A Not-So-Fun Diversion

Sheila has had a problem tooth for about ten months and we've been bouncing from dentist to specialist, back to dentist, then to another specialist during this time. 

First, she hoped for a quick filling or repair... no such luck. She was scheduled to see a specialist for a root canal... went for a consult... more waiting for the actual procedure...

Then when the root canal was to be done they told her they could not do a root canal because the roots of the tooth were intertwined with the nerves in the jaw. They then scheduled an extraction with a different specialist. 

A consult appointment was scheduled for an extraction and that appointment was yesterday.

In the meantime, Sheila's breast cancer had returned and we started all of those appointments a week or so ago. 

The oncology surgeon had told Sheila that the tooth extraction was now on the back burner since the cancer surgery is more important. That being said, we didn't want to waste any time so we decided to go to the tooth extraction consult while we waited for the cancer surgery. We figured we could then schedule the extraction for a few weeks down the road. 

Since we already had months between each scheduled dental specialist we figured we were being overly optimistic that the tooth extraction would be scheduled for only a few weeks down the road anyway so we felt it would be best to keep the ball rolling on the dental work.

So, yesterday during the solar eclipse, we were meeting with this dental specialist. It was getting late in the day so we were a bit surprised when he said the tooth needed to come out now... today... "it will take only 20 minutes or so..."  He went on to explain and show us in the imaging that the tooth is chronically infected and how it is affecting all the nerves in her jaw. This made complete sense since Sheila has been alternating between pain and numbness in her jaw and eating is generally painful but ends with numbness across her entire jaw.

We discussed how this last minute extraction procedure might affect the cancer surgery which was already only two days away and then decided we should consult with the oncologist before making a decision.

It was late in the day... no answer at the oncologist's phone number... Sheila was in pain and the tooth was infected... we quickly decided that this needed to be done now. 

I left the room with Sheila's cellphone in case the oncologist called... and, she did. I explained our predicament and then asked what Sheila should do and should not do so we can still keep the cancer surgery scheduled as planned. 

After a bit of back and forth in multiple phone calls, it appears as though we are all set for surgery tomorrow.... although... we are still waiting for a final confirmation from the oncologist this morning...

As for the tooth extraction and Sheila's recovery from that not-so-fun procedure... she is feeling better than she has in almost a year!