Much Ado About Nothing - Going to the Dentist

I am not a fan of the dental drill. I've had issues since I was about seven. Despite having excellent dental care ever since then, I still cringe when I hear the high pitched whine of that little torture device. In fact, I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to anything other than cleaning. My darling husband - brave in the face of almost every challenge - had dental work done here and they did it without anaesthetic. It didn't bother him at all, but the thought horrified me, even though I know most of the dentists here are trained in North America and Europe and are just trying to keep their clients' budgets in mind.  

Suffice to say that when a shingle-shaped chip came off my front tooth the other day, I wasn't happy.The tooth is mostly composite, a reminder of a childhood accident between my face and the wooden post of some playground equipment. (Thank you, Tony Nolie. No I haven't forgotten you.) Of course, this happened Thursday night, on the eve of the Easter long weekend. (Why don't these things ever happen when it's easy to get an appointment?) I wasn't going to go around for four days with a chipped front tooth, so I girded up my courage and glued the chip back in. It was a process and during the time, I imagined all the things that could go wrong, but it turned out pretty well, except for the crazy glue film over the tooth.

Imagine the upper front tooth (left) with a chip.

Our dentist had an opening on Tuesday morning, so I spent most of Monday fretting about the drill, not having anaesthetic and all the other things that come with a phobia. (Not to mention the fear that the piece would fall out again.) I had to explain to the dentist what happened and that I'd glued the piece back in place (much eye rolling on her part ensued...apparently the worst thing you can do is use super glue) and that I also can't sit for very long, due to my injured muscle and tendon. I hadn't got to the part where I was terrified of the drill and was working up my courage as she poked and prodded around my tooth. "Which tooth is it?" she asked. I pointed to it again and explained that it was a small piece right on the corner. Well, she couldn't even see the crack. All my hard work had paid off. She wound up just polishing up the tooth and then gave me a cleaning. (Now, what dentist in North America would say: "It looks fine, if the piece falls out again, call me," and then just carry on with normal business?) $40 later and I was on my way - no drill, no Novocaine, sparkly teeth and only slightly sweaty arm pits.

So what does all of this amount to? Ecuadorian dental care is fair, affordable and the dentists are (mostly) responsible. If I ever do need serious dental intervention, I'm going to be brave and confess my stupid phobia and trust that they'll take care of me. (PS, Thanks Ron, for the title of this blog installation!)

The Lost Season - When Help Isn't Helping

Sunrise in PEI - The beginning of something new

It was a pretty sucky holiday season. Because of my hip and leg, we really didn't get to enjoy any of the usual treats this holiday. No parade, no checking out the monigotes (we'd call them effigies) and the large community installations that they burn with such joie de vivre here. It was pretty bleak, even though we've tried to make the best of it. It feels like we missed the whole thing. I did make shortbread and caramels, but that does not a Christmas make.

This whole sciatica thing has been a long, painful, but educational process. I'm gobsmacked by how long I've been suffering. Granted, I'm partially to blame, as I ignored some of the warning signs for longer than I should have. All that being said, I've come to a crossroads.

After eleven sessions of physiotherapy I was only marginally better, but, by no means, was the progress satisfactory. Because I was suffering so terribly after treatments they called in the big guns and had the owner of the rehabilitation centre evaluate me. So what was his conclusion? The muscles and/or tendons are so horribly inflamed that they are impinging on my nerve and the treatment and all exercise was only making it worse. He decreed that I need to rest for 15 days, meaning limited activity and lots of stretching...at least as much is comfortable. He's not certain that it's my sciatic nerve that's impinged, but another nearby nerve that mimics sciatic symptoms. Good times.

In summation, what I'd been doing to make myself better was making me worse. Sigh. So here's to hoping that rest will do the trick, even though I did rest for three days in the infancy of my little problem.

Being in pain has given me new insight. The effect is devastating. Not only do you hurt on levels that cannot be understood by those who haven't experienced it, but it's depressing. The thought of being comfortable again is so far distant from reality that it seems like a childhood dream that you can no longer remember in detail. It is soul crushing and spirit killing. There is no room for anything else but the pain and you live in that darkness without hope.

The slightest twinge sends me into a panic, wondering if a full blow episode of agony is coming on. It makes me fearful to even move, lest what little comfort I've found gives way to another bout of throbbing, shocking waves of pain. Even though I know, for a fact, that I'm not suffering as I did in the beginning, it doesn't seem to make any difference; that there is pain, even reduced, is enough to set me to tears and despair.

