I have mentioned in previous posts how wonderful my neighbors are. The young man who moved in next door is causing everyone in the neighborhood to consider an updo on their house and yard because he has done so much to his property. His girlfriend is one of the nicest young ladies I have ever met and they are both becoming friends. There has been mutual respect which crosses our fence line on a daily basis. So when I saw the huge pile of dirt on their driveway I knew it wasn’t going to stay there long. (Our HHA is right on the money with sending notices out regarding issues such as that.)

It had been on their driveway for a couple of days when my upper left molar exploded with infection. I was frantic. The infection was migrating up my cheek and causing my my left gum line to become tender and inflamed. It was in the evening on a Friday when my tooth decided to boldly walk the path of extinction, or extraction, as they say in Dentistry. “Good luck in finding an endodontist that was open on Saturday.” I thought to myself. I totally freaked out and dissolved into tears thinking, of course, that this would kill me within a few hours. (I can get a bit histrionic at times)

I went to bed in tears on Friday night and woke up Saturday morning determined to resolve this issue. (Still had episodes of tears exploding down my cheeks, imagining all sorts of horrible outcomes.) I drove to the endodontist that my insurance covered and wouldn’t you know it they were closed. I left a message on two different voicemails for them thinking I would get a call back early on Monday morning. It is 11:30 am on a Monday morning right now and they haven’t returned my phone call. Let me assure you I made every effort in my message to convey how serious the situation was.(I mean death was literally knocking at my door, right?)

Since they were not open I searched my memory for other dental offices which may have been open on a Saturday.(Most endodontics are not) I remembered a dentist that worked at EQ Dental who seemed to live at his office. He was always open and he was an excellent Dentist.Plus his office was actually right down the street from where I live. I didn’t know whether or not he could handle the difficulty of my situation though. Some dentists are only general dentist and do not do root canals or extractions. I figured I would give it a try.

I walked in and immediately got an appointment. The X rays were done and Dr Young came into the room to deliver the verdict. The tooth would have to be pulled. My mind went into a frenzy. I was going to have to find an oral surgeon now. Well I had already been to an oral surgeon but the office was way across town. I called them and they said they did not do oral surgery. Okay by this time I am feeling like I am smack dab in the middle of a Twilight zone episode because my insurance company had told me to go to them for oral surgery. I thought it a fruitless venture to get into a disagreement with them over what they could or couldn’t do.(I mean really… if the insurance company said they do oral surgery they should do oral surgery right?) I was about ready to dissolve into tears again for like the hundredth time in two days when I heard the dental assistant say in a soft voice,”Dr. Young can do extractions.”

“I am like….you are kidding me right?”

“No, I am not kidding, he can do an extraction.”

I was like YES! Let’s get this rotten tooth out! So Dr. Young numbed my jaw and got the tooth out. He was so sweet, he kept telling me what he was doing and asking if I was in any pain. I just wanted to give him a bear hug because he had clearly saved me from dying an early death.

So around 1:00 pm I went home from the dental office and noticed that there were four people trying to scoop the dirt into wheelbarrows from my neighbor’s driveway. It was threatening to rain. I would have liked to join them but I had just had a molar pulled. I had to pick up my pain pills and a mouth wash and then I was planning on going to bed.

I went to the pharmacy to pick up my pain pills and took one of the Tylenol with Codeine pills. Codeine is a stimulant to my system; the exact opposite of what it does to most people. So when I walked in the door, I put my sweats on, grabbed a shovel and started shoveling dirt off of my neighbor’s driveway. Because when a person is inches away from death (probably a slight exaggeration there)and is saved by an awesome Dr. Thomas Young, it is only natural that one would not require a nap.