Chills and Fever

I feel sick. I have two reasons in mind as to how I got this way.

The first is mold-allergy related. Though I haven't been tested, I'm pretty sure I have a mold allergy.

Blight is a fungal disease. I recently removed all the blighted potatoes and tomatoes from my garden, to the pleading of CDCG. The next night, I awaken myself with a wheezy cough. My joints ache. My head hurts.

Also, it could be this.

I was at the dentist the other day. I know they take precautions to not spread diseases, but several hands in your mouth for a period of time is a risky deal.

And maybe I just want to blame my dentist because we are about to have a falling out.

There was a two year period when I was going to get a new dentist, closer to where I lived. Finding this new dentist never worked out, and I was under the impression that my mom had called my old dentist to remove my patient status. When I finally clarified this with my mom, the receptionist had to get my file from some dusty filing cabinet reserved for patients they "haven't seen for a year and a half."

This time without dentist appointments was worse than I would have thought. "You have decay in 11 teeth," they told me.

Not 11 cavities. 11 teeth. Expletive. I'd maybe had one or two before this. Perhaps flossing is important.

At my last checkup, they mention a couple spots to watch. I mention my ensuing loss of insurance. They decide to drill these problem areas.

The other day, I went in for what I believed to be the only appointment for drilling. They never tell me what is happening in my mouth, and I usually am not quite sure how many cavities they've filled. I have no clue how many fillings I have. They are all tooth colored. They don't show themselves.

I had actually been looking forward to this appointment because some of my molars have become sensitive to cold, sweet, and acidic. Rear molars on either side of my mouth.

After they dental hygienist moves aside the tray of tools and tells me I'm "all set," I look at her concerned. They've only drilled on one side of my mouth. "I've been experiencing pain on the other side of my mouth," I tell her, as articulately as possible considering the novocaine. She looks at my papers and goes to get the dentist.

Mind you, this is the same dentist I've been going to al my life. I really respect this man's dental abilities.

He comes in and I try to explain to him that I've been experiencing some pain on both sides with cold, acidic, and sweet and that I thought he was going to be drilling on the other side.

Sweet is like a trigger word for him. He launches into a tyrade of self-righteous "you shouldn't eat sugars"-ing. "No, no, strawberries," I tell him. That the pain is from fruit sugars does not concern him. He makes a circle with his thumb and his index finger. "This is how much sugar you should have each day," he tells me. I try to defend myself, I don't really eat that much candy or anything. He asks what I do for a living. "I'm a substitute teacher," I tell him. "What's on your desk?" he asks, which isn't quite the right question, as I typically don't have a desk I feel comfortable enough to keep my drink at. I don't post this concern. "A canteen of water." "What do you put in the water?" he asks, like I'm trying to get away with something.

"Nothing." I'm now getting pretty perturbed. He goes on a rant about how the neanderthals never had cavaties, and if we ate like them, we wouldn't either.

He also asked me how I take my fruit, if I put anything on it, etc. This is a really weird question to me, because I don't actually have fruit rituals. I eat fruit when I can, but it is expensive. Sometimes I cut it up, sometimes I eat it whole, sometimes I can't afford it.

"If you eat it and are done with it," he tells me, "that's fine; but if you cut it up and pick at it all day..." he shakes his head.

"I bought a box of strawberries. I ate a strawberry. It caused pain in my teeth."

He looks at my xrays and sees nothing. "Nothing there," he tells me.

I take my finger and try to identify the area of my teeth that hurts. If I bite down hard, I can feel it.

He looks in with his tools. He finds nothing. He remains utterly unsympathetic, again telling me that I should consume little to no sugars, including carbohydrates in this. This man will NOT get me on the Atkins. He scolds me that I am too susceptible to cavities, that I have had too many cavities in my life, and that as soon as I apply sugar to my teeth, I'm done for.

I can't help but think:

Seriously? Screw yourself. You have been my dentist for at least 20 years, and you have my dental history in front of you and you can't even recognize that my huge amount of cavities did not come about until AFTER my 2 year lack of dentist visits. Also, this is the THIRD time he has asked me what I drink all day, and what my occupation is. If I never had any cavities, I would have no need to see him, and if everyone followed suit, he wouldn't have a job,

PLUS when I tell you my tooth hurts, I don't need a lecture, I need you to identify the problem and FIX IT.

While I will floss more, I am CERTAINLY not going to stop eating fruit.

QUE TE DEN.

Ay.

So yea, I just sort of feel like blaming him for my sickness.