Another First.

Well that went better than I thought it would.  

Yesterday I was eating lunch when all of the sudden it felt as if I was chewing on a bunch of sand. I spit out what was in my mouth and there was the remains of what once was a filling I had in one of my teeth.

So I started searching around with my tongue trying to find it. 

Hoping that it was just a filling and not part of the tooth. 

Hoping that it was one of my lower teeth. 

Hoping that there would not be any piercing pain when I found it.

Well as the Meat Loaf song goes, two out of three ain’t bad.

First, there was no sharp areas around the tooth, so from what I could tell it was just a filling that had popped out. Second there was no pain. It was shallow and no nerve ending were exposed. I even went so far as to drink a cold beer or two later in the day and there was still no pain. All good. 

The bad news was that it was an upper molar. 

Now I am not a big fan of dentists. I have had a few root canals in my time and have had my share of both good and bad experiences in dentist offices. So I wouldn't go as far as saying that there was a fear of going to the dentist...  Actually, yea fear is good word to use. 

We have been going to the same dentist for a while now. He knows about my surgery and knows that my head cannot go below the rest of my body for any extended period of time. I mean normally, if it is an upper tooth, it feels like they just turn you upside down and go to work. They couldn't do that with me anymore. And since this would be my first dental work since having my surgery I was concerned on how it would go. 

The only thing Dr. B said when he came in the room was “Really? You couldn’t have lost one of the lower fillings?”. He then smiled and told me not to worry. He was pretty sure he could get at it without tipping me on my head. It was just a matter of adjusting the chairs around a bit and we would be fine.

In the end I think it took them more time to get us all situated in positions that would allow him to get at the tooth, than it did to actually fix the tooth.

I was in and out in about 35 minutes and all I can say is that there was no pain which is always nice.

Thanks Dr. B!

Welcome to my nightmare!

I think you're gonna like it!

I think you're gonna feel you belong!

We sweat and laugh and scream here!

'Cause life is just a dream here!

You know inside you feel right at home, here!

(Welcome To My Nightmare   Alice Cooper)

Sleep.

It has been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I would give a quick update.

A few weeks ago I had my 14 month checkup. These checkup are always the same. They involve being poked, prodded and drained of a few vials of blood. For the most part all of the blood work tests came back fine. They were on the low end of the acceptable range, but in the acceptable range none the less.  

As always, once the test are run, the conversation goes to how I am doing. They want to know how I am adjusting to my new life without a stomach, and for the most part I am doing well.  The one exception to this would be sleep. Since the surgery getting a full night’s sleep has been a challenge. Some nights I might get a few hours at a time, but there have been many nights when the hours just seem to slowly slip by. 

This all started while I was in the Mayo Clinic. It sometimes feels like my insides are shifting from one side of my body to the other in the space where my stomach used to reside. The doctors assure me that it is not the case, but that is what it sometimes feels like. 

When I sleep I need to make sure that my head remains above my body. Your stomach has a flap that keeps stomach acid and bile from coming back up your esophagus. Well they removed mine when they removed my stomach, so it limits how I can sleep.  Again, this was nothing new I have been struggling with this for the past year.

We tried everything. Over the counter drugs, Melatonin and natural sleep aids. Nothing worked. We even went so far as to go out and buy a new mattress. Nothing worked. 

While at the Mayo Clinic had put me on Ambien and it seemed to be doing its job. I may not sleep all night, but it wouldn’t take long for me to fall back asleep. The problem…  Ambien is a federally regulated drug and getting a refill takes an something just short of a letter from the FDA. 

I was given one refill and then nothing. 

So now they have put me on a second antidepressant.  Yea, I wrote second.  I take one in the morning to help “keep me balanced” and I take two of the other antidepressants to help me sleep. We have agreed to give it two months and see how I do. I will tell you that I am sleeping better. I may wake up, but I can go back to sleep. I have had no sleepless nights. 

It is just antidepressants have side effects.  Even taking one has side effects, but I am now taking two different ones.

We will see how this story unfolds…

Golden slumbers fill your eyes

Smiles awake you when you rise

Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry

And I will sing a lullaby

(Golden Slumber  The Beatles)