Thursday 8th May

Woe is me.  Yesterday I fell and hurt myself.  Today I have been preoccupied, consumed even, by a raging toothache.   Earlier in the day, when it was not too bad I made an appointment with a dentist in Shawnee.  You may remember I have been going to one in Norman 40 odd miles away, which is madness, but in this country they think nothing of driving 100 miles to get a taco.

So I went online to 'Find me a Local Dentist'.   Within 15 seconds of submitting the little online form I received a call from a very nice, helpful person based in southern California, but in this technological age that doesn't matter, she asked me several questions then put me on hold while she contacted a dentist in Shawnee, told them my problem,  connected us both, wished us well, and bowed out.    I was given an appointment for 2 o'clock tomorrow.

The afternoon progressed, it all got worse, my suspicion that I had an abscess became a certainty, and I then began running round town trying to get a prescription for an antibiotic.  I tried my doctor first but she is on holiday this week.   I went to my pharmacy but helpful as they are, they couldn't give me one without a doctor's prescription, but they did tell me about an Urgent Care Centre I didn't know of.

So I set off there, told them my problem, said I wasn't insured, would it cost hundreds of dollars.  She said if I saw someone and they did something for me it would cost $125, otherwise it won't cost anything (she added that $125 was a first time charge, in future it would always be $40 less)  I was prepared to pay $125 for some relief and an antibiotic so a doctor looked at it and confirmed that it looked like an abscess, and he would prescribe an antibiotic.   By this time my pharmacy was closed so they sent it to an open-all-hours drug store pharmacy that was on my way home (they don't hand out prescriptions in this country, they are always sent electronically to the pharmacy).

So now my preoccupation with the pain has been replaced with deep anxiety about the tooth.  It is a critical tooth that holds my partial denture, and I don't know what will happen if it has to be extracted.   I wasn't very happy that the dentist in Norman extracted seven teeth when only four needed to be, and if I find he has in fact wreaked untold havoc on my mouth, I will sue him.   After all, that is the American Way.