the downside of bohemia...

Ok...so, just over a year ago my friend Maia convinced me to go to the dentist with her. There was a tooth that I suspected could be pulled and she needed some work done and some moral support. The dentist was a lovely young woman and she was very gentle. She told me that it was actually the tooth next to the one I thought was a problem and it had a cavity...she drilled and filled it and I was filled with the most incredible lightness of being as I realised that that feeling of heaviness that I'd had for beyond recall was actually pain. It was amazing to be without the pain. I was warned by another friend who as a result of having had dental work done in Maldives, consequently lost 3 teeth that it was a bad idea to have anything done there.

A few months later, the dull pain began again, this time worse than before. Being used to pain as just part of my background feelings since I was a girl(backpain, neck pain, toothpain, headaches, etc) I didn't really notice at first. It just registered as "something funny in a heavy sort of way that made thinking more difficult..." By the time I went to Thailand I DID recognize it was in fact pain and growing bigger, but I didn't do anything about it. Would that I did! It would have been cheap there...now I'm back in Europe with little to no money and the most tremendous pain in my back tooth/teeth on my right side. Like it or not, I'm going to have to find a dentist soon or attempt to kill it with an ice-skate (see Castaway). I've taken 3 painkillers tonight and I'm still waiting for enough relief to sleep. As I lay in my bed, I realise now why I didn't sleep the last two nights...while it's my habit to ignore the pain, my body is nonetheless aware and sleep is usually out of reach.