Surviving a root canal

 Or Diane's little adventure of trying NOT to get a root canal...

It started simply with chipping a tooth after an Indianapolis Colts football game in October.  Next came two trips to the dentist to get a temporary and then a permanent crown.  And of course this tooth is in the very back of my mouth and required many Novocaine shots each visit.  Lovely.

And a couple of days after the permanent crown I noticed the tooth was still painful.  So as you might expect,  I waited several weeks (with LOTS of ibuprofen) before going back to the dentist.  Of course that was two days before Christmas.  And my worst fears were confirmed.  ROOT CANAL!

On Monday January 6th, I called the Endodontist office about my appointment on Tuesday morning.

Here's how the phone call went...

Me:  My appointment is tomorrow at 10AM, and I'm a bit worried about the weather.  Any openings Tuesday afternoon?

Andrea:  No.  If you don't come in tomorrow at 10 AM, next available appointment is next week.

Me:  This is just a consultation, right?  No dental work tomorrow?

Andrea:  No.  He has the root canal scheduled for tomorrow and has allowed enough time for it.

Me:  Will he take x-rays to verify which tooth?

Andrea: Yes.

Me:  I have not been taking antibiotics. Is that ok?

Andrea: Yes

Me:  I have a head cold.  Is that a problem?

Andrea: No.

Me:  Will I be able to drive myself home?

Andrea:  Yes.

Me:  So basically I've exhausted all my reasons to not come to the appointment tomorrow, right?

Andrea: Yes, you must be there.

Well, all we got was a lousy 5 inches of snow Monday evening, and though traffic was crummy all around the city, nothing was closed down.  Darn.  So I spent almost 2 hours driving to the appointment, which is normally a 45 minute drive.

And the first thing the Endodontist says to me is "you are late".  Ok, I was 10 minutes late.  Next as he's testing the tenderness of my tooth, I didn't understand his instruction of "back and forth" which supposedly meant "chew down on the Q-Tip".  Seriously, who would understand that?  He said "LISTEN TO ME!"

And then he tapped on several teeth with a blunt dental instrument, and I was a little jumpy.  He said "Did that hurt?"  To which I answered, "No.  I'm just nervous".  He said "Don't do that unless it hurts".  Are you getting the idea this wasn't going well?

And then he did the ice cube test, and when he placed it against the back tooth, I almost jumped out of the chair.  He seemed happy then, like I finally responded like a normal patient.

Ok, I will spare you the gory details here.  I closed my eyes and prayed and clenched my back muscles until they hurt.  I listened to the blow by blow description of what he was doing, but I respectfully declined to watch his work on the TV screen.  NO! NO! NO!   I do not want to see any medical or dental work on my body.  After an intense hour of him working on my tooth, it was over.  I left the office exhausted and exhilarated.  

And ever since then I've been exclaiming to Mike "My tooth doesn't hurt.  My tooth doesn't hurt."  Seriously, it's the first time I've been without that dull, throbbing ache for over a month.  Wow!  

Lesson learned once again:  quit worrying about medical and dental procedures as they are never as bad as I imagine. 

 But I still wince when I see a billboard or ad with a tooth on it...

Diane

December highs and lows

I'm not sure that I even took a breath in December.  I thought about writing my blog, but I was so busy  living life that there was no time to write.

December was a month of highs and lows. But I guess a lot of people may feel that way about the holiday season.

The month started with my outpatient breast surgery. I was anxious, nervous and afraid, and it brought back many emotions from my 2010 breast cancer surgery. But the surgery went as planned, and the results were awesome-NO CANCER!  And with that news I began to heal, both physically and emotionally. Once you've had cancer, I'm not sure you ever escape the "fear zone" of whether cancer will recur.  It's always in the back of your mind. But I'm able to say I'm 4.5 years cancer free!  And I realize how fortunate I am...

Recovering with my trusty duck...

