So Easter Sunday I spent a lot of the day thinking about my Mom (she passed away 9 years ago on Easter). I often think about what it would be like to be with her…sometimes I just can’t wait to be with her again.
BUT I’VE LEARNED YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR….BECAUSE:
The next day (last Monday), I was making my second trip down to Mexico to get some dental work done. (I’ve been going with my friend and her mom, because dental work is like 1/4 of the price there). Well, to make a really long drawn out story short…I had a tooth that the nerves were dying and I desperately needed a root canal. I was in so much pain walking into the office that day. He took me back first and popped my crown off to get started with the root canal. Before he could deadin it…I was IN SO MUCH PAIN! I told him to just numb me as quick as possible. He started shooting up my cheek with novocaine…but it wasn’t working. The pain kept getting worse. He told me to be brave for 20 seconds while he drilled into my tooth (without numbing mind you) so he could drill straight down to the nerve in the tooth. Then he grabbed a little vile of different anesthetics to numb straight in the tooth. He squeezed it straight into the tooth and a bunch of it shot out and I inhaled it. My throat, esophagus, and lungs, instantly went numb. I then realized I couldn’t breath. I jumped up and went to tell the dentist “I CAN’T BREATH” and nothing came out….I COULDN’T EVEN TALK!!! He realized what was happening and tried his best to calm me down. For 15 minutes he had to coach me to take the best breathes I could through my nose…because getting a breath through my mouth was impossible. I felt like I was going to lose consciousness. I was struggling to breath…and knew if I panicked it was only going to get worse. BUT THE BIGGEST FEAR WAS THAT HERE I WAS….BARELY BREATHING…AND IN A GHETTO TOWN IN MEXICO! I knew if I was in the US my chances of surviving would be really good….but in Mexico???…Not so sure! It took every bit of strength inside of me not to cry. I knew if I started crying I would pass out for sure.
Meanwhile, my friend and her mom were out roaming the streets. My friend got the impression she needed to return to the clinic. As she walked in (15 min after it started happening) I was finally able to whisper to the dentist “I’m chocking on my spit”. She heard from the lobby and came running in to see me. That’s when I really had to fight the tears. She sat next to me trying to devise a plan of how she was going to save me. She even considered throwing me over her shoulders…running me across the boarder (which was only a 1/2 block away) and calling an ambulance. But the dentist was confident that I could pull out of this. He called in an oxygen machine and other vital machines to be hooked up to me. They monitored me for 1 1/2 hours. I remember feeling so tired, and worried if I fell asleep I wouldn’t wake up. But I couldn’t help it…and I would drift off occasionally. My friend was there watching my chest (to make sure it was going up and down)…and everytime I would drift off she said I would stop breathing. (Which I always felt that way…because I would wake up panicking trying to catch a breath). Finally, after 1 1/2 hrs I was able to cough (music to all of our ears). I started crying and just wanted to get up and go cross the boarder. But I HAD TO STAY and finish what we started because he drilled all the way down to the nerves…and if it was left open it would be too painful to bare.
So we tried to finish the root canal with no numbing…but I was SCREAMING IN PAIN! So he carefully monitored more anesthesia…just enough to get me through the root canal. When all was said and done…I was in the dentist chair from 11:30 to 4:30 (5 hours!). My back was KILLING ME…because I was so tense that whole time.
During the 1 1/2 hrs I struggled to breath…I kept thinking…. “I’m just kidding…I’m not ready yet to die. Yes, I’m excited to see my Mom…but not yet. I have 3 beautiful children to raise first”. Plus, I want to die in Rich’s arms…not in some podunk town in Mexico.” (Seriously who would have thought a dentist trip could be so dangerous?)
Well the dentist is convinced I’m allergic to the anesthesia he gave me. He’s never had anyone react to inhaling it like that before!
So do I regret going to Mexico for dental treatments?….Well now that I’m alive and well….NOPE! It saved me about $1200. Not really worth my life…but maybe worth a good scare:)
