The Terrible Tooth

When it comes to pain, I'm not exactly a big fan of it. I may not faint at the sight of blood, and I may be used to a phlebotomist tearing up my arm in order to hit a vein, and I may be the proud wearer of a tattoo which took over 2-1/2 hours the first time, and then another hour the second, but when it comes to tooth pain, someone needs to hand me a sledgehammer and clear the room.

I've come to the conclusion that I can understand why people go absolutely crazy from something as simple sounding as a toothache. Because it's not just a toothache. It's a full blown war inside your mouth that throbs and jabs and shoots all sorts of horrible pain to every part of your body, particularly your ears.

I was in such agony last night I ransacked my cupboards looking for any sort of medication I thought might dull the pain, crying like a schoolgirl pushed off the high end of a teeter totter as I did. The worse part however was the lateness of the hour and the complete exhaustion I felt after having tidied up the house all day, refereed countless arguments between KC and her cousin Jay - who take sheer joy in tormenting each other for no other reason than to drive me insane, albeit not slowly - and making a nice riggie dinner to celebrate Easter at my house with only the kids, my Dad and myself in attendance since everyone else was either away or working. All I wanted was to close my eyes and fall asleep, losing myself in that blissful moment of head hitting the pillow, eyes closing slowly and that soft, gentle glide into slumber.

Tooth pain however doesn't take naps and instead of enjoying the relaxation that normally is my love affair with sleep, the pain wrapped its ribbons around me. Climbing from my bed, I tried an excessively hot shower, perhaps thinking that a good scald would take my mind off my teeth, only to exit with bright pink skin, soggy hair, and pretty much the same pain as before. Damn! Didn't work, I thought. Depressing.

Long story short, I eventually managed to medicate to the point where sleep grudgingly decided to grace me with a little peace, though it was half sitting up on my couch with barely a blanket to keep me warm and the promise of a neck crink come morning. (Sigh.)