Getting Old Is Not For Sissies

[xifeng]

(The subject line was a favorite tag of my grandfather's.)

Today, I am old. Or older. Whichever. The weekend was nothing special; lolmom bought me shoes and clothes, as she promised to do, and I was injudicious at Sephora and bought myself a pair of sandals off Amazon (because the brand's official website, of course, had already moved on). Yesterday we had salade niçoise for dinner, which was not my birthday dinner but was still pretty good, and lemon pavlova for dessert, which was my birthday dessert and was reeeeeeeeeeeeally good. Damn, I love lemon.

Today, I accomplished exciting and amazing things such as shaving my legs (a godsend, since I went swimming after work and somehow managed to kill most of an hour doing laps, even though I didn't do that many and kind of pussed out), not eating crap for breakfast, and...dun dun DUN DUN...calling the oral surgeon for an appointment, during the course of which I learned the following things:

+ Most people have their wisdom teeth out in their teens or twenties. (Well, mine didn't start erupting until I was already out of my teens, and it was not medically necessary to remove them until they started decaying a year and change ago. See, there's this novel little concept where if things don't bother you and aren't going to go on to bigger and better trouble, you leave them alone.)
+ They usually offer IV sedation. (Over my cold dead body is anyone going to put me under for something as badger-sputumly inconsequential as yanking a couple of teeth, with apologies to the late great Douglas Adams. They're not impacted--both erupted fully. I don't have epilepsy, convulsions, or other problems that would render me unable to control my limbs. I said, nicely, that I didn't feel comfortable allowing them to anaesthetize me just for a couple of extractions, and also that in any case my insurance won't pay for it, which is true. I HAVE PROOF, in the form of the explanation of benefits I printed off the HR website.)
+ They'll need to see my X-rays. They may need to take a Panorex. My dentist and I were going to do this in December, since it would be easier to get the insurance to cough up for that. Y so complicated insurance. (Also y u no let me print card.)
+ I am Not Enthused. The temptation to call lolmom and beg her to come to the appointment with me is overwhelming, but so far I have resisted.

Comments

[daturabelle.livejournal.com]

i had a wisdom tooth out in the chair and it wasn't comfortable.
i think it usually depends on which ones have to come out.
good luck with it all, it's definitely nothing to be enthused about...

[daturabelle.livejournal.com]

and happy birthday :)

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

The ones that need to come out are both on my left side, so it's less horrible than it could be. At least they're not impacted (just brittle because they're rotten). I hear that working twelve hours of unpaid overtime while rabid jaguars tear your flesh would be a LOT more fun.

Thank you for the birthday wishes :D

[jonoakwood.livejournal.com]

I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed in one sitting when I was 20. They were all impacted, so I was put under.

I remember that when I woke up from anesthesia, I was so happy that I wasn't in pain that I started running laps around the parking lot of the oral surgeon's office while my mom chased me to get me into the car. I was also obviously still under the anesthetic's effects.

So, the point is, I hope your removal goes smoothly and is as oddly memorable as mine.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

That is totally, totally awesome. I can only hope to approach that in oddity! I won't be put under, since my insurance won't cover that and the teeth that need to come out aren't impacted, so I'll probably disappoint by dragging my snarly, cranky ass out to the car and slurring at lolmom to fill the antibiotics but not the painkillers. At least the dope won't change me.

[forgottensanity.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! I actually thought of you last night that despite my intentions I still forgot to post a happy birthday notification.

Lemon pavlova sounds very good. If you love lemon so much, you should try lemoncurd, it is delicious. You can use it on buns or bread or in a roulade (or whatever). Lemoncurd roulade with whipped cream is completely made of win. I also made a really delicious lemon tart the other day. Lemons are a lot better than people give them credit for. Mmm.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Also, your present arrived today, and was amazingly not melted, so I put it in the fridge. Thank you for that, too ♥

Lemon pavlova is goddamn delicious. It is a meringue crust filled with homemade lemon curd and topped with whipped cream, so not dissimilar in concept to your roulade (except not rolled 'cause we're lazy). Also, I agree v. strongly on the merits of lemon curd, and would completely eat anything made with it. (Except, perhaps, Lemony Poop Galette or something similar. And even then, well, it has lemon curd...)

Lemons go well with everything. They make meat taste good, they make drinks taste good, they make vegetables and fruit taste good, they make delicious desserts...what's not to like?

[simplypeachy.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday! I had a wisdom tooth out with just the normal local anaesthetic and it was a doddle. My tooth was in such a state they took pictures of it for medical students :-|

Once the painkillers wore off I was just left with the odd "things are weird" sensation in my mouth, similar to when one re-arranges furniture in a room. I feel like I missed something, like the pain people go on about.

I'm with you - I certainly wouldn't have allowed sedation to yank a frickin' tooth, despite the fact it wouldn't have cost me anything.

I've started to notice more people using the word "enthuse". I can only applaud this!

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I anticipate my own teeth may be in similar state, decayed as they are (the left side ones; oddly, the upper right shows no signs of decay and the lower right has yet to erupt so is probably waiting for my old age). In any case, I plan to keep them and make something awesome out of them :D Not to downplay the oral surgeon's competence or skill, but at the end of the day--kind of not brain surgery or something where I'd NEED to be put under.

I warned my pedicurist in advance that if I came shuffling in and drooling one Saturday, not to take it personally. XD

"Enthuse" is a great word. So is "infuse", for that matter.

[duskyn.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday!

I'm afraid that is what is going to happen with my wisdom teeth. Mine came in late compared to all my friends and like to decide what days they want to be painful. Most of the time, I don't notice them but then every now and again they start to hurt for a few days and have me wanting to pull them out myself.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

I generally did not feel any pain with my teeth--not when they erupted, and not when the top one broke (I was like "Holy shit did my tooth just break why did I not feel anything D:"). When the nerves gave up the ghost in January of this year, I was in pain for about a week, but it was nothing that Tylenol couldn't control. I was tempted to just grab a hammer and start bashing.

[song-of-copper.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the birthday was suitably treat-filled, and I hope you get the dental treatment sorted out to your liking! :-)

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I hope the surgery won't be too financially ruinous. (I gots a car payment to make, man...)