All that and yet, here I am hoping, once again, that relief might be in sight. I send out huge respect to those of you who are living with chronic pain. I don't know if those around you can even understand the challenges of  your day to day life, but bless you for your courage in going on. I don't know if I'm made of strong enough stuff.

The lesson, for me, in all of this? If your body is telling you that there's something else wrong - something beyond what the doctor has found - listen! Had I been more insistent originally, I might already be out of the woods. I know the road to recovery will be longer than I would like, but at least there is hope.

More Pain in the Ass and Wallet

Me, up and mobile, here's to better days!

The sciatica saga continues. What seemed to be a hopeful turn has ended in disappointment. While the intramuscular injections of relaxants offered relief from the truly mind boggling pain, they didn't last. Off I went to get x-rays (radiografía en español). So I have a compacted lumbar disc that is pinching my sciatic nerve. (This means the two vertebrae have little cushioning between them and are using my nerve in lieu of my squished "jelly doughnut" of a disc.) This is also know as degenerative disc disease, something that sounds frightening and irreversible. Apparently, this is not the case. Physiotherapy has a 90% efficacy rate for treating the issue. (Fingers crossed.) I kind of feel like I've aged five years over the last several weeks. Pain does truly bizarre things to my head. (I'm a lot wimpier than I thought, to be sure.) I think the meds are also messing with my brain chemistry, so I'm excited to get off them ASAP.

I'm actually quite surprised at the cost of medical treatment here. (In a good way.) As a Canadian, the whole concept of paying to see a doctor is a bit odd, but we're no strangers to coughing over for "alternate" treatments like massage therapy, chiropractic work, physio etc.

This is how it's broken down so far (in US dollars):
     * Massage therapy: $40 for two one hour sessions (an introductory rate)
     * Impromptu visit to Physiotherapist: $15 (including compression, electro-stimulation, 
            massage and assigned stretches.
     * Chiropractor: $25 initial consult and $15 an adjustment thereafter = $70
          (I have one more appointment, so add another $15)
     * Doctor: 5 visits $90, including 12 injections and x-ray consult, prescriptions etc
     * X-rays: 2 for $25
     * Physiotherapy: 10 sessions at $6.50 each (this is a partially government funded
           Association) = $65

What I haven't included is the medications. I've blown through 27 muscle relaxants, uncountable amounts of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, plus some minorly scary opioid pills to manage the pain. I'm now looking forward to 5 B-Complex injections in the glutes for anti-inflammatory and analgesic purposes. This also give me "pep" and can help correct nerve damage (if any). Be warmed photos of the needles to follow. The B shots were the most expensive of the medications prescribed (strangely) @ $22.70 for the 5. I figure I'm up to around $40 for pain management. The biggest surprise is that you can't book appointments for a lot of this stuff, you go, wait in line and get treated on a first come first serve basis. I can call my Doctor to see if he's in the office, but besides that everything is pretty casual. (This excludes the North American's working down here, but the Ecuadorians seem patently uninterested in arranging set times for appointments. If you've been here long enough, this likely isn't a surprise.)

Not too scary, right?

The needle 1 inch+ of metal for deep muscle access

The B-complex mix

Locked and loaded

So, all in we're looking at around $360 US (or $482 Canadian based on the current exchange - thanks US Reserve for increasing interest rates!) We've opted for "self-insured" medical, meaning that we put money aside every month for just this sort of thing. This is our first "major" expenditure, outside of Ron having some dental work done when we were first here. I've found an excellent source of information for the government insured medical care system, which is similar to how Canada runs. From the blog, it seems inexpensive and fairly easy to navigate. I have heard the odd story about complications and challenges with a laissez-faire approach to appointments etc, but this IS Ecuador. Thanks Bob and Linda for the excellent information. See Bob and Linda in Ecuador for more info about IESS and do some research as this is only one couples' experience with the system.

It may seem steep, as a Canadian, for medical care, but if I take into account the supplementary treatments that are only partially included, I think I'm actually well ahead of the game. The down side is I can't claim it on my taxes. So that's the state of things. I won't know until after Christmas how the treatments are working, but I'm hoping to feel some minor relief before then, again, fingers crossed! 

PS, the vitamin injection was stingy once the liquid was being injected - the needle prick wasn't bad at all - thank you Nurse Ron!