Maybe I should have stayed in bed?!?!?!?
As many of you know, after being off work for three weeks with my broken foot - I asked the doctor, and he released me to go back on a limited status starting today...I definitely had mixed feelings about that - a little bit of dread mixed with a little bit of glad to get back to 'normal'....
Anyway - not thinking about the fact that I was headed back to the grind today, I made an appointment to have a cavity filled this morning EARLY - early enough to still make it to work by 8am. Which meant that my appointment was set for 6AM. IN. THE. MORNING. 
[who knew that dentist's keep such ungodly hours? I sure didn't]
So this morning I get up at 4:30am in order to get ready for the day - [do I really need to say anything after 4:30am?] and made good time getting ready. I have to tell you - I cleaned up pretty good for that early in the morning and was not feeling bad about walking back to work after them not seeing me in a month...you know - one of those rare mornings when I didn't cringe looking in the mirror before heading out? Right.
Walking into the dentists office with a full three minutes to spare, I waited patiently for my name to be called and when it was, followed the dental hygienist back to her cubicle. Now - let me just tell you - the dentist is not my favorite place to be, but neither do I dread or hate my time there - kind of ambivalent really.
Today was not an exception - an inconvenience to be sure - and who wants to be up that early to have their mouth propped open for an hour while someone drills and pokes into all manner of sensitive areas? But I wasn't tense.
Perhaps I should have been.
The very first thing that they do is give me two large shots into my gums to deaden things up a bit before beginning the filling process - she warned me with a 'now this might hurt a bit - like a mosquito bite'.
ummmmmm - yeah maybe if that mosquito was born and bred in the freaking amazon! IT. HURT.
She sits me up - and leaves for 5-10 minutes while we wait for the numbness to kick in - at which point she comes back in the room, leans back my chair and begins to drill into my tooth.
That lasted about 1.5 seconds BEFORE SHE HIT A NERVE that was very NOT deadened or numbed in any capacity. I about came out of the chair and she stopped immediately....pulling out the needle again and shooting me THREE MORE TIMES. In my mouth that was supposed to be numb, but wasn't in any of the areas where she was sticking that instrument of torture known as a needle.
Again with the leaving and the coming back in 5-10 minutes. Again with the drilling. And again with the hitting of the nerve that was still not numb.
So she pulls out the needle again and hits me with three more shots. [Are you counting? That puts my total up to EIGHT]
At this point I am beginning to wonder if it will be safe for me to drive when she is through... 
So she sits the chair back up, and leaves again. By this time I am familiar with the drill and grab a magazine to settle in for the wait until she returns - certainly it will be numb this time, right?
Wrong again - after going in the third time, and hitting that sore spot yet again, she injected me another FOUR TIMES...and left me drooling in my chair...
Apparently 4 is the magic number. By the time she was done with that fourth round, I not only could not feel my tooth - I also could not feel the entire left side of my face and my entire lower jaw, including my lower lip.
Once she could actually drill and do the filling without me coming out of the chair due to exposed nerves and the like, it actually went quickly. I was done and out of the office in 20 minutes.
Whew. Glad that was over.
Having made it out to my car, I drove to work looking in the mirror constantly and wiping at my face - totally convinced in the way of the half numb-faced people - that I was drooling all over myself. I tried to talk a bit and had to laugh over my own slurring...if I had been pulled over at that point, it would not have gone well for me... 
My favorite part was trying to put on my lipstick however....it has always driven my sister nuts that I could apply lipstick without a single glance in the mirror - and I have never really given it much thought until today as I was attempting to drive and apply lipstick at the same time. Apparently I rely on the feeling in my lips a LOT to be able to do that - I was helpless putting it on without any sensation in my lower lip - and had a good laugh at myself when I ended up looking more like a clown than a girl when I was through. If my camera had had its batteries charged, don't think I wouldn't have taken a self portrait - it was that funny.
Even with all of that struggle, I still made it to work on time....
But I will save that rant for tomorrow....
I am SUPER grateful that it has worked as well as it has - believe me - I am still kind of numb, and I know that is helping the pain factor. After the shot I was wheeled into the operating room and don't remember a thing after that until I was waking up after surgery. I was surprised that there was no warning before they knocked me out - rather stealthy and ninja like really...
. And then the nurse came in and gave me a double dose of Demerol - so I was pretty 'floaty' [for lack of a better word]. Much better.
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