Of Conventions, Heatwaves, & Medical Mutterings

I had an awesome time participating in the virtual aspects of the ACB (American Council of the Blind)'s convention at the start of July.  I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it! I kind of wish it hadn't ended when it did.  Only kind of, because there were some regular community calls I was missing.  But still.

 

I love being part of the ACB Community, and feel really lucky to have also been able to be a part of the ACB's convention.  I hope I can be a part of it next year too, and am already looking forward to it.

 

Besides that though, it's been a rough few weeks.

If you don't want to hear about why, you're welcome to skip the rest of this post.

 

 ~

 

The weather has been way too hot.  You’ve probably heard about it, since a lot of people seem to have.  Thankfully it’s been a little bit cooler here in Wales than it has in places like London, making me incredibly glad we moved back here a couple of years ago, since temperatures in Hastings are usually pretty close to those in London.  It’s still been WAY too hot though, especially for people like me who don’t deal with hot weather too well.

 

And, before anyone comments on the fact it’s been hotter in other places – parts of the US, for example – let me just remind anyone who may have forgotten, or tell anyone who doesn’t know, that the UK isn’t used to this kind of heat, and we don’t have air conditioning.  Try dealing with temperatures hovering around 90F (and that’s just the temperatures here… Like I said, it’s been worse in some areas) without air conditioning, and you’ll know why I’ve been having a hard time with it.

 

The dogs haven’t been enjoying it either.  In fact, a couple of times even Artemis has clearly decided it’s too warm to be doing anything.  Yeah, you know it’s hot when the Mediterranean tortoise thinks it’s hot.

 

~

 

I was having a hard time for another reason before all the hot weather too, for a totally different reason.

 

Remember the tooth I had pulled? Well, the one beside it needed to be looked at, but the dentist who pulled my tooth just packed it and said my dentist could deal with it when I went for my already scheduled appointment.

 

Unfortunately, some time during the slightly more than five weeks between the tooth being packed and my dentist appointment, the packing stuff came out, taking some of the tooth with it.  Thankfully it wasn’t hurting, though it was a bit annoying.  So, I didn’t worry too much about it.  Anyway, my dentist appointment rolled around on June 29^th.  And my dentist decided the tooth could be repaired, and everything would be fine.

 

Except that’s not exactly what happened.

 

The dentist repaired the tooth, and a couple of hours later I was in agony.  But they said it would likely hurt for a day or so, so I waited until July 1^st to call about it.  They agreed it needed looking at, but between me having an appointment with my haematologist on that day and it being the end of the week I was told they couldn’t do anything until Monday.  Except, when I called back Monday like they told me to so they could fit me in, they couldn’t actually see me until the Tuesday.

 

I wasn’t happy, but took the Tuesday appointment anyhow.  I’d spent several days in agony, unable to drink without using a straw, and only able to eat if it was something runny like runny oatmeal or similar.  But what was one more day, right?

 

Anyway, when I went there Tuesday the dentist took one look at the tooth and said I had a choice between a root canal or a tooth extraction, since not only had the repair not worked properly, but there was a nasty infection in the tooth.  I opted for the tooth extraction, because I wasn’t about to go through a root canal (especially given my luck with medical stuff).

 

Thankfully my dentist was smart enough to do an x-ray to check nerve placement, so I was able to have the area numbed for the tooth to be pulled (though it did take four vials of the strongest stuff they could give me).  Unfortunately, when the stuff wore off a little over an hour later there was nothing I could do about my nerves screaming in protest about the tooth being removed except cry and hold a cold cloth to my face in hopes I could numb it enough to ease at least some of the pain.

 

Oh, and the other thing is that, despite the clear presence of an infection – not to mention my previous experience – they apparently couldn’t authorize me to have antibiotics on the Tuesday, so I had to wait until the Thursday to have a telephone consultation, at which point they finally agreed maybe I should have some antibiotics.  It was all I could do to just politely thank them and not give some version of, “Yeah? No kidding!” (or something less polite).

 

By the time I could actually eat properly again, I’d been on a runny oatmeal and soya yogurt diet for about a week and a half.  I like oatmeal, and I like soya yogurt, but I’m very happy to be able to eat other things again.

 

~

 

And, yes, I did still do the hosting for some of the virtual aspects of the ACB’s convention, and even attended some events as a participant.  Yes, even though I was in a lot of pain during that week.

 

I have to admit, there was a point where I almost sent out a message saying I couldn’t host.  On the day when I had the tooth pulled there was a point where I wasn’t sure I could do it.  But I was determined to try, knew I could call in help if I was struggling, and actually it turned out the Zoom calls were an excellent distraction from the pain.  I mean, I couldn’t completely ignore it, but they gave me something to focus on besides the pain, which helped me get through those days.

That isn't why I'm grateful I was able to be a part of it all.  I just am in general.  It was interesting, fun, and so much more.  As distractions go I definitely had one of the best I could have had, that's for sure.

 

I still owe me some cake for the pitty parties I threw between calls though.  LOL!

 

~

 

On a more positive note: my hemotologist appointment went well.

 

My kidney function and haemoglobin levels are staying nicely in the normal range, and my platelets – while technically considered lower than they should be – are staying in what they’re calling “my” normal and are at least high enough that nothing needs to be done about it.  So, unless something happens between now and then to make them need to check it out, I don’t have to go back to have my levels checked for several months (it will be just before or just after Christmas I’m due to be seen again).

 

So, at least I’m leaving those of you who stuck around to read the whole post with some good news.

~

Also, to add a bit more to the positive note: today (July 22^nd 2022) marks three years since I officially went vegan.

 

I’d been eating a mostly vegan diet before that, but I made it official three years ago today.

 

I know it’s not the right thing for everyone, but I feel like it was the best thing I could do for myself, and am glad I made the switch to being fully vegan.  Especially since, interestingly, my kidney function has been a lot better since I did so.  I did mention this to them when I was at the hospital, and they said it could be that my kidneys are finding it easier to process the plant-based proteins than they were those in the animal products.  They were also impressed that I was keeping my hemoglobin level so good on a vegan diet, since a lot of people struggle with that.