Lupus and my body!

Welcome to my world or the world as I know it.

My daily struggles with Lupus. So last Friday I had to get four of my teeth removed. Simple easy peasy stuff right? Wrong! Before I even went to the dentist which was a week before my extraction(s) I had to get a checkup of my teeth first. I went to the dentist and asked me when was I last in the dentist's office I stated, to be honest, I have not been in the dentist's office in maybe 20 years or so. I like so many people have a phobia of the dentist and the drills they use and the drilling noise drives me bananas. She began to look in my mouth and stated that my teeth looks pretty good given the fact that I have not been there in so long. I have no cavities and all seems well. I took pride in that and told my daughter see nothing to worry about. She did say she saw that I had my wisdom teeth in and asked if they bothered me I said yes and then she made an appointment for me to get them extracted. Made the appointment for me for that following Sunday. I came home and upon coming home I get a call from the dentist's office. She stated what kind of valve you have I stated a mechanical valve she immediately said I sent you a prescription to your pharmacy take 4 capsules today for today's exam and take 4 on the day of the extraction. I said ok. I did not even know that I have to take antibiotics before a regular check-up. The things you find out.

Extraction Day

So the Friday comes when I have to have my teeth removed. It is my wisdom teeth so it is normal right? So as per the instructions given to me I did not eat anything after midnight, well they said 6 hours prior to my appointment but I took it to be nothing after 12am. Woke up and prayed like I never prayed before. Prayed the night before as well and just prayed that let God will be done and that the orthodontist is not in charge that the almighty is in charge and he will be doing the surgery on my mouth that day. Drank my pills an hour before my appointment and waited for the bus which was taking too long so I decided I would cab it. Did I mention they stated that I needed someone to be there with me because they were going to put me to sleep to do the procedure?

Nervous wreck

So I get there 1/2 an hour before my scheduled time and fill out the paperwork. Sit down and nervously waited with my oldest child. Getting antsier by the second is oldest she stated the antibiotics work after a certain amount of time. Because the people are taking way too long for me they are lucky I have not gone up there already. If I did I think I would be in handcuffs right now. So I go up to the receptionist to explain my situation and that I have a mechanical valve and I already took my antibiotics and it is not going to work because my appointment was for 11 but I did not get seen yet and it's going on 1230 pm. She stated I was next. I got a little antsy myself and explained why you put me for 11 when I took my medication an hour before as instructed by my dentist. This is ridiculous. I think at that time that I too was a bit anxious. There was a water fountain in there but I could not drink any, or so I thought. 1 pm comes by and they finally called me to the back. I handed my daughter my apple watch and my purse and headed to the back.

Prayed over the doctor's hands

So the orthodontist brings up my x-rays and says that I needed to take out 4 teeth but he explained to me that one of my teeth is right by a nerve I shake my head I know he told me what would or could happen I said I am here for the long haul. I did not take my shot that morning because I knew that I would bleed too much he asked what shot and what is it for. He TRIES to start an IV on me. After the first miss, he asked me where they usually go I stated I have been stuck since the age of 16 all my veins are worn out so they do where ever they can and it does not help that I did not drink water this morning because I am parched at this time. He tries two more times and has no luck. He said well looks like we taking out the one and the other two on the bottom you are going to have to do it in a hospital setting. I nodded and then he began to put a needle in my mouth which does NOT feel like a bee sting but something much worse and walked away and says it needs time to work. I pray once more before he comes back and takes out my tooth. Was it worth it? I still do not know. He sent me home with antibiotics and I picked them up from the pharmacy. Came home but on day 4 when pain and blood clots were coming out I went back to the dentist who saw me right away and said he saw a little infection he numbed me and scared my tooth I said don't I need stitches he said no it is not by a bone is should heal up on its own just keep using the gauze I provided and it will be alright. That is the story of how I had my tooth extracted.

The moral of the story when you have an illness that affects you daily, the simplest things such as a tooth cleaning or an extraction can be deadly so keep on top of your health at all times