Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Battered, Bruised and Hungry


If anyone is still reading this blog – I am so very sorry that I haven’t updated (not that anyone was holding their breath) or even bothered to respond to all your lovely comments. I’ve just been going through a blue funk for the last month. Punctuated by bouts of whirlwind social activity. Or extreme lethargy.
So it’s not been the best month so far. A lot of things that I don’t want to happen are going to happen very soon, and I keep thinking about it, and it makes me very cranky, annoyed and hard done by. A lot of things I want to happen are also hopefully going to happen, but that’s not happening for much longer so I get frustrated thinking about it, and then realising that its really far off, and getting cranky all over again. I feel like this year, I’m just waiting for September to come, so I can start this exciting new phase of my life then, and I HATE the fact that I’m not really living in the now, but just waiting for the future to come.
Now that I’ve sounded suitably vague and mysterious and angsty, you’d think I’d leave it when the going is good and spare you further details. But alas, innocent reader, that is not to be. I shall now entertain you (not!) with the gory details of the especially awful week that has just gone by. To start with, I slipped and fell down and hurt myself pretty badly – bruised knees, aching back, scratches on my feet, the works. After a few days of this pain, I was recovering and beginning to feel better, but then I did something to my neck, and it hurt so bad that for two nights I couldn't sleep because of the pain that kept shooting through my neck and right shoulder every time I turned in my sleep. Of course, I kept moaning and screaming loudly enough to keep waking up poor Nike who kept rubbing balm through the night*.
The crowning glory (pun unintended) was the visit to the dentist on Sunday for dental flap surgery. *GORY DETAILS AHEAD* It basically involved separating my gums from my teeth, after which they are folded back like a flap so the dentist has direct access to the roots and bone. The dentist then removes infected tissue, plaque and tartar from this area, and then stitches the gums back in place. *END OF GORY DETAILS*
I have a very low (read non-existent) threshold for pain and communicated my discomfort very clearly to my dentist so he suggested we do it in two sittings. This weekend, he did the procedure for the upper set of teeth. I was given anaesthesia so it was totally pain-free but I could feel that he was putting pressure on my teeth/gums/root and I could hear all the scraping and I could see all the blood so that really freaked me out; to distract myself, I focused on how fat I would become if I put on a kilo every year. How would I look at 40? At 60? What would be the ideal age to die if I wanted to die before I got too fat?
Anyway, after such delightful ruminations on the dental chair, I came back home with a blood soaked mouth and swollen cheeks. As I examined myself in the mirror, I was horrified to discover that my gums has become completely misshapen – until Nike pointed out that I was looking at blood soaked cotton! I took painkillers and antibiotics and slept through the day.
I also mumbled my way through a lot of phone calls from all the friends and family with whom I had discussed it like what I had undergone was the world’s most revolutionary surgery. My dad, very touchingly, called me half a dozen times through the day to see how I was doing. My mother, who had gone through the same procedure a couple of years ago, was regretfully very cavalier about it – I’m still thinking of ways to guilt trip her over this.
It was also Cousin M’s birthday so we all went to dinner to Serengeti. It was an unfortunate choice of restaurant because the food smelled absolutely divine and made me very hungry. While my entire meal consisted of two pieces of paneer tikka. I am still drooling at the thought of the chilli olive naan. Though I suppose I could live much longer before I reached my fat threshold if I ate so little every day.
The whole post-procedure experience has been pain-free, though there’s mild discomfort before sleeping and after getting up, I guess when the effect of the painkillers has worn off. I worked from home on Monday because the process of dental care was too messy to subject my colleagues to. And I had curd rice with the yummiest, most delicious and juicy mangoes.
I wanted to watch Ishaqzaade today but decided to postpone it till I am in a condition where I can eat popcorn during the movie (or fries. I’m not a big fan of fries but the INOX snack counter at GVK One serves wonderfully fresh fries, even though in incredulously tiny quantities). So  Nike bought me ice apples so I’d have something soft to eat through my television marathon today evening (Junior Master Chef, Big Bang Theory, Raising Hope, Scrubs, Amazing Race – I've seen more television in one day that in the whole of last month!). He also made me cold coffee because I felt like it. The next time I whine about him, someone please remind me of what a wonderful, caring, considerate, indulgent person he is, and then knock me on the head with a club.
I’m off to a painkiller induced sleep right now. You all have a Happy Tuesday!

*I am not including minor injuries such as when my friend stomped on my feet in her heels when we were dancing, leaving it bruised. Or when I accidentally jabbed a sharp pencil on my leg, so hard that it created a deep scratch through my jeans. That would make it look like I'm trying to get sympathy (which is absolutely not what this post is about, no sir!)

9 comments:

Apoorv Gawde said...

Fantastic writing! When I grow up, I want to be able to write like you do... :P

Anonymous said...

OUCH. that sounds awful. if youre trying to get sympathy, let me tell you it really sounds like you need it. and that gum procedure - ZOMG - i have a non existent threshold for pain too. and a mortal fear of dentists. so you had me squrming and wincing in my chair right noww...i hope youre doing better though. hugs!

DI said...

Uh Oh, ok that's a lot of pain to bear at once! :( Get well soon. I do not want to regale my awesome experience with the dentist a couple of years here, though it might make you feel better, because I certainly do not want to revisit the details and make my depressing Thursday afternoon worse.
Take care, and keep us updated! :)

Preeti said...

Awwww..This is bad! I also fell and bruised my knees, but I didn't have to go to a dentist to amplify the misery! Get better soon. Hope this week is better! :)

smartassbride said...

loved how you've written this post! :D :D

(okay, that's a bad week to have, but september is just around the corner!)

Ramya said...

@Apoorv: Thank you, thank you! :-)

@haathi: But but but...don't you have a tattoo? How did you manage that if you have a non-existent pain threshold?

@DI: You're right - other people's horror stories at the dentist tend to cheer me up! Figure that! But I'm much better now. Hope your'e having a great weekend.

@Preeti: Oh..I hope your bruises are better. I'm home in Vizag for the weekend and I'm feeling much better already! ;-)

@SAB: Hehehe! September seems SO long away.Sigh!

Anonymous said...

LOL, the things we'll do for somehting we really want is amazing, Ramya. The tatt was just sheer willpower, and wisdom in placement of said tattoo. The closer you go to bone, the more painful it is. TOo fleshy is also painful, so I just picked a good spot. And I swear it was more bearable than getting my eyebrows threaded!

Ramya said...

@haathi: You're ALMOST tempting me to get a tattoo. But I don't think I can make the leap :D

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