Tooth Owie - Cont.

Today I went to have my tooth pulled out and an implant put in. Like most people, I really don’t like dentists and having needles and things stuck in my mouth. Today was no different and I told the surgeon that I was pretty nervous. I have to say, though, he was great. I can’t speak for his surgical ability, but his bedside manner, personality, and willingness to talk to me and keep me up to speed on what was going on was awesome!

He got my tooth out in about 20 minutes. Unfortunately the root on my tooth is slightly large and it left a larger hole in my skull than he would like to have seen so he couldn’t put the implant in today. Instead he did a bone graft and stitched me up. Now I have to wait about 8 weeks for that to heal up before he goes back in and puts the implant in. Then, I’m looking at another three months before I get a crown put on. Not happy, but at least I made some progress on it. On the positive side, I’ll probably be able to put together a good “crack addict” Halloween costume or something.

The photos show the progression of healing. The first photo was the day after it was done. The second one is about 5 days later. You can see my stitches are starting to dissolve and come out.

Vacation – Costa Rica

I just got home from a second trip to Costa Rica. We had a great time and for once we didn’t get too caught up in trying to do a ton of things. I think I slept and dozed most of the first day. We spent a lot of time hanging out by the pool or on the beach. Our house was kind of odd, but the main level of the house was open, like a tree house, which was really cool. Since it was built up on the side of a hill we got a great view and breeze off the ocean and monkeys would routinely come into the house looking for food or just to steal our stuff.



I also tried to learn to surf. I did OK, but it’s far more difficult than it looks when you are just learning. Mostly it’s exhausting fighting the waves to get out there and then trying to time the wave just right so that you catch it. I was pretty wiped out, but had fun and even caught a couple of waves here and there.

It Ain’t Cancer – Part 5

On August 29th I went in to talk to the doc and have some blood work done. We had a good conversation, and I told the doc that my stomach was still pretty upset from the medications. I also told him that at some point I’d like to be able to have an occasional cola, slice of cake, etc. He said that he thought that might be a possibility, but we would have to get things under control first. That is certainly understandable.

My labs came back and I was pretty disappointed with them. My blood glucose level was 143 (down from 229) and my A1C was 8 (down from 11.4). The good news is that they were both down, but it was disheartening that they were not better. In some ways, I felt like everything I was doing wasn’t good enough. The reality is that it’s a little bit of everything and it takes some time to get everything tweaked right. We decided to change my meds to something that wouldn’t upset my stomach so much and to add a new medication to help improve my insulin production.

I started my new meds the day before I went on vacation to Costa Rica. I could immediately tell a difference in my body chemistry and sure enough I had a mild hypoglycemic condition that day as I waited too long to have lunch.

I can’t help but be mildly depressed over the whole situation. It could be worse and in some cases I feel like a big pussy. Still, I want to get it under control. I want to be able to have seemingly “normal’ life without having to constantly be on extreme guard with regards to what I eat. When I was in Costa Rica it was a little difficult to find foods to eat. Remember that while I can eat some fruit, I can’t just scarf down on it like everyone else. I also can’t drink as much or snack on things like chips and cookies. A staple of Costa Rican diet is rice – which is also not that good for me. Combine all that together while you are on vacation and it’s a little depressing. We even went on some cruises and to bars where they had free rum-based drinks with fruit juice and I couldn’t have any of it. Rats. At least I had my first solid poo in over a couple of months. I know that may not sound like much, and is probably too much information, but it was a big deal to me.

So I am on my new meds, and I’m still paying attention to my diet. My workout routine has been interrupted by a number of things – got sick, went on vacation, had dental surgery, etc. – but I’m still working on that as well. My current weight hovers around 141lbs, give or take a pound or two on a day-to-day basis.