I have become comfortably numb...

That’s a line form one of my all time favourite songs. It was running through my head all of yesterday evening for an entirely different reason though.
I am scared of dentists, to say the least. I’ll agree with you when you say that it’s the most common of all fears. But here, in my case, I go a little beyond that. Because I am totally petrified of dentists. I am scared to even accompany a family member to the dentist because it reminds of all the work that is pending on my teeth and I cant wait to get out of the building, and put a safe distance between us- the dentist’s chamber and me, that is. I am scared to grin too broadly because my dentist once suggested that maybe I should think about having braces!! So imagine my plight when I was informed that I needed to have my wisdom teeth removed, the keywords here being teeth and removed!
This was suggested to me oh about six months ago, but the smart me managed to postpone it until I didn’t have to get it done, or so I thought. The teeth had a different plan for me, it turns out. I came down with a bad tooth ache and so, with no other option left and with a heavy heart and even heavier feet, I dragged myself to the dentist to have it examined. Of course I needn’t have bothered. He informed very cheerfully that I just had to have my tooth extracted ASAP! Ouch!!!
The day dawned bright and sunny, outside my window, but inside my head it was all a blank. if you are aware of Calvin’s reactions to the word bath then you know exactly what I was feeling. I bid my goodbyes to my friends and spent the better part of an hour bidding adieu to my tooth in the mirror.
As I lay on the chair, I was reminded of how much it felt like a coffin, not that I would know what that felt like but still… my feet grew cold, my fingers began to shiver, so much so that I had to clutch at my sleeves to keep the shivers from showing. And then He said, ”Lights!” and my world went dark. I screwed my eyes shut so that I couldn’t see. All I was aware of was that my heart was beating wildly. The gentle purr of the AC faded into the background. My last conscious feeling was the needle of the injection piercing my gums and then, it all went numb. Like a flash of light in my head, the strains of the song began playing…. “Ok, just a little pin prick, there’ll be no more…”
And then, “There is no pain, you are receding”. As feeling left the right side of my cheek and lips, all I saw, when I dared open my eyes for just a sliver of a moment, was the blinding light and the sound of something drilling, and the feeling that a huge machine of some sort was working in my mouth, its vibrations reaching all the way into my head. Yet all I felt were the vibrations and no pain. I closed my eyes, happy with the escape that the numbness offered.
Before I knew it, it was over. I saw the little bent needle and the black thread and knew that this was not at all what I had imagined. Only the bloody tooth was evidence of the last twenty odd minutes.
And then came the tough part- no talking he said. At this point I must tell you that since all was numb, I actually felt no pain. And therefore I assumed all was normal. They forgot to warn me that the anesthesia would eventually wear off only to be replaced by the searing pain, the very one that dentist nightmares are made of.
So, that night no one got any sleep. Ice packs and ice creams are obviously part of a dentist’s evil plan- his way of saying, sorry for the pain you’re going to be feeling, so here, stop crying and have an ice cream! Painful truth: It doesn’t work.
And today, I am dumb! Not numb, mind you, in fact far from it. The throbbing pain is making even drinking water a task. I cannot talk. Its weird, but I cannot help thinking to myself, thank god for free sms!
I don’t know how long this pain is going to last. Frankly I don’t even want to know. I know I will sleep well tonight… because I have just conquered a fear- my fear of dentists. I hope it stays this way until next week- that’s when I’m getting another wisdom extracted… er… did I mention that I have to have all four of them removed?