posted on December 27, 2006 11:21:36 AM new
Wonderful outpouring of community help here -- I am sure we all felt genuinely touched that you had enough trust in the group to reach out.
People are basically good -- except certain Dr. Dooms of course -- and I've seen amazing similar efforts by antiquers in the past. Don't know if it's true of other occupations, but proud to be part of the gang.
Keep us all posted, use the resources found, and best of luck for good smiles ahead!
Most amusing was that I was in the process of getting several listings ready for some nasty looking antique dental implements while the crisis was unfolding. So just in case, Tom, got lots of extractors up right now!
posted on December 28, 2006 11:38:35 AM newUPDATE:
Saw my PCP this am & he diagnosed (amongst other things he ain't gonna cover because they be TEETH):
1) ACUTE TMJ SYNDROME
2) CHRONIC SINUS INFECTION
He unenthusiastically offered me a Pred injection or tablets, but, with my tummy & gut problems, this might help ONE area of me bod, but wreak havoc with another area...Plus, he said my sugar had been up the lat time I had blood work (first I've heard of THIS) and the Pred might spike THAT -- he scheduled a complete physical next month and wants me to do a stress test (??!!)...So, instead of the Pred, he referred me to a MAXIO-FACIAL SURGEON for a TKJ w/u, and I'm awaiting the call from them for an appointment...
The sinus problems are chronic (remember I described being an AFRIN abuser) and that pain in the upper molars is relativly moderate compared to everything else.
Everything he did and said made sense and explained most of my symptoms and pain...
It explains why the AMOXICILLAN helps with the pain under the jaw where DrGeezer did the RC, but does NO HELP for the nightly SEVERE ear+temple+jaw joint pain...
More & more, I'm begining to become convinced that the RC was either UN-NECESSARY or BOTCHED and I am extremely upset about the past 5 weeks of living hell...
I see DrGeezer tomorrow at 12:00noon, and will insist that he FINISH the RC & end the pain under my jaw -- and then go to a real dentist to crown that tooth & fix my front tooth & find out if any other teeth are bad -- I'm pretty sure that at least 2 others are bad, but with all theother FUN going on in my mouth, I can no longer tell anything about anyhing, and will try to take it one day at a time...
Just to make my month complete, Ralphie was ralphing yesterday (3X) and got me all worried that HE is sick, so he's at his vet's now...He also suddenly developed a bad case of dandruff over the past week & keeps chewing his toes & driving me nuts, even though I threaten "NO MORE TV, YOUNG MAN" but does he listen? hell no!
But, I feel like I'm starting to finally come out of my severe FUNK...
The pain in my ear-temple area is a 2 (scale 1-10, with a 10 being one of my kidney stones), and it will probably stay that way unless I eat sumptin harder than Ralphie's Gormet Mush, so I ain't eating until I see the MF surgeon...
The pain in my jaw under the RC fluctuates between a 3 & 6 depending on when I take a PERCOCET & AMOXICILLAN, and I can hang in there until tomorrow's visit with the FANG-QUACK...
posted on December 28, 2006 01:15:19 PM new
Keep us informed, Tom. Also about Ralphie! Email me when you hear about what's ailing Ralphie. I'm understandably nervous about pet situations these days.
Cheryl
Summer
1995 - 2006
Gone but never forgotten.
posted on December 28, 2006 01:20:56 PM new
Ogeez, Cheryl -- after I posted, I wondered if I was being a jerk mentioning his minor problems after your loss --
If I offend anybody over the next several days, just ignore me & write it off as addled mush-brains...
posted on December 28, 2006 06:46:18 PM new
Tom, You mentioned Ralphie & dandruff, my vet told me when dogs have allergies they lick & chew at their paws more so than scratch all over.
Sounds like he may have an allergy.
posted on December 29, 2006 09:25:52 AM new
Poor Ralphie! My Lacy has had allergies since she came to us as a foundling puppy. She does bite her feet when they act up. We always feed her the same lamb and rice dry food our vet recommended and give her a Dermcap and two Benadryls twice a day. Even so it sometimes causes a bald spot as big as my hand on he back just above her tail. We have a shampoo we use on her when that happens.
Hope both of you feel better real soon!
Cheryl, So sorry for your loss of Summer. I know what the pain is like but feel that what they give us in love and acceptance is more than enough compensation.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on December 29, 2006 09:32:30 PM newUPDATE:
I'm feeling really rotten, so I'm gonna take an AMBIEN & hopefully pass out & in the morning post my further adventures with DrDentalDoom...not pretty...
Ralphie is feeling better & probably has allergies and is on an anti-histamine & vitamins, so, at least that's a load off my mind...When he doesn't feel well, he softly cries and that really gets to me and I panic...We're quite the pair of geezer-gomers...
posted on December 30, 2006 08:02:47 AM new
Tom Hope the morning found you feeling a bit better. What is the scoop on the doom maker teeth cracker.
************** Check it out
posted on December 30, 2006 06:06:18 PM new
Aha! I had Afrin as my best friend for many, many years. (BTW there is a prescription steroid nose spray which helps kick the habit fairly painlessly). I developed a chronic sinus infection which gave me severe toothaches and earaches. My internist (a brilliant super-educated Iraqi woman immigrant whom I agreed to disagree with on her support of Geo. Bush, Sr. until Desert storm - boy, was SHE disappointed, a whole story in itself - she also was a devout Catholic who was a volunteer with and good buds with Mother Therese) made room for me before I could see my dentist. She prescribed increasingly powerful antibiotics which had no effect. Finally, she tried a mild antifungal and my problems were over. Yeast, normally found in our bodies, can be a nasty invader if you defenses are down. I still wonder if Afrin usage was a contributing factor. In any case, ask for a culture that will diagnose if fungus is amongus.
[ edited by pixiamom on Dec 30, 2006 06:07 PM ]
[ edited by pixiamom on Dec 30, 2006 06:17 PM ]
posted on December 30, 2006 06:52:27 PM newSemi-Update:
Pain became severe this morning (5 on scale of 10)...
Then, I thought I was having CHEST PAINS...
Then I thought I was having pains down my left arm...
So, I had a PANIC ATTACK that the infection from my tooth was becoming systemic...
After about 1 hour of this baloney, I called my kid & he drove up from Palm CoasT (50mi away) with his 2 girls (13 & 10) and took me to StLuke's ER (a really wonderful hospital I can ONLY goto for emerg's)...
After about 5 hours the verdict was: EVERYTHING NORMAL -- BLOOD + EKG + PE = NORMAL
So, that's GREAT NEWS, but I feel like a COMPLETE HORSES ASS!
...and the pain has subsided down to a tolerable 2-3...
THANK GOD, ER visits for me ONLY cost $50...
I'm gonna go pass out now & hope the am is better & I'll write a real UPDATE...
Tom & Ralphie
Actually, the ER Doc wanted to admit me for another blood test and stress test but I didn't have the "heart" to tell him that I CAN'T be an inpatient at StLuke's...I'm on an HMO, so, for EMERGENCIES, I can go ANYWHERE, but as an INPATIENT, I have to be admitted to SHANDS...
StLuke's is ONLY 5 min from me & Ralphie, but SHANDS is way downtown JAX & I hate that place...
So, he discharged me with the proviso that I start ASPIRIN asap & call my PCP on TUES for a STAT stress test...
But, I can sure now understand why guys IGNORE warning signs of a heart attack -- the EMBARASSMENT of a FALSE ALARM is pretty bad & I feel awful that I dragged my kid up here for a ...PANIC ATTACK...
posted on December 30, 2006 07:15:27 PM new
you don't like Shands? I'm surprised to say the least. That's who I did home health for over in Jax and I was very impressed with how they operated! They were worlds beyond this dinky little town here! Everyone I worked with was actually happy they worked for Shands.
but how did the Friday Dr. visit go or did you return to see him?
It's all the agony ya go thru to get to them that's hell there...
I've tried to re-schedule my tummy-LOOKsees at least 3 times, but keep getting lost in unending menus and stupid call-backs...
2 years ago, I had surgery on my thumb there for trigger-finger: it took SEVEN DIFFERENT PEOPLE in the OR before anybody could start an IV...
I just really hate that place...
YES, I saw DrDentalDoom on FRIDAY & it was a disaster...It's a LONG STORY that leads in to the pain this AM & my thinking I was having a heart attack today with many interesting plot twists that I'm too emotionally pooped right now to properly relate, which is why I want to walk Ralphie & pass out & when I wake up in the am do a proper job of relating all that happened -- believe me, ya donna wanna miss THIS soap opera...
posted on December 30, 2006 08:12:37 PM new
Tom, Don't feel embarrassed about going to the ER--it was the right thing to do. Better to be safe than sorry. Glad you had EKG and blood tests. Go have the stress test too. Sometimes heart problems manifest themselves with jaw and tooth pain. Hope you feel better real soon--like now! Chris
posted on December 31, 2006 06:17:21 AM new
Tom it is so sad to hear all the pain you are in. If there is anything I can do please just email me and let me know.
posted on December 31, 2006 07:32:26 AM new
Soap Opera - We'll stay tuned for "As the Stomach Turns". Geez, I hope you feel better soon. Glad to hear Ralphie is OK. You were right to go to ER for chest pains, real or not, especially with the pain in the arm. I had the same symptoms and sure enough, I had a mild one but had good care.
posted on December 31, 2006 08:04:26 AM newUPDATE:
Friday's visit with the FANG-FIEND (Dr Dental-Doom) was truly bizarro:
I show up for my 12pm appointment, eagerly anticipating the END of the pain...
At 1:00pm, he comes out, states it's going to be another 1/2 hour before he can get to me -- DID I WANT TO RE-SCHEDULE (??? !!!)...
Summoning up my bestest RALPHIE-HATES-CATS stare, I said "NO!"
Finally, at 1:45, he sees me & FINALLY opens the tooth... I've had around 10-12 RCs in the past (most of which are complicated, which I had warned him), and, if the treated tooth hurts, opening it instantly relieves the pain...BUT NOT THIS TIME! As soon as he opened it and irrigated it, the tooth began to throb & ache fiercely (plus it SMELLED really BAD)& I informed him of this. Which he responded with "Yada, yada, blah, blah," and proceeded to stick one of his RC-files into the tooth...
He hit sumptin & my butt flew about 3 feet into the air -- twas like he had plugged my ear into an electrical socket! I just about had a complete breakdown at that point! So, he NUMBED a dead tooth by numbing my entire left side -- thought I was going to choke on my tongue, I was so numb everywhere...
He finishes with the files & irrigation, etc, etc, and closes back up & then asks for the BALANCE DUE...and this is when things get REALLY incredibly awful...
This putz is the ultimate poster-boy for...CHUTZPAH:
REMEMBER: i had returned to him 4 days post-RC complaining of pain ever since 24hrs after he did it and he neither x-rayed the tooth nor opened it, but did "file" down some teeth saying that might help. What the hell do I know? I'm in so much pain, I don't even think about what he's doing, as it's an emergency RETURN visit after a procedure he did just 4 days previously...
REMEMBER: the TUESDAY before XMAS I returned for the regularly scheduled appointment to finish the RC &, after 2 hours wait, he tried to brush me off, but finally did see me for 5 minutes -- again, NO X-RAY + NO opening the tooth, but, again, he "filed" some teeth, saying that this "adjustment" might help with the pain (!!!)...
So, the RC cost $680, but, I had paid him $500 at the last visit, so (in my mind), the BALANCE DUE = $180.
I whipped out the $180 (THANK YOU EVERYBODY) & handed it to him & said we're all square now, right?
Not so fast, Oh-Daddy-Of-Young-Ralph...
DrDentalDoom says there's an additional BALANCE DUE of...(get this, it's really stunning)...$90!
"Say what???!!!" I practically screamed!
Yeah! What he does is each time you come in for a POST-PROCEDURE FOLLOW-UP, even if he does NOTHING (like he did 2X in my case), he charges you $45 for "Bite Adjustment" for that 10seconds of filing down yer fangs...
THAT WAY, he doesn't have to make no moola on a POST-PROCEDURE RETURN VISIT....
I was dumbfounded & flabbergasted! He had neither informed me that his "filing" was a separate procedure, nor did he inform me of a separate charge for this worthless fahting around on my fangs...IN FACT, I NEVER HAD ANY JAW+EAR+TEMPLE PAIN (NO "TMJ" BALONEY) UNTIL HE STARTED THAT "BITE ADJUSTMENT" BS!
I just stood there like a total complete FOOL...speechless with RAGE...
I finally said: "I'll mail you a check," and stormed out of the office...
...and then the SAT ER fun happened, & here we are on SUNDAY, and there's not much pain, but that doesn't mean much, as I haven't eaten anything yet...
posted on December 31, 2006 09:16:38 AM new
This guy reminds me of the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors! How awful for you--a month of suffering because of this schmuck. When you are feeling better, you should document everything and send it to the Florida Board of Dentistry. What a poor excuse for a dentist.
posted on December 31, 2006 06:56:27 PM new
well there you go tom. anybody that goes to a dentist and let's them file down their teeth again and again.....
guess you didn't make the phone call huh?
it's like haha. when she had the print and went to the framer and had a bad feeling about them to begin with and then STILL let them frame her print - and she was horrified at what they did to her print once they had it.
always trust your instincts from the get go.
and then again - I can also see how this relates to Ebay. You know how as a seller when you get a customer that is unhappy with what they received. If they are pleasant about it then you don't want to bash them over the head - but if they are immediately hateful then you just want to tell them to F off.
QUOTE: "I've had around 10-12 RCs in the past (most of which are complicated, which I had warned him)"
see? you went in with a certain expectation.
you DESERVE excellent service. Now just allow it to happen.
posted on January 1, 2007 12:56:31 AM new
Add a new word to Ralphie's vocabulary to describe this dentist: Schmuck
[ edited by pixiamom on Jan 1, 2007 12:57 AM ]
I thought that RC had finally calmed down YESTERDAY, but the pain started back up again this morning (OR? is it that back molar??)...
So, I called DrDentalDoom & demanded a referral to an ENDODONTIST, and I have just returned from him...
Who, btw, trained (residency) at BOSTON UNIV, so we started off on the right track
He x-rayed BOTH teeth...
He opened the RC & thoroughly CLEANED it out (again) and did the FINAL CLOSURE on it and said the pain should be gone in 3 days...
According to him, there was much INFLAMMATION around the tooth, but little in the way of infection, and he put me on Medrol (steroid) and I hope me tummy will abide it...
This guy really seemed to know his stuff & used a microscope and rubber-dam, etc, so, I have GREAT confidence that this is finally over...PLUS, he says that BACK MOLAR is fine, just referred pain...
This little re-treatment of his cost $900 which he was kind enough to send to DrDentalDoom, as opposed to me
MORAL OF THE STORY: don't let GP-dentists do a root canal on me EVER AGAIN!!
THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYBODY HERE AND ALL PLEASE HAVE A SAFE & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
posted on January 2, 2007 10:47:19 AM new
Tom, I am so glad to hear that you finally got to see a real dentist. That DrNUTZ was not helping you in the least.
This is great news.
ALSO ...THANK YOU!
Thank you, for always being very helpful , sharing needed information. Also for sharing laffs, your views,for sharing YOU.
That is such a KIND thing to say, & I seriously doublt I deserve it...
The past 35 days have been sumptin -- HELL of a diet, I can tell ya! Have lost 12lbs x 12/1, which is a GOOD thing -- Ralphie had been doing better on HIS diet than I had, but, I have FAT-BOY beat NOW
The ENDODONTIST spent over 1 hour on dat tooth. The fact that he charged me NOTHING, leads me to believe that he & DrDentalDoom have an "understanding" and this ain't the first time for a disaster like this...
Now comes the CROWN, etc in a few weeks + I have to get my FRONT FANG fixed quick before I lose it & look like a pirate...
When the ENDO's secretary sat me in his chair, she said the charge for EXAM + R-RAYS = $80, and, if he did a TREATMENT, it would be $900 (YIKES!) and they're HAPPY to accept MC + VISA, etc...
So, I'm really a basket case, and, when he comes in, I tell him that I just spent $680 at DrDentalDoom's for a RC, and couldn't pay him the FEE today -- and (bless his heart), he said don't worry, he sends the charge to the other guy, that they aren't going to charge me TWICE for the same tooth...
When I had paid the jerk the $500, it was moola I didn't have (twas RENT money) and he didn't seem particularily enthusiastic to FINISH until I came up with the BALANCE, and then he pulled that EXTRA $90 BS & I blew a FUSE...
BECAUSE OF THE KINDNESS & GENEROSITY of ALL YOU FOLKS HERE, I can finish that tooth + get two others fixed, including my FRONT TOOTH that (back in OCT) Dr Jerk had recommended a (you guessed right if you said): ROOT CANAL!
Chris
