Since I turned 18 on February 29th I have been falling apart!!

First I was told about the leaky valve and having to go in for surgery. Next Monday I have to go for an ultrasound on my legs and I am sure I will have to have another stent put in But the worse was the past 5 days!!!

I have a very loose tooth on the lower left of my mouth--my dentist has been waiting for it to fall out on it's own for about 10 years but it 'hangs' in there. On Thursday I started to feel some pain in the gums surrounding the tooth--it has happened before--so I started to take amoxicillin which, usually, clears it up in a day or two. By Saturday the area was so tender that as much as I wanted to eat I couldn't. Now you know something is wrong when I don't eat!!!



On Sunday I called the dentist and left a message for Holly--the great receptionist--to see if she could squeeze me for an appointment on Monday. She called me today and said that I should come in around 2.

It takes two buses and an hour and a half to get there but I made it. Don't you know by the time I stepped into the office I wasn't hurting anymore!!!

In any case the doc took an x-ray and said there was no abscess or swelling--obviously the amoxicillian had kicked in and done it's job BUT he said I should have roots #20 and 21--long story short--i had one of the first implants done back in 1972 and they had to be pulled a couple of years ago--they only last so long.

At this point 1) I won't be able to afford the surgery--sorry, I am not using my 'stimulus' money to have roots pulled--2) it would mean stop taking coumindin for a period of 3-4 days I will have to do that on the 16th for the valve surgery and I really don't want to spend that much time in such a short period without taking the blood thinner. Consequently I will put the 'root' surgery on hold--first want to get the valve surgery done and then see if I have to have the leg surgery done.

The moral of the story--stay under 18 for your whole life!!

PS Though the tooth and gum feels okay now I will be having soft foods for dinner--pasta with homemade sauce topped with mushrooms and shredded cheddar cheese followed by a prince cake that Babs gave me today--now if I only had some ice cream!!!!