Medically Screwed Up

Yesterday and today are medically screwed up. So I went to my acupuncture appointment and was not satisfied. Granted, I had filled out new intake forms, so much of the information was there for the doctor to see without asking me, but we talked for less than 5 minutes, I got an inadequate acupuncture treatment then he offered me herbs while I still had needles in and laughed when I tried to explain my dysfunctional relationship with taking things. I was not pleased.

Then I went to the dentist who seems to be brand new to dentistry and seeking my approval. He may have given me too much lidocaine, because I lost half my face the rest the night, although I concede that too much is preferable to too little. And I didn't bite anything (my cheek, my tongue), so I guess I can't complain too much. It was weird, though, for two reasons - 1. he asked if we were still friends after the procedure. I'm 31, not 11. We were never friends to begin with - you're my dentist and if you stop acting like a hack, I might keep seeing you, but it's not like we're going out for cocktails afterwards, especially since you numbed up my face enough that I have to use my fingers to hold that side of my mouth tight to a glass to keep from spilling.

And 2. he suggested I take ibuprofen to avoid the painful injection site or sensitivity in my tooth. No one has ever suggested that to me before and I have had a) bigger fillings and b) the same type of filling before. I find this somewhat insulting and possibly related to the fact that I made any noise at all during the injection and/or procedure. Does he think I'm a wimp, because I breathed heavy, signalled that I needed suction or squirmed during the injection? They hurt, of course I reacted. It goes against all of our animal instincts to sit there quietly and calmly while someone sticks a needle into us, but especially when they shove a block between your teeth (aka your best defense) and put a huge needle into your mouth. The only thing more invasive besides surgery seems to be genital treatments. So, anyways, I hate that he told me to take it and would have preferred that he said "if you have a lot of discomfort tonight, you may want to take some ibuprofen." I know, it's just semantics, but I was just irritated by him in general. It's no wonder dentists are so hated.

Finally, I got home from wedding dress shopping (ugh!) with a gal pal and A decided to come over and have pizza and a movie with me. We debated this on the phone because he's been sick and it was already pretty late, but he wanted the company. I thought he was on the mend, but turns out the pizza was too much for him after a day of complete fasting, so he woke up in the middle of the night and now it appears that he may have the stomach flu. I have compassion - and I keep having to remind myself of that. It's really hard though - having lived alone through so many illnesses, I find it really difficult to wait on someone hand and foot through their illness. If he can walk into the room to follow me around and ask for tea and toast, I feel like he should be able to put the bread in the toaster and turn the kettle on, too, so I can steal some Z's on the couch since I was up all night running for tea and toast (that remained on the table untouched), cold washcloths and a huge bowl, you know, just in case.

Okay, clearly cranky. After a couple disappointing appointments, 2+ hours wedding dress shopping with a woman who knows exactly what she wants and only had 3 choices and a bout of taking care of a sick beau, I think I'm entitled to one bitchy post. I'm going to try to get a quick nap then a shower then I'm leaving my house to get some work done on that side job.