household member. Not only did the receptionist say yes, she seemed surprised that I would even ask the question, that of *course* that wasn't cause to postpone. And when I walked in wearing a KF94, she assured me that I was not required to mask. (As if I were doing it for *her* sake. Her safety is a very nice bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.)
...also they've removed the air purifier from the waiting room, which concerned me. I was very relieved to see that the two large purifiers in the patient room, where it really counts, were still there and running.)
No cavities. The lower-left wisdom tooth continues to be slowly fucking up my gum, in a way where dealing with it remains postponeable on a scale of months but not of years.
It's a safe bet at this point that I'm not going to have dental insurance on a scale of months.
I said to get it over with. I'll be going in next Tuesday. If I'm well next Tuesday, which is a big if.
---
Part of me is wondering why the fuck I did this to myself when I am under more than enough stress right now already.
(what if I have asymptomatic COVID on Tuesday, and my body has to divert resources to healing a mouth wound that it cannot, actually, afford to lose)
(At least--unlike, perhaps, COVID-19--they're *not* planning to fuck up my brain except in a way I already know I handle well. I'm not going to be one of those fucking horror stories that people tell like they're funny, of people's souls torn open and the sanctity of their dreams violated.)
((A flash of memory from this morning: walking into the house's one and only bathroom wearing a P100, taking a deep breath and contemplating. 'This air is mine', I thought. 'Mine, and no one else's. As private as a dream, and as safe.'))
Dad was a bit huffy when I updated him on my plans, apparently under the impression that they were tricking me into an unnecessary surgery because I'm not--yet--having subjective problems from the wisdom tooth (though upon close inspection, closer than I can manage on my own (with it being so far back), there is a noticeable separation of the gum from the tooth just in front of it).
But I've had nine months to come to terms with this, and years before that of wondering during every little toothache: "is this it? is today the day my wisdom teeth become an emergency?"
(or will it be later, perhaps in a place and time when I have *less* access to dental care than I do now)
Better to decide for myself when it happens, rather than let Nature pick a time. At least for this tooth, anyway: I'll reassess whether to pull the other three if Ontario actually follows through on their claims that they're going to start covering dental in 2025 (I'll believe it when I see it), or perhaps if an employer does (although it would be much more hassle while working 5 days a week instead of 2, which is another point in favour of doing this one now).
Every surgery carries risks, but absence-of-surgery can carry risks too.
One should have as little contact with the medical system as possible, but no less.
I had a dental checkup today.
(I called first and asked if they still wanted me to come in, given the sick household member. Not only did the receptionist say yes, she seemed surprised that I would even ask the question, that of *course* that wasn't cause to postpone. And when I walked in wearing a KF94, she assured me that I was not required to mask. (As if I were doing it for *her* sake. Her safety is a very nice bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.)
...also they've removed the air purifier from the waiting room, which concerned me. I was very relieved to see that the two large purifiers in the patient room, where it really counts, were still there and running.)
No cavities. The lower-left wisdom tooth continues to be slowly fucking up my gum, in a way where dealing with it remains postponeable on a scale of months but not of years.
It's a safe bet at this point that I'm not going to have dental insurance on a scale of months.
I said to get it over with. I'll be going in next Tuesday. If I'm well next Tuesday, which is a big if.
---
Part of me is wondering why the fuck I did this to myself when I am under more than enough stress right now already.
(At least--unlike, perhaps, COVID-19--they're *not* planning to fuck up my brain except in a way I already know I handle well. I'm not going to be one of those fucking horror stories that people tell like they're funny, of people's souls torn open and the sanctity of their dreams violated.)
((A flash of memory from this morning: walking into the house's one and only bathroom wearing a P100, taking a deep breath and contemplating. 'This air is mine', I thought. 'Mine, and no one else's. As private as a dream, and as safe.'))
Dad was a bit huffy when I updated him on my plans, apparently under the impression that they were tricking me into an unnecessary surgery because I'm not--yet--having subjective problems from the wisdom tooth (though upon close inspection, closer than I can manage on my own (with it being so far back), there is a noticeable separation of the gum from the tooth just in front of it).
But I've had nine months to come to terms with this, and years before that of wondering during every little toothache: "is this it? is today the day my wisdom teeth become an emergency?"
(or will it be later, perhaps in a place and time when I have *less* access to dental care than I do now)
Better to decide for myself when it happens, rather than let Nature pick a time. At least for this tooth, anyway: I'll reassess whether to pull the other three if Ontario actually follows through on their claims that they're going to start covering dental in 2025 (I'll believe it when I see it), or perhaps if an employer does (although it would be much more hassle while working 5 days a week instead of 2, which is another point in favour of doing this one now).
Every surgery carries risks, but absence-of-surgery can carry risks too.
One should have as little contact with the medical system as possible, but no less.
