The first part of October can be characterized by one of my Dad's favorite jokes.
What time do most people go to the dentist? At tooth-hurty (2:30)!
Looking for a more respectable (meaning not so corny) joke, I came across this one:
"Open wider." requested the dentist, as he began his examination of the
patient. "Good God !" he said startled. "You've got the biggest cavity
I've ever seen - the biggest cavity I've ever seen." "OK Doc !" replied
the patient. "I'm scared enough without you saying something like that
twice." "I didn't !" said the dentist. "That was the echo." *
I was happy to be able to go to the dentist in October. No one likes talking about their pain and cavities and root canals, etc. Nor do they look happily upon the idea of visiting the dentist. But eventually.... you just get down to it. My visit took some planning, since my dentist is in Mexico. But first, we went to California to visit with the family, friends, and take care of some important family business. And since Grover and I both have birthdays in October, our kids threw a surprise birthday party for us! That was the fun part!
Afterwards, we drove to Yuma and checked into our motel (low budget digs, but with a great pool!!!) The next day (Monday) and every day thereafter (through Friday) we trekked in and out of Mexico - Los Algodones - for dental treatment. 5 days running! I spent a good part of my week (20 hrs) in the dentist's chair--almost like a part-time job. I will spare you the details. Suffice it to say that my dentist's parting words were: "You had a hard week. You were brave." I consider that to be real validation, and even sympathy. Do you ever get that from a dentist? You should. It's worth a lot.
Once at home again, I spent the next five days bragging/boasting about my brutal intensive dental experience. Why would you do that? was the question people asked. A good question. The main answer is: Cost. One third of the cost of local dental estimates. And of course, the 2 jokes above are the other answers: pain, and cavities. This summer I was enjoying a candy with a nougat inside when all of a sudden the candy pulled my filling right out of its space. Now, I had not really a cavity, but a cavern. The last thought was, how many dentist visits would it would take with the normal, average extended approach? Suppose each visit is about an hour, that would mean 20 visits. And even with 1 visit each week = 20+ weeks! There is definitely an advantage to getting it all over with!
Ok, enough of that. Where did the rest of October go? I cleaned up the house and finished canning all the tomatoes that we grew this year. We went out to dinner for my birthday. I officially turned 65. I decided that I am going to use that number--wear it as a badge. Not as an excuse, but as a badge of honor. Crazy? Yes, but I see so many people start to give in because they're 65+. Surrender to it. Not me. I am going to own it and use it, and keep doing things and trying things. And then, I'm going to tell people that I know stuff, because after all, I'm 65!
One of the advantages of turning 65 is the Medicare Wellness Medical appointment. My family will be happy to know I went in and had tests and medical care. And so far, so good! No worries. Now, I am back to the exercise routine I have: swimming and walking, mostly. Last week Grover and I went out and tried a little tennis exercise, and we went bowling on Saturday. Fun stuff!
For Halloween I dressed up as a cowgirl (Caroline Lockhart, local rancher, newspaper editor, now deceased) and handed out candy at the Museum to all the town kids. Very fun. I'll try to find the photo Dad took.
2 comments:
WOW. Wow. You WERE brave. A week in the dentist's chair sounds like endless torture to me. You did it, though. You have good reason to be proud.
Thanks, Erin. I knew you would understand. Trips to he dentist are not for the fainthearted.
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