But the most difficult news was that our friend, Mary, has ovarian cancer.  She had her first chemo treatment on her 55th birthday on December 5th.  And one week later, she had a stroke and was hospitalized.  She experienced many more strokes in the days to come, but the great doctors at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis found a way to stop the strokes with a powerful anti-coagulant.  We visited her twice in the hospital, and we believe she recognizes us and is able to understand our words of hope and love.  She has a tough road ahead: recovering from the strokes and resuming chemotherapy.  She is now at a rehab hospital/bootcamp receiving physical, occupational and speech therapy.

We pray for her daily, and I welcome your prayers and positive energy for Mary.  She is never very far from our thoughts...

Mary and her husband Stan during our trip to Kansas City in August

And my mom continues her treatment for lung cancer.  She is very tired from the radiation treatments, but that doesn't slow her down much.  She has an amazing attitude and ability to bounce back.  

We celebrated her 83rd birthday weekend in December with a cooking baking extravaganza!  

Mom with my brother Gary and sister Pam

Lunch with Mike, Pam, mom, niece Alex and sister-in-law Peggy

Cookies

Cookies

And more cookies!

 The month has been an odd mixture of sadness and joy.  We are painfully aware that we can't take a single day for granted.  And we realize how blessed we are to share Christmas with wonderful family and friends.

Here is some of the joy we've experienced this Christmas season...

Nephews Dane, Jeff and great-nephew Rhys in the middle

Rhys, Iron Man and Dane

Sister Jude, brother-in-law Ron, sister Ange and mom opening gifts

Enjoying a moment with niece Diane and great-nieces Violet and Alice

An evening with Kevin and Kathy at the Little Nugget in Danville IL

With nephew Adam

Annual Christmas Event at the Red Key Tavern with Pat, Bryan, Melanie and Chuck

Sharing Christmas Day with my sweetie

It's a new year now.  Though we don't know what it will bring, we live, love and cherish every single day.  And we know that faith and prayer will help us through the tough times.

Diane

The week in photos...

It's been another interesting week.  I can't really find a common theme, so here are some random photos...

Fitbit dashboard on my phone

 I LOVE my Fitbit, an early Christmas present.  It tracks your steps, miles, calories, etc.  And most days I achieve my goal of 10,000 steps.

 Interesting how an electronic device can inspire you to get outside and walk and walk and walk...Hey, if it works, go for it!



















Mike and I both survived the flu.  I was down for a day, and it hit Mike for three days.  He slept and slept, and periodically I checked to make sure he was breathing...

Alive?

I had outpatient surgery on Friday, and it took me awhile to realize I was in a kid's room.  I know, what was the first clue?

t

Thanks Mike for this lovely photo...

And then there are a few random shots around town...

"Get a load of this"

"Just Drains" 

 I almost rear-ended the truck getting the picture of  "You just can't fix stupid". What can I say?

Angie and Adam with pillows

And of course I've been busy making a few Christmas gifts...

And I see some amazing views while walking...

Creek near my mom's house

Stay healthy and have a great week!
Diane

Thankful

Sometimes life can drag you down a bit.  To say that this Fall has been stressful is a definite understatement.  My mom is battling lung cancer, Mike had a very stressful Fall quarter of teaching, and I am having surgery in December.  Lots of stuff on our minds.

And when I'm struggling, I try to remember this verse from Psalms:

"This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

When I think about this verse, I begin to focus on the things I'm thankful for, and some of the worries get pushed to the background.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for so many things.

A loving, caring husband.
A great family that is pulling together to help with mom's health situation.
Wonderful friends who enjoy life with us.
Mike and I "chooglin" which comes from a John Fogerty song and means raucous good time.
The professionalism, skill, kindness and caring of health care providers.
Financial security and a roof over our heads.
My belief and trust in God.
Laughter.
The great beauty of nature.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with loved ones.  And don't forget the thankful part...

Diane

Transition to winter

Beautiful sunsets

It's inevitable.  Fall leaves us and cold sets in.

We've had our first measurable snowfall, and I've already worn my heavy winter coat.

As much as I dislike the cold, there are a few things about this transition to winter that make me smile:

First snowfall

Leaf blowers?  Or terrorists?

Beautiful moon

Do we have to put the costumes away?

Make no mistake. Indy is a racing town!

And the temperature can change a lot between August and November.

