Traffic was pretty nasty this morning. I didn’t get to work until almost 10 a.m. after leaving at 8 a.m. to get there early. Then I had to leave at 12:30. I brought some work home with me so I could make up for the additional lost time instead of staying crazy late tomorrow and Friday.

I got to my oral surgery consultation in time, however, and I am feeling pretty relaxed about this whole wisdom tooth extraction. The doctor has a good chair-side manner, so to speak, and he answered my questions confidently and clearly. I mean, he’s been in practice since the 1960s or 70s, so it should be rote - but he didn’t sound hackneyed or rehearsed and had a sense of humor. He was writing on my X-ray with a pencil to show me where my nerves and mandible were in relation to my teeth, so that was cool and informative. He told me my wisdom teeth, though impacted, were in a good normal line and wouldn’t pose any problems and wouldn’t require cutting through bone. At this point, I let out a little yelp and said, “Yippee! I’m normal!” I’d been behaving like an adult up until this point, so it was a departure from the norm.

He chuckled and replied, “This is why we like to do this when patients are young.”

Then I got a pamphlet called “Wisdom Teeth Removal: Your Condition and Treatment.” It was published in 2004, but has the feel of a “birds and bees” brochure from the 1980s. The illustrations and drawings are updated and feature ergonomic keyboards and LCD monitors in the drawings of the offices, and the “characters” in the pamphlet are a diverse mix of ages, races and genders. Truly inspirational
Here’s one of my favorite illustrations:

I’ve made an appointment for Friday the 13th. Clearly, I’m not a superstitious person. I didn’t even realize it until the receptionist made a comment. It’s fine and dandy by me - the only earlier appointment they had was next week and there was no way I was going to be laid up and doped up on painkillers, unable to eat during our lovely Polish Christmas. That’s not the time of year for me to subsist on a lukewarm soup-only diet.

Once I left the doctor, I made some calls. First, I called my sister to see if she was going to be available that day to drive me there, wait for me and then drive me home. She said sure - unless she’s going to California. Apparently, she has tentative plans to fly out with a friend and while she doesn’t know if it’s definite, if she goes, that’s the week she’s going. She was my first choice since I took her to her extraction and nursed her for a few days afterwards - chances are she’ll be here… but I called my friend LJ to see if he’d be willing to be my backup.

It’s a lot to ask from a friend. There’s getting up early to drive me there for a 10 a.m. appointment, then the prospect of sitting in a waiting room for 1-2 hours (hopefully with a good book or a laptop in tow so it’s not wasted time) while I get the extractions, then dealing with a very groggy post-surgery Eva, who will probably look really gross and swollen, and driving this Eva home - and possibly making sure she makes it into the right house and up the stairs without falling. So, yeah. It’s a lot to ask. But he said he’d be fine with that. I am a lucky girl to have friends who would do that for me.

Why not other members of my family, you ask? Well, little brother is back in school on Jan 12th - not much of a winter break. Other brother works too far away and won’t take a day off for my sake. My parents will have been back from their two-week cruise vacation for three weeks and taking another day off would be frowned upon. That’s the deal.

I won’t be horribly groggy, though. The doctor and I discussed my anesthesia choices and since there won’t be bone-sawing involved and they won’t be tough to remove, I’m ok with a local shot (or seven), and nitrous oxide. I don’t think I need the full IV sedation treatment. Insurance would cover it either way, but I don’t see a need to risk the additional process of IV sedation… I’ll be fine as/is.

After that lovely visit, I went to Copabananas in Montclair and bought gifts for my Secret Holiday Exchange Gift Pal. I got a variety of fun things - a pack of Bad Ass Chewing Gum, a wind-up walking SPARKING MOUTH Nunzilla, one of those insulated beercan holder thingies that says, “Nice Guys Keep Cool” and features nifty 50s retro graphics on it and finally a cool “Choose Your Fantasy” magnet. It’s a pretty big magnet and looks like a week from a wall calendar. Each day space has a fantasy for the day - everything from “Free Love” to “Rule the World.” There’s a smaller magnet shaped like a little guy that you place on the appropriate day’s fantasy.

Since I don’t know the guy all that well, I opted against the Communist Breath Spray (”comes in one color only - RED!”) and the drug dealer magnets. They were pretty funny, but basically would’ve exhausted the entire budget for this gift (our limit is $15). So… I just went with a few little things. I did set aside a few other things until I come back tomorrow or Saturday. I only brought $20 with me to keep myself in check and I succeeded. The things I saw will take the place of other gift ideas I had for friends and family.

Aw, shit. It’s Wednesday already. I lost track of time. I have to CLEAN tonight. RIGHT NOW. I am having company on Friday!! SO it’s today and tomorrow and that’s it. Tomorrow I have to go buy some food and cook a little, so tonight is really cleaning night. My sister said she’d help since she’s having friends over tomorrow, but I can’t leave it all on her shoulders. Oy.

That’s that. I have to do my work-work and then clean clean clean. I hate when I get all discombobulated like this.