Misadventures

I'm hesitant to tell you about one of my misadventures, since it's kind of gross. It all started back at the beginning of June, in molar #2...

My dentist did my usual yearly x-rays and discovered a small cavity in the aforementioned molar. I wasn't too concerned about it - no silver, the tooth is the furthest back in my mouth on the top. But, upon drilling, he discovered that it went all the way to the pulp of the tooth, which means it was probably following some flaw in my tooth. He put a pulp cap in to protect the pulp, filled the narrow cavity with resin, and sent me on my way with a warning: "This tooth is not going to be happy at all."

No, it wasn't. It was fine for about a month, and then it started to ache abominably. I had more x-rays and was told to use Sensodyne (toothpaste for sensitive teeth) and mouthwash with fluoride, which I was already using. The toothache became so bad that for about three weeks, I was taking two ibuprofen and two acetaminophen twice and sometimes three times a day. That's a lot of painkillers for a 110-lb. person, folks.

Then suddenly one weekend, the pain stopped! I didn't have any trouble with it until a few days ago, when the gums above the tooth started to hurt a little bit, almost like a paper cut. I figured I must have cut my gums with a sharp chip or my toothbrush, and was careful with them, but when a blister formed, I knew something was not right. I called the dentist immediately and he told me to come in right away.

He took x-rays and shocked the tooth with 9V of electricity... Nothing. Mr. Molar #2 was dead. Not only that, but it was abcessed! EEEEEEWWWW. I was put on antibiotics and now I have to have a root canal. I was thinking about just having the tooth pulled, and then bringing my flawless wisdom tooth down to replace it, which would be less expensive than a root canal.

My second misadventure occurred the very same day of the ill-fated dentist appointment (Wednesday).

R and I met at the state park for our trail run, only this time, R brought along her black lab/chow mix, Jackson! He's a very happy pup with a freckled tongue and laughing eyes. R put a little backpack on Jackson to carry water and keys, but he refused to run with the backpack on, so we had to go back to the car and take it off. By the time we got started, it was about 25 minutes later than we'd planned to start, and with the time change, the sun was already sinking through the trees.

We were about 3 miles into the woods maybe halfway through our run when we finally decided that it was definitely imperative for us to turn around and get back to the car ASAP - we could see stars beginning to come out in the sky. We started booking it through the woods, ignoring the probable presence of roots and rocks. R commented later that it was rather freeing to just flit through the woods without seeking out safe locations for your feet, which takes a surprising amount of energy!

It was soon twilight and here we were in the deep, silent forest, running like fugitives with a silly pup who would periodically stop without warning and almost cause a pileup. We crested a rocky bluff and started careening down the other side, which was covered with a layer of quartz. I hit a huge rock with my right foot and flew face-first down the side of the hill. I had enough air time to pick out specific places for my palms to hit the ground that weren't covered with sharp rocks, and I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pulled up over my hands, which protected them. Most of my weight came down on the inside of my right knee.

Both knees and the front of my left ankle are gashed and bruised, since I landed on rocks. The bruise on the inside of my right knee is swollen about .5 inches. As soon as I hit the ground, Jackson came zooming at me, getting ready for some serious face-slobbering - this after he'd been nosing around in horse manure and drinking mud puddles!

Today we are GOING to start our run at 4:30. ;)