Treatment #7 and root canal!

I had a rough week last week. I’d had some jaw pain before my last treatment, and I thought it was TMJ and getting better after I massaged it, but I woke up in a lot of pain Friday morning. I called our dentist and they were closed Friday until Monday. Same with our local dentist I’ve used for some things. I decided to call our local dentist’s emergency number rather than the on call dentists I’d never met, and he (Dr Art Lyford) and his wife Sophie came in Friday afternoon. He quickly determined the tooth was cracked, but it could be saved, and should be to avoid needing an implant in the middle of chemo. It needed a root canal, and he was able to do it right away. It felt better immediately, but around 2:30 am Saturday night, I woke up with a throbbing tooth. I called Art, and he met me at his office before 3 am!

He took out the temporary cap, re-opened the roots and cleaned them out, used a laser to try to kill any remaining germs, and sealed it back up again. I was back in bed pain-free by 4:30. Sunday and Monday night, I slept propped up and took more Tylenol, and made it through the nights without waking up. It’s much better, and I can even chew a bit on that side, but it still aches a bit in the evenings.

I am SO grateful that Art was willing to come in for two emergency dental procedures!

Then Wednesday I had chemo of just Taxol. Preceded by saline, a steroid, anti-nausea drugs Dex and Pepsid, and half the amount of Benadryl. It made me sleepy and I mumbled, but wasn’t loopy. I didn’t realize she’d already started the Benadryl, and I said to Frank, “It’s strange, but I feel like I’m mumbling and they haven’t started the Benadryl yet!” He let me know they had indeed already started it! The chill mittens and socks were a bit more noticeable with less Benadryl, but still ok. I listened to podcasts while I wore those. Since there was no oncology appointment, it went from 2 pm to get the IV to 3 pm chemo, and I was done by 5:30. It might have been sooner, but I forgot to check in at one of the steps, so they had to come looking for us!

I brought a food heater to plug in this time, as they don’t have a microwave. Had some warm soft meatloaf, scrambled eggs, and sautéed veggies, as well as cold mango. I ate some before the cold mittens, and the rest on the way home. Still was doing the soft foods to baby my tooth, but I am pleased to report that I ate a salad for dinner with no problems, and last night and this morning have no pain at all! 

I’m hopeful that all the tiredness and symptoms I experienced last week were due to the tooth issues. This week will be a clearer picture of how I’ll react to all the upcoming treatments. So far I am just a bit tired, so I'm pretty happy!

Frank carrying all the gear! Cooler is full of chill mittens and socks.

I wore a pair of pants over these to be warm enough, but I 

had wild leggings and socks going on underneath!