Tuesday, 11/9/10

Doug is doing very well and his final, finished, zircon crowns will be ready by Friday.

I, however, am a different story. They did have to remove the tooth. I thought it would be small -- I mean, seriously, the tooth on top is the size of what -- a couple of kernels of corn? It's a back molar for pity's sake. The hole in my head feels like the Grand Canyon - what they had to do is something I'm just not going to share because I don't know if any of you are trying to eat right now and I'd hate to ruin your appetite.
Suffice it to say there are tons of stitches and two separate bone grafts.

When they were done and I got out of the chair, my body was so "shocky" I began shaking and couldn't stop -- God bless Doug -- he wrapped me in his jacket then wrapped me in his arms. We got back to the Christina and he gave me my meds, tucked me into bed with a movie (Despicible Me) and took care of me all night. I got up at 4AM and have been up since.

We had to go back today, they wanted to take an impression for a long-term temporary for me, there is just so much going on between the grafts and stitches we're going to try again tomorrow.

We had the afternoon to kill and since we've done La Paz and the butterfly farm and the coffee plantations and the volcanos we opted for the large mall in Escazu. This mall is three levels with everything from Tiffany and the big designers to dona dona (the little donut shop). The floors are mirror-like, the glass is spotless, the stores are fully stocked and fully staffed. There are some Ticos window shopping and the food court is busy but it has a surreal feel to it. There are very few shoppers or lookers -- the staff in the stores are obviously bored. Weird, weird, weird. We can only assume that the mall was built for expats and tourists and must be funded by the government because there is no way these stores are supporting themselves.

There WAS one store that I just had to go into -- Costa Rican woods and pottery, art glass and painted feathers -- candles and coffee and candy -- perfume and ceremonial masks. Ah, local arts, why would I buy a pair of stunning heels in Nine West if I can get them at the outlet mall in Florida, but local work -- yeah, that's what I crave. Christmas shopping and thank you gifts were purchased and I found a new fragrance that I adore -- wild green orchids -- oh, joy -- I smell yummy.

Oh, my face hurts -- it's swollen, I'm tired. When we were here in June and Doug went through ALL that work, I had sympathy and I did all I could for him. Having had this done -- not only do I have empathy but I'll tell you what -- if I had to have six more of these (heck, if I had two more of these) to do -- he would be pulling down the street by my heels as my nails made scars in the cement sidewalks.

Let me say this though -- these doctors are artists -- when the needles go in, you don't feel it, they talk to you the entire time -- they go at the procedures from (their words) "a slow, calm place". They monitor your blood pressure and oxygen levels. I know for a fact, even through my holy terrors, that I am in good, competent and caring hands.

This part of the blog isn't nearly as amusing as the first and I'm sorry for that. Boredom battles with the discomfort and I'm pretty sure that tomorrow we'll be crawling the walls and counting the floor tiles.