Don't touch me with that!

This morning started with a trip to the periodontist, Dr W, to have my stitches removed. My fear of him telling me that I have to wait another week was unfounded. His assistant, let's call her Ingrid, took the stitches out herself.

After they had told me not to even try to pull my lip down enough to see what was going on down there, she grabbed my lip, ripped it down, and started to attack me with those scissor-things they use. I started to whimper. It hurt. I have done way too much whimpering and moaning lately, but not without cause. I did the "relax, relax" thing in my head and we got through it. She doesn't need stitches as a result. I have been trained in how to cause damage without leaving marks.

Just kidding. I was a model patient, even with the little whimpers. The stitches came out and I crabbed a little about how I obviously should not have had this procedure done a week before a small vacation. They really don't get it - I survived, the swelling is going down, the bruising is half faded, what is wrong? The graft appears to be a complete success!

In fact, it's so successful that Dr W said he might have to shave some of it back. More whimpering.

I asked when I can eat food, and he said I can eat surf and turf now (I haven't had anything really solid in a week). All I have to do is cut it up small and eat slowly. I thought back to the first solid food I tried to deal with yesterday - a chicken salad sandwich. I took half of the sandwich, pulled the half piece of bread off the top, and ate it in half-inch square pieces. Each one hurt my mouth. I ate little pieces of the chicken salad as I could tolerate it. After half an hour, I had managed to eat half a piece of bread minus the crust, and about 2 tablespoons of chicken salad. My mouth hurt, I was tired, and I was full. My lunch companion tried not to notice and gallantly ate my pickle for me. Surf and turf? I think not.

Las Vegas on jello. How exciting.

I asked Dr W to look at my throat. He did, and said it looked just fine. Uh huh. As soon as he said I could leave, I bolted out of the chair, made an appointment for 3 weeks as directed, and slid out of the parking lot.

We had a major snow storm yesterday. I did the big iPod exchange with the child last night. I drove to her new place to do it. Nine miles - took me over an hour to get home. I am not sure how much snow we got, but it seems to be a little less than the 10 inches they threatened us with.

With an hour to kill before my hair appointment later this morning, I decided I better rush over to my doctor's office and get my long-overdue B12 shot. I could certainly use a boost! The nurse who gave the shot heard me cough - and made me stay to see the doctor. He looked at my throat, and freaked. I got the impression it looks like raw hamburger with an infection in it.

The nurse had to get a sample from my throat for strep. That is trying on a good day, but almost impossible when I can't open my mouth very far. She tried once, and I yelled. It hurt, it really hurt. She had to try again. It's so hard to hold your mouth open for something that you just know is going to hurt, but you have to do it anyway. I did it, then had to ask for a glass of water. A Q-tip should not hurt that much.

The quick test showed no strep, but he insisted I take 10 more days of an antibiotic. I asked for a cough syrup. I don't have any, and haven't needed any in 10 years or more. I know the over the counter stuff is mostly like candy. I can eat chocolate just fine, since it melts, but I need some codeine. He agreed, and I asked for just a very small bottle so I can travel with it. He complied with my request.

I took half a dose of it. I decided to take the other half at bedtime, since the directions are every 12 hours, but I need some now and I need some when I try to sleep.

I think I am going to take a nap. This is some good stuff and I earned it. Don't even try to touch me with anything that might hurt me. I have had enough. It was frightening to let my hairdresser near my head with scissors.

Last night I learned that giving someone the finger for cutting me off in traffic in snow and ice is not very effective when another finger is taped to it. I had to laugh, I really did.