trials and tribulations

So the big day is fast approaching--Monday to be exact, and MAN have I had a TRYING week. I had some sort of doctor's appointment everyday but today with the kicker being yesterday. I went into the dentist a few weeks ago because I was having bite sensitivity in one of my top right molars. My dentist told me that I had a fracture in that tooth which usually requires a crown, but I also had a cavity in that tooth. He suggest going ahead and trying to fill the tooth in hopes that the filling would seal the crack. So that's what he did, and I was told to monitor that tooth very closely and let him know over the next week if I continued to have any pain. At first I was just experiencing hot/cold sensitivity which I assumed was a normal part of getting a filling, but the sensitivity didn't go away. I was honestly just sick and tired of doctors so I decided not to go back. That is until this past Wednesday. I was on my way to my Wednesday doctor appointment (after having blood redrawn and picking my brother up from the airport that morning) when the whole right side of my mouth really began to ache. I had been having headaches the past couple of days but I assumed they were from stress. Now I know better. I got a quick emergency appointment for Thursday morning which I assumed would involve me getting the crown we had discussed. I was quite wrong.

Upon hearing my explanation of the pain I was experiencing, my dentist and hygienist gave each other rather ominous looks. They did an x-ray of the tooth and confirmed their suspicions. I had an abscess and would need [DUN DUN DUN] a root canal. Now I will say that the circumstances I was in may actually have proved beneficial. I have never had a root canal before but have only heard them spoken of with dread, but as I am leaving the country Monday and was expected in Atlanta today, my only option was to immediately go forward with the procedure preventing me from having too much time to develop too much anxiety over the situation. The plans changed to having a root canal then, at 8 am, and then returning around 1:30 for the crown. That seemed simple enough, and I still expected to be able to spend the afternoon driving to my brother and sister in law's outside of Atlanta in order to get to the consulate at 8 am this morning to pick up my Visa. Again, I was quite wrong.

After digging and drilling and prodding around (I'm not really sure what was going on as I was all nitrous'd out, but there sure were some interesting noises) for what seemed like a good while, my dentist gave me some more bad news. "I'm going to have to send you to a specialist." So they stuffed my tooth with something crumbly and sent me on my way. I went home and napped until my mom came to take me to the specialist. At the specialist I got more nitrous, four novocaine shots, and much more poking and prodding and drilling. Finally the event was over and the pain was gone and I thought I was home free with prescriptions for antibiotics, steroids, and loratab. A pattern is surfacing you see as I was, once again, quite a bit wrong.

The problem I was encountering was that my appointment lasted until just near 4pm. I was still feeling rather woozy, needed to fill my prescriptions, and only wanted to sleep forever. My brother's house in Georgia is 3+ hours away with a +1 hour time change. I needed a little extra recovery time, and I didn't want to be barging in on them and their two toddler children at near midnight. So I decided to change plans (another popular theme here). I went home, dosed up on narcotics (prescribed of course), and set off to nap the day away until 3 am when I would then leave for Atlanta, hopefully arriving at the French Consulate with time to spare. Have you guessed yet that even these plans didn't quite work out?

As it turns out, Loratab does not knock me out but rather just relaxes me into an itchy stupor somewhere on the verge of sleep. So I tossed and turned and played Bejeweled and talked to my cats and soon it was 3 am. I actually felt... energized. Then I got off the couch and the dizziness set in. I put my head between my knees and took a few deep breaths and gave myself a little pep talk. I was taking my friend AJ home on the way out and we headed out to the car. As I started to sit down in the car, my head began to spin and suddenly all I could see was black. "AJ, I don't think I can do this." I asked him to go get my mom and when they returned i was lying on my back on the garage floor wondering if I was going to pass out or throw up. Luckily AJ is a saint and offered to drive me the whole three hours to Atlanta. I am forever indebted to him.

Long story short (haha) we made it to the Consulate safe and sound (save for a near miss with a drunk driver...) and half an hour early. Picking up my Visa was quick and easy, even if they did kick AJ out of the building. We were back in Alabama by 11 am, and I am officially cleared to reside in France until August 2011.

BUT I HAVE MY VISA HOORAY HOORAY.
Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to pack and where on earth I'm going to stay when I arrive in Paris. Packing my life into two bags and then having to be responsible for them is FUN.