Oct. 19, 2005 - 21:34 MDT

TO LIVE

Wonder how long this Harriet Miers hoo-haw is going to go on ? Seems to me the whole thing is a flippin' farce. Even the humorists of TV and comic strips are laughing.

But for me another thing has been occupying my mind and time.

Some time ago Heather had two implants installed in her lower jaw, in front. It was painful to her and she was informed that soft food would be her regimen for quite awhile.

For the last week though, she began having pain even though she was eating soft foods and soups.

The last few days she was in enough pain that she was taking her pain pills without a fight. But it finally got to the point yesterday that her pain pills had no effect on pain relief for her. She called the dental specialist who did the work, he politelly informed her the earliest he could see her was today at 11 AM.

I drove her across town to her appointment and tried to sit quietly in the waiting room. After a time I heard her almost scream, and then she did.

Later she came tottering out and I supported her to our car, luckily it was parked close by in a Crippled spot.

Little by little as she was able to talk she told me that he had removed one screw and replaced it with another. The bad news is that she has an abcess in the area. The specialist gave her a prescription for Keflex and recommended extra strength Tylenol. After we left the clinic with her prescription she took a drink of my water and swallowed her first antibiotic.

Coming bck across town I drove carefully and as slow as was safe. Helped her into the house, get undressed and into her robe. I brought the car into the garage and then got her some milk and graham crackers which she eats when she is taking a pain pill. I persuaded her to take one of my Percocets, which she did with no hassle.

She let me get her snug and comfy on the couch in the living room, with her flinker at hand and her means of summoning me from the other room.

She drifted off to sleep and slept for about four hours, finally awakened in a bit less pain and somewhat hungry. I dug up some soup from the freezer and heated that for her and served it on a plate at her chair in the living room. One knows when she is in bad shape as usually she won't eat there, insisting on sitting at table for her meals. Another percocet with milk and she allowed me to wrap her in her robe, turn the small electric heater by her chair on low and turned on her heating pad. She was having chills, though she did say she was in less pain.

I suppose that the Keflex will do the job on the abcess and if it doesn't perhaps surgery will be quickly done.

She has done so well on recovery from her shoulder surgery, but this is a horse of another color.

In my lifetime, suffering dental distress has been my lot, that is until I got full uppers and lowers. Painfully remembered and intentionally dis-remembered. But not until the memory of such extreme pain made itself known once again. And when Heather gets in a shape that all she can do is sit and try to stay alive, moaning when the hurt is too bad, it is pretty hard to think about what is going on in the world, other than pray for whoever Hurricane Wilma devastates, and then keep my attention on Heather - alert to whatever request she should make in order to rapidly comply.

She is bearing the brunt, but along side of her I am suffing from a different kind of distress. Hard to know that a loved one is in deep pain and not be able to relieve it. Most folks have been there, done that or were the sufferer. Most folks have had loved ones who were trying to help in anyway they could. We are not unique, just one of many couples, struggling through life and old age.

But, this is here, this is now, and this is us it is happening to. Maybe down the road a ways I can take time out TO LIVE . . . . . . . . . .

Blog