They caught no fish, since the wind was too strong it wasn't safe to go out on the bay. Bummer for Judas Priest. They still kept their word about the tickets, but when we got to the venue they turned out to be VIP tickets, which meant tickets in the VIP section. Which was right by all the other non-VIP sections, although more centrally located. So we got to see Thin Lizzy (best known for their biggest hit in 1976, The Boys Are Back In Town), Black Label Society (best known for being the band of Zakk Wylde, the guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne), and Judas Priest, best known for being awesome.
One interesting thing about Judas Priest: in 1990 the band was accused of causing a fan's suicide by subliminally including the message "Do it" in one of their songs. Rob Halford responded by stating that if they were going to include a subliminal message in their music it would be counterproductive to encourage fans to kill themselves, they'd rather have a message encouraging the fans to buy more records. The lawsuit ended up being dismissed.
Anyway, there were no backstage passes, no meet and greet with the band, just pretty good seats and a very good concert. Judas Priest had the flaming pyro effects, the black leather outfits, and they really rocked.
For the past few days my teeth have been hurting, a lot, especially in the morning, and especially on the right side. Yesterday I woke up with a swollen right jaw and pretty intense pain, and managed to get an emergency appointment with my dentist. They took x-rays and poked around and said that I am not exactly grinding my teeth in my sleep, but I am clenching my jaw in my sleep, to the point where it's causing problems. (Since my surgery to correct my deformed upper jaw when I was 17, I still have a bite that's just slightly off, my teeth only meeting on the right side, in the back.) He ground away part of my teeth on the right side, just enough to change where my teeth were hitting, and said that should fix it for now but I need to come in next month to get night guards made.
I managed to still go to the heavy metal concert last night without getting a headache, which I am going to consider a Christmas miracle.
But today I still have pain, I still have swelling, and the ibuprofen and moist heat he prescribed don't seem to be helping.
Of course with my lame-ass dentophobia I am positive that something terrible is happening in my mouth and they just didn't see it yesterday. Part of my brain knows that even if that is the case and I have to go back in to have some sort of procedure done, I'll survive and it'll be no big deal really. But the loudest part of my brain is convinced that this will mean a ton of money (right before Christmas), a ton of pain, a ton of vacation time from work that I can't afford to lose, and just lots of agony in general.
I'm just hoping I wake up tomorrow and it's at least better...
well, i had the same dentophobia going but the pain that overtook me had me RUSHING to the dentist two weeks ago, and they extracted a tooth at the back on my left side, and now i have to go back for a prosthetic and more dental work, since i have been avoiding dentists for a while now. i am relieved to have finally taken the plunge! i'm here to encourage you to do the same. find a dentist you like, who takes your insurance (do you have dental insurance?). that will help relieve the money anxiety and then all you'll be left to deal with it the dentophobia, which must be faced unfortunately. if it helps, i am going through it with you!
ReplyDeleteThat's the really stupid part, Angella: I do have a great dentist. I found this dental office after years of not going, and they do take my insurance, so for the past three years I've been getting regular checkups and keeping on top of my teeth. So to speak.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I'm such a giant wuss! I am STILL terrified and overwhelmed at the very possibility of any dental stuff. And I am really genuinely sorry that you are going through it too. Will you have to have scaling done? I had that, it was no picnic but not as bad as I expected. Dentally speaking, nothing ever IS. But I still freak out anyway.
yes, scaling! this week. i'm terrfied.
ReplyDeleteI swear to you that scaling is not so bad. It's not fun, but the worst part is the shots, which I am sure you had when you had the extraction done, and the noise. They use scrape-y grind-y tools that vibrated through my skull bones. But it didn't hurt! My gums were somewhat sore afterwards, but not terribly.
ReplyDeleteMy recommendation for right before your appointment is to take several ibuprofen, put on chapstick, and take lots of slow deep breaths. Then baby yourself afterwards, and be proud of yourself for doing what needs to be done to take care of yourself. :)