Thursday August 29 2013 was D day for me. A routine day for me until I sat in Dr. Monty Tolman's dental electric Chair in Olympia for an extraction of a tooth whose infection had subsided to a low rumble. Some kind of procedure for gum disease as well as an implant for the extracted tooth was also planned. After the left side of my mouth was numbed, Tolman got to work with a nasty sounding instrument that was designed to do something good. Then he extracted the tooth and inserted the implant. about 12 hours later the anesthetic had worn off almost completely, leaving in a state of pain that I don't remember having for decades. It felt like an 800 pound gorilla trying to shove an iron rod into both the tooth extraction site (upper jaw) and the lower jaw. I hadn't filled the prescription for Percocet because the extraction four months earlier on the other side didn't require more than 3 or 4 ibuprofen. I took 3 ibuprofen. I found something cold in the freezer and applied it to my left jaw. After maybe 30 minutes, the pain eased to almost comfortable. I slept six hours right after that. Then at 8 a.m. I tried to eat a small bowl of cereal. The pain started again, gradually but rapidly. I again went to the freezer and found relief.
All day long Friday, I had no discomfort. I took 2 to 3 ibuprofen every 4-5 hours. The left side of my face was swollen tempering the narrowness of my face. At 8:30 p.m. the pain started again. Now I had the Percocet and I took first 1/2 a tablet, then the other half. I went to the freezer. Again in 30 minutes the pain abated and I went to sleep again, setting my alarm to wake me every 4 hours to take the Percocet.
Bob Rhoades called 2 or 3 times to ask if I'd be paddling at Ocean Shores on Saturday. Definitely not. Bob very kindly called the next a.m. to ask how I was. Worse, but better now, thanks. Not the first race I missed. I had another uneventful day, in which I took the Pfaff sewing machine to the shop to have it repaired again for the 3rd time. They asked what I was sewing and said it could not sew packcloth--they had no idea what Cordura was. Maybe they're a people, who assumed that anyone who wasn't quilting wasn't really sewing. They actually fixed the machine while I was there. I returned to Lydia's house and sewed some alterations to the Ray Way 3000 pack that Phoebe used in the Enchantment Lakes, including a port for her hydration tube, moving the hip belt lower on the pack and moving the rack attachment web 2" lower on the pannier. I added waterproofing to the pannier's stitching using mineral spirits and silicone, 3:1 .
Sunday night, the pain didn't return. I took the Percocet anyway. It didn't make me feel loopy, just a bit sleepy. I slept.
Things are better now. Today, all day, I had no pain. Sunset Air came and installed windows.
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