Day 4248

I was aprehensive about my root canal today, but it all turned out well. The endodontist was very good. The only pain I felt was to my wallet. Yikes. I had no idea a root canal would be $2200. The endodontist said I had unusually deep roots, but I think he was just an expensive dentist. The whole procedure seemed quite complicated. Every time I thought we were done, the endodontist pulled out a different instrument and did something else. 

At one point during the procedure I thought I smelled burning flesh. I mentioned this and the dentist said there was a small amount of dead tissue inside the tooth, but that I might have smelled burning rubber instead. Nope. This was burning flesh. I smelled the same thing when the dermatoligist burned off keratosis growths on my skin. It seems weird to have spent so much money and the tooth looks exactly the same as it did before. I'm glad the root canal is done though. It's one more loathsome thing I can check off my list.

I didn't have my smoothie this morning and didn't feel like eating much for dinner tonight. This is as close to dieting as I get. Tomorrow I'll be back on my regular schedule. The numbness in my mouth has finally worn off and their is no pain or soreness in the tooth. It's weird when your entire tongue feels numb. A dentist is a lot like a fancy mechanic in many ways. As I listened to the endodontist ask his assistant for different tools this morning, it sounded a lot like they were working on a car.

We tried to get Dawn to walk a little longer this morning because we knew she would be alone for a while inside the house. She wasn't interested though and just wanted to do her short one mile loop. She has to wear a cone now while we are away. Just to make sure I won't have to wash all the bedding again, I put a waterproof drop cloth on the bed as well. On top of this goes Dawn's favorite dog blanket. It all works out pretty well, but I still feel bad that she has to wear the cone. I tried to make it up to her when I returned home. I sat outside with her for at least half an hour and she had a good time rolling in the grass.

When the anesthetics wore off about mid afternoon I decided to go to the gym. There was a huge traffic jam at the Covid testing site today and I had to take a detour. Something has clearly changed. This site has been here for quite a while, but I've never seen so many people waiting to be tested before. There were more people wearing masks while they exercised at the gym today as well. I hope the gym doesn't close again. It might though. We are definitely headed in the wrong direction.

Dawn goes back to the vet tomorrow for some more tests. Hopefully the MRSA infection is gone now. I keep thinking that this has to be related to the itching and paw licking. There's always a chance that the licking is purely a behavioral problem, but this doesn't make sense to me because Dawn has been with us for well over a year and never began obsessively licking her skin until recently. Old vet records show that Dawn had a bacterial infection when she entered the rescue program. Maybe the initial treatment she received didn't completely clear up the infection and it gradually returned. Who knows at this point. We've got to get this problem solved though. Dawn is not a happy dog right now.

I've got to get my car safety inspected soon. It's time for a new sticker again. I guess I might as well make an appointment for my regular scheduled maintenance as well. I hate to throw even more money down the drain, but I'm tired of seeing that 'service required' light come on every time I start the car. I wish I'd have a month or two with no expenses at all. That's not going to happen though.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day