Goodbye. To a tooth.

I've had a love/hate relationship with my teeth over the course of my lifetime. Part of it is genetics, part of it is circumstance, and I'm sure that part of it is just me. But as with so many things the end result isn't so much what happens as how you deal with it.

One tooth in particular has been causing me grief for quite a while. It'a s molar so it's in the back, but it has hurt on and off to one degree or another for months now. There are those who would say "well, go to the dentist to get it fixed!" and under normal circumstances they'd be right. But this particular tooth already had a crown on it so the expense of "fixing" it isn't such a simple thing.

However, one thing you learn in life is that no matter how much you try to delay it, the day of reckoning always eventually comes. You can put things of and put things off but eventually "that" day will arrive. And that day, for my molar, will be Monday.

I went to a local dentist about it several weeks ago who was concerned that it was infected and put me on amoxicillin. I showed it to my dentist in Rochester last week who provided two very bleak options. I went to a periodontist locally here this morning who told me I really had only ONE option - it needs to come out - and that the only choice was about "how". And now, that decision has been made and I'm on the schedule at a local oral surgeon for Monday.

I'm a very resilient person but I'll admit this thing has taken a toll on me. It may sound silly to say that a relatively small thing like a tooth could have an overriding influence on your entire body, not to mention on your psyche, but it has. I'm sure the infection itself has made me somewhat out of sorts. I haven't felt good recently and as I type this I'm just not feeling my usual self.

The anti-biotics have really ripped up my insides recently, too. They kill the good bacteria as well as the bad so I've been trying to replenish with yogurt. The financial reality is something I can't ignore, either, because fixing teeth is expensive no matter how you slice it. And, I've just got an irrational mental "thing" about having teeth pulled.

You should see the roots on this tooth. Jeez. When the periodontist started talking about the possibility that the decay under the crown could cause the tooth to break during the extraction, and they'd have to go in to dig out the roots, I got sick to my stomach. Ugh. No wonder I haven't wanted to deal with this.

Regardless - here we are. And, my mouth will lose one of its team members on Monday. Sigh. I'll just have to find ways to NOT dwell on it between now and then.

My mom is in Rochester this weekend for her birthday. I wish I could be there for it, but the timing of things made it not-to-be. The very first time my family saw me as Donna was for my mom's 70th birthday and I think I've been to every one since then. It's generally our family's only time to get together as a group. But, as I say, this year I just couldn't make it happen. I'm there with them in spirit, though.

I do have traveling coming up, tho. I'll be in Atlanta for SCC, as usual. I'll be in Washington DC for the Out for Work Conference. I won't be at the Out and Equal Workplace Summit this year - the first year I'll be missing it since 2003. And, I'm scheduled to be in New Orleans for the SHRM Diversity Conference in early October.  There are some other things in there too - the NGLCC Board Retreat, a training event....all in all it looks to be a busy autumn.