105 degrees F.

27 degrees F.

Green bean man?  And I thought Halloween was over...

So instead of whining about this winter, I am going to TRY to embrace it.  Holy cow, now that's a lofty goal!

Take care, Diane

John Dillinger weekend

No, we did NOT have a shoot out, but it was an interesting "John Dillinger weekend" in Indianapolis.

With our friends at Napolese restaurant

One of the things we really enjoy about Indy is the variety of great restaurants.  So when our friends Gretchen and Craig came to town for the weekend, we introduced them to one of our favorite downtown restaurants, Napolese Artisanal Pizzeria.  It's a small, New York city style restaurant with an industrial chic feel.

And the food...very different from your normal pizza joint.  From our brussels sprout salad with apples, dried cherries and a balsamic redux, you get the general idea this is not your mom's cooking.  After savoring the brussels sprouts salad, a white beet salad and a Hamaker pizza and designer cocktails, we headed out to another of our favorite places, The Slippery Noodle Inn.  And that's where our John Dillinger weekend began.

I've mentioned the Slippery Noodle Inn in previous blogs.  We attend their Halloween contests (where Mike won first place last year in his Iron Man costume), listen to live bands and enjoy quick meals downtown when we are going to a concert or a Colts game.  But the place also has a history. It's the oldest continually operating bar in Indiana(since 1850),  and it's on National Register of Historic Places.

Drinks at the Slippery Noodle

And one of its' claims to fame is that during Prohibition, the Dillinger gang used the building in the back, originally built as a horse stable for the inn, for target practice.  Several of the slugs remain embedded in the back wall.  We enjoyed drinks in that very room, and you can still see the holes in the brick wall.  Wow!

And then on Saturday, Mike had the bright idea of going to Crown Hill Cemetery to find where John Dillinger is buried.  Crown Hill is a HUGE cemetery, and at 555 acres, it is the 5th largest cemetery in the United States.

Assuming Mike knew where Dillinger's grave was located, we agreed to this little sojourn and began to drive through the cemetery.  Or course he had never been to Dillinger's grave before and had NO IDEA where it was located.  So we drove around and around, and that's when we realized just how big 555 acres is.

And there were a few interesting signs along the way, things you just don't expect to read in a cemetery...

Cycling?

Tree tour?

But modern technology prevailed, and using my iPhone, we found the section and plot number.  Next we found the cemetery map and drove right to the tombstone.  Note that the tombstone is set in concrete so no one digs up this grave.

I've been in Indianapolis for two years now, and I continue to learn about our city.  Perhaps I should spend more time being a tourist...

Have a great week.
Diane

Halloween 2014

This was the year we recycled costumes.  With such a busy summer and Fall, we decided on EASY this year.  Enter Godzilla and Japanese school girl...

My costume was pretty simple since I already owned most of the clothes.  And talk about comfortable.  And the black wig.  What do you think?  My new look?

Mike originally created a dinosaur costume many years ago.  He morphed it into Godzilla by adding some scales to the back  (gloves stuffed and sewed on).  And he added teeth so in his words  "he looked more like a fierce Godzilla and less like a green Barney".

We held our annual Halloween Party the Saturday night before Halloween.  There is nothing better than getting together with your friends over food, drink, sitting outside on a cool evening around the camp fire, and of course s'mores!  And then there are the costumes...

Chris and Garth as rich and poor

Steve and Sara: Something wrong in the neighborhood...who you gonna call?

Chuck and Melanie in Steak and Shake ad

Bryan and Jane as "paradise"

John as not a scary clown

And after handing out candy to trick or treaters on a snowy Halloween night, we headed downtown with friends Kevin and Kathy.  In costume, of course...

Kevin and Kathy as Mr. and Mrs. Beetlejuice

Enjoying the evening at the Slippery Noodle Inn

This year's winner at the Slippery Noodle Inn...the Peanuts Gang.  Awesome costumes!

And so another Halloween has come and gone.  We kinda hate to say goodbye to our favorite holiday where the adults get to be kids again.  And we have such crazy, creative friends.  What's not to love?

Diane