Before I start, I'd like to say Thank you to those of you that took that time to read my last post and make such nice comments about me. While it was not my intention to gather praise, it was nice to read all your amazingly kind words. Now onto another part of my story.
I've mentioned before how incredibly difficult my time in jail was on both my mind and my body and I've been fighting since I got home to get both back together again. Today, I guess yesterday now, I took the next step in my physical health and had three teeth pulled. Like everything I do, this was complete with chaos and drama from start to finish. It started with the insurance company jerking me around with dentists and ended happily with three teeth removed.
I've always had crummy teeth. They're weak and get cavities and decay easily. A combination of genetics and an autoimmune disease really took a toll on my pearly whites. So when I was in jail for nearly a year with no vitamins and poor nutrition my teeth just crumbled. Three teeth destroyed and unable to be saved; which in the end couldn't be removed soon enough.
One tooth had gotten a root canal and a crown a few years ago but because it was so weak, the crown & tooth fell out while in jail. There was no pain and I was broken all the way down to the gum so I just left it and decided I'd deal with it when I got home.
The second tooth had a root canal and crown a few years earlier and the crown fell off but at $1500, I was too cheap to have another put on. I hadn't had any issues with it so I was in no rush. While in jail, I did get an infection in that tooth and treated it and decided to wait to see my dentist when I got home, it was just a few weeks until I was going home and could see my dentist.
And tooth three was crazy. I felt what I thought was a loose filling that started to come out but was actually decay. Within three weeks the entire side of the tooth had been eaten away by this decay. I again did nothing because I was going home in less than a month and already had a dental appointment for the other two teeth.
But like everything else, the best laid plans never go smoothly. I got home and needed to have a hysterectomy quickly so my teeth would have to wait a little longer which was fine I wasn't having any trouble with them at that moment. It turned out that a moment was all I got before it was a problem. My hysterectomy had to be delayed a week because I got an infection in my tooth and it was bad! I took a round of antibiotics and was cleared for my surgery.
Surgery was over and I was healing nicely, and thanks to my antibiotics my teeth were okay too. So I did what was logical, to me, and pushed the dentist off until after the holidays. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how this goes but I will, as Christmas came so did another tooth infection. Again I took a round of antibiotics and was good as new so I put the dentist on hold and focused on my severe anemia and started a course of iron infusions. I needed 8 infusions which would take me a good couple of weeks, so off I went for iron.
By this point it was February and I had been home five months, had two infections but still wasn't in a rush to get these teeth pulled. That was until the end of February when I got my third and worse infection. This time the antibiotics didn't work in one round and the pain was unbearable! Now, I needed to get them out! And finally today I did! I had all three pulled.
I had them pulled but even that was drama filled. I had decided to be put to sleep for the extraction since there were three, in the past I had only used a local to have a tooth removed. When you get put to sleep, you have to fast for 6 hour, that was no big deal my appointment was at 10am I could manage. Only kidding! My appointment was rescheduled to 130pm and I never changed the time.
Now, this was an issue, I was not waiting until 130pm to eat! So I did the only thing I could, i decided a local was going to have to do so I could eat. Lol. So eat I did and local I got.
Finally at 135pm, I was in the chair having my 15 shots of novicane and clotting stuff and saline put into my cheek and jaw. That, my friends, did not feel good! But shortly I felt nothing. I was ready to go. The first tooth came out easy as could be. Tooth two was slightly more difficult as it was the one that was torn down to the gum, but it came out. Tooth Three, that one didn't want to leave Me! First it broke and only half came out. Then the second half just didn't want to leave! The dentist even told the tooth it was being difficult. Finally, the other side was out and I was done...or was I? As the dentist went to stitch that tooth up, he found a piece of tooth still stuck in the socket! So it took a little more pulling to get that out! Then we were done! Finally all three teeth were gone and my pain was gone, at least for that moment. Lol
So far my recovery isn't too bad, more sore than pain. Not too much bleeding and I'm keeping ice on it and taking meds for the pain. It's a uncomfortable when I lay on my side to sleep but if that is the worst of it, I'm not going to complain.
As my title indicates, I am feeling a bit like Humpty Dumpty these days but instead of falling off the wall I spent nearly a year in jail and fell apart when I got home. I know that the lack on vitamins and poor nutrition in jail contributed to my medical issues I've dealt with. And I'm not the only one, several of the ladies I was with had also had health problems, problems they didn't have before being in jail. Incarceration should not mean that basic medical needs are not met. It's not too much to expect that food is decent and nutritional so that inmates are getting what they need to stay healthy. Just another area that needs to be reformed in our criminal justice system. As soon as I get healthy, I'm going to make sure people know and understand what is going on in our jails and prisions!
Thanks again for reading and sharing my story. Let's stop this from happening to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment