Wednesday was D-day, as in demolish my mouth day. I woke up a little late, Letty and I had a great breakfast at the Omelet Factory in La Mesa and then headed down to TJ on a rain soaked freeway. Anyone that was in San Diego that day can tell you how miserable the roads were. Now imagine throwing that same amount of water on roads where there is NO real traffic laws that are followed and also no real means of drainage of said water. TJ nightmare. The city was flooding. We had a real problem. We couldn't drive our car into Libertad (barrio where the dentist's office is located) because the water was getting too high. Our appointment was in 15 minutes. What to do?
I think Letty and I would do well at that one TV show The Great Race. At least if they edited out all of my yelling and general panicking while my wife calmly handled the situation. I had the idea to get a taxi. Then I realized we had no money. Actually, I had a $10 bill but no one had American change in the spot we were at. Besides, we weren't even sure how much a taxi cost.
We walked into a supermarket over at the Pueblo Amigo shopping Center. We find the ATM machine and are confused when it tells us it only gives out money in increments of $50. I sigh and tell Letty oh well, we need the money so I withdraw $50. Ummm, wrong. That's 50 alright. 50 pesos. Doh! When I looked at the transaction amount later that was about $3.70 with finance charges and everything. It did the trick though as we soon were standing outside waiting for our 30 peso cab to Libertad.
Our cab driver didn't have quite the same fear for his vehicle and natural flooding disasters as we did. We hopped into the cab and it was like Mr. Toad's wild ride through the flooded streets of Tijuana. Actually it was a lot of fun although I'm sure at some point it was pretty dangerous. I actually forgot for a second that I was getting all my teeth pulled out of my head in about ten minutes and just felt the freedom of being in the present as we slid from puddle to puddle. Actually more like stream to stream.
We made it to the office and walked inside. Dr. Rita was there right behind us. She was ready to go to work. I got in the chair. she dropped the chair back and it was time to get her tooth pulling on.
I'm not quite sure what was going through my mind as my teeth were being individually pulled out of my head. I will say that it wasn't a painful experience. Dr. Rita numbed up my mouth but good and the only thing I could feel was the pressure. I only had one tooth that wouldn't numb up because of how infected it was. That one was a little painful coming out.
It's crazy how much blood comes out when a tooth is pulled. Now, take that and times it by sixteen. My head was like a sieve. Lots of blood coming from lots of holes. The longest part of the whole procedure was trying to stop the bleeding enough so that she could pull the next tooth. Finally, the last tooth was pulled (a half buried wisdom tooth) and Dr. Rita leaned back to grab my NEW teeth.
It wasn't a very ceremonious occasion. Pop and they were in. Mind you, there was nothing covering the holes in my head. Except the dentures. She said to use them to apply pressure to my wounds. Alright, I can do that. Unfortunately it didn't work too well. After about 10 minutes the blood started seeping through the teeth. Of course, at this point we are in the back of a cab heading towards Pueblo Amigo.
My head was totally numb so I couldn't feel the blood and spittle coming down my chin until Letty pointed it out to me. I tried to wipe away as much as I could but it wasn't pretty. Finally we arrived at our car and headed back to the border.
The one great thing about the rain as that there was hardly any line heading back to San Diego. I finally had to take the lower denture out because there was so much blood in my mouth that it wouldn't sit right. Letty had been smart enough to purchase some gauze at the farmacia while she waited for me. It took about 8 large gauze but finally I was able to soak up all the blood and get it somewhat under control. When we got to border inspection the agent took one look at me and we were on our way. Viva las Estados Unidos!
It's 6 days since that wonderful day. The teeth look great! My head is finally starting to heal up. I'm getting used to having them in my mouth. It somewhat reminds me of having braces or maybe closer having a retainer. I'm able to eat a little more each day. I am having a problem with my bottom denture, it seems that it's a little loose. I'll have to wait until January to get it fixed. It's not that big a deal unless I try to eat something with it on. I've pretty much started taking it out when I want to eat something substantial, at least when I'm at home.
Maybe this is going to have to be a two part post as that little story took a lot out of me. If I don't get back on to finish, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and thank you all so much for praying for me. I don't think I could have gotten through all of this if I didn't believe that He was there with me, watching over and protecting me. Thanks again.
3 comments:
So glad to hear you're doing well. It was difficult to read about all that blood! I was watching the news that day and saw the horses being rescued in TJ. I was praying for you and Letty. That cracked me up about The Amazing Race. I love that show. Wish my husband would try out for it with me.:) Happy for you about your new teeth. Have a very Merry Christmas, Bub.
Oh, I forgot to ask... how'd ya do in the PokerStars Championships?
I can't wait to see your beautiful smile!
Merry Christmas to you and Letty!!
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