Friday, February 06, 2009

Sedation Dentistry

Okay, so not too long ago, Steve went to his dentist (Dr. Todd "Hot" Garcia) and was telling him that his wife (me) would like to come in for an appointment. Dr. Hot Garcia began asking Steve some questions about me and when Steve told him that I get really nervous about the dentist, Hot Garcia said, "Then don't send her to me. Nervous patients make ME nervous." So with that, he gave Steve the name of Dr. Rushin and told him to check out her website: http://www.endyourfear.com. So he came home, told me about it, and I went online to check it out.

I had my first appointment with them back in December. I think it was the 23rd-- right after I was out for the holiday break. We set my appointment for February 4th (which was yesterday). Now, a lot of my friends that I've told about this have said, "Oooh, you'll have to tell me how it goes. I've always been curious about it." Well, let me say that it was the best dentist appointment that I've ever had in my life.

As soon as I arrived, they had several heated blankets ready for me. I sat in the chair and they gave me blankets to warm me (it was chilly in the office). I had taken a tiny pill an hour before my arrival and when I got there-- I felt nothing from the pill. I was nervous as could be, and so they gave me some more pills to take. They laid my chair back, put on a heart monitor thingy and blood-pressure cuff and then gave me some protective glasses to wear (so nothing would get in my eyes during my procedure). I literally sat back, closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

Now, I was asleep, but I was awake enough to feel them give me the novocaine (which still hurt, but I didn't care), and then when they asked me to open wider, I could, and when they said to close my mouth, I could. So I was awake, but in a state of la-la land. It was wonderful!!

Steve picked me up and they had prescribed a Chic-Fil-A milkshake for me to drink on the way home (I had not had anything to eat since 7:30 the night before and he picked me up at 1:00). It was delicious, but I don't remember much more about it. I also had chicken nuggets and waffle fries, but I don't remember that either. I got home, took a Vicodin, and crashed until 5:30ish.

When I woke up, I felt great. I was a little hungry, but I felt wonderful. They ended up filling more than seven cavities (I know-- it's a lot-- but I hadn't been to the dentist since March of 2007 and he had a whole plan of treatment that would have taken forever to complete), and they did a cleaning. My mouth is as perfect today as it's going to be for a while.

What I liked the most is that they were able to do in one visit, what would normally take more than 10 visits to do. For people who fear the dentist, and have a lot of work to be done, it's the definite way to go. I am going to keep going back, but I don't think I'll need the sedation again for a long time. I can handle a cleaning.

:)
Until next time...

>^..^<

Sunday, February 01, 2009

New Year, New Me: UPDATE!!

Okay, so there have been some great things to report for all my readers (lol). I've been getting up religiously at 5:30 every morning (except on weekends) and working out with my Wii Fit. I haven't had a drop of regular soda since January 5th and have only had five servings of diet soda since then. I've been drinking mostly water, and then skim milk. Haven't had any candy or sweets either. :)

In addition to that, I joined Weight Watchers. I am doing it online because none of the meetings around me worked with my schedule. I like being able to do everything from home and with my computer. Anyway, I did my weekly weigh-in yesterday and so far I've lost 17.8 pounds! I am so proud of myself!!

I know that there's not one thing to attribute the weight-loss to, but I think the Metformin is definitely helping. I can also say that since starting Metformin my morning temperatures have been stable and not so up and down like they have been for the last six months.

So... that's the latest and greatest.
Until next time...
>^..^<