Life happens, sometimes well, sometimes otherwise

Well, I found out the other day that I have a tooth abscess (infection in the root of the tooth) and need a root canal. As I waited out the day in excruciating pain (even though I was on the maximum dosage of pain medication that the dentist gave me), my dad told me the story of how he had an abscess while he was in Africa. He went to several specialists, and all of them told him that he had an abscess, but none of them could find it. He lived with the most pain you can imagine for 2 months while the tooth died, and then, 5 months later, a doctor found the abscess and gave him a root canal.

As I listened to the story, I just couldn't comprehend how he stayed sane during those months, spending hour after hour in what I can only describe as hell. I only had the pain for about 12 hours, and I was able to sleep through most of those, and at times, I thought I was going insane. Imagine the most painful thing you can, then make it constant, and imagine that you are utterly unable to do anything about it. Imagine the helplessness, imagine waiting out second upon second.

As I sympathized with him, I couldn't believe my luck that it had happened now, rather than while I was in Niger this summer (only about a month away for those of you who don't know). Unless you have been there, you can't understand how behind technologically they are. I remember when I was young, I was hanging on a zip-line, when I fell off and bit clean through my bottom lip. My parents rushed me to the clinic while I was bleeding and crying, and when they finally got me there, the clinic told my parents that they didn't have the painkiller, and that we would have to go to the pharmacy to get it. Of course they did, and when they got back, the "doctor" (if he could be called that) injected me with it and stitched me up. I found out later that the "doctor" didn't know what he was doing and injected me incorrectly, so not only was I bleeding from a hole in my lip, but I felt the pain as he stuck me with the needle and pulled the thread through.

At times I resent having to be in the US, rather in what I often refer to as my home, but I am thankful for doctors and dentists who know what they are doing, and thankful for the privilege of living in such a prosperous country.


Peace guys, enjoy!
Phil