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As I pass into my "Golden Years" which is a euphemism for getting to old to do anything that requires strength and stamina, I have begun to experience many of the aches and pains that come with this time of life. One of those is a genetic propensity for periodontal disease. It seems to have come down through my mytochondrial DNA since all of my mother's family were cursed with dentures from very early ages. Actually I have done remarkably well to have kept my teeth for as long as I have. Anyway, I tended to procrastinate when it came to dental visits simply because I knew what was coming. However I had no idea the extent of the problem. Here is my most amazing and upsetting story of how I went from the dental chair to the operating room.
It began with the typical problem of 'receeding gums.' Ultimately two of my upper molars became so loose that they just fell out one at a time over the span of about 6 weeks and both did so while I was typing comments here on Newsvine. Hmmmm! So, I finally conceeded and went to the dentist to see what, if anything, could be done. It was decided that surgical implants would be a good option that would allow me to avoid the nuisance that comes with dentures and partial plates. To do so however would require a bone graft and a procedure called a 'sinus lift.' Therefore it was decided that I should visit an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist to make sure there were no issues with my sinuses. Well, my sinuses were OK but it was discovered that I had a deviated sceptum complicated with a bone spur and that removing it would significantly improve my breathing capability. Well that was cool I thought. I had been fighting breathing problems all my life and this would finally ease that up as well as getting my teeth fixed.
The surgery was scheduled at an outpatient surgical center and I was sent for the usual pre-operative testing and workup. Low and behold my chest X-ray and EKG came back abnormal. DaDaDaDumb! More problems on the horizon. Since I had been a smoker for 53 years and only recently quit the habit I was sure that I had some kind of cancer or something but I had to sweat it out for the entire weekend before I got any of the results. The medical profession tends to be a bit sadistic that way LOL. They hand you a plate full of doubt and then let you digest it for awhile before they tell you what it all means. Anyway I was somewhat relieved to hear that the problem was not in my lungs nor was it likely to be any sort of a malignancy. In fact, it appears to be a six inch long benign cyst growing on or around my aorta.
So I am now scheduled for heart surgery to remove that on the 8th of June. They are hoping to be able to do it endoscopically but the possiblity exists that I may have to be opened all the way up if it is too heavily involved with the aorta. All I can think about is "wow, all I started out to do was get my teeth fixed" and not I am facing a total of three different surgical procedures. During my late wife's long fight with Parkinson's Disease I had pretty much put my own medical issues on a back burner while I cared for her. When she passed in Dec. of 2008 I decided that I would try and do a better job of taking care of myself but I had no idea of just what all that would mean. LOL
The lesson that I have learned is an old one. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. My dental problems and my sinus issues have been with me for years and I simply neglected them. In some ways though that may have been a real benefit for me because the heart issue was not presenting any symptoms to me. I just didn't know that I had a problem until the lab work showed it up while prepping for the other surgical procedures. I joke about not liking to go to the dentist and most people do tend to have a bit of an aversion to it but in this case, it may very well have saved my life. I had some major spinal surgery just 4 years ago and they had done a complete NMRI scan of my entire thorax and there was no indication of this cyst then so it has appeared and grown to a very large size in just the last 4 years. In this particular instance my procrastination may well have served to discover this problem that I otherwise would have probably ignored until it was too late to do anything about it.
While I should have been keeping up with my own health issues, this is one time that not liking to go to the dentist may very well have served in my best interests. I will not be doing much 'vining' in the next few weeks so I will let you know how it went when I get back by putting a comment on this article. I really enjoy all of my vine friends and the crazy comment sessions that we get into. LOL See ya'll when I get back (assuming all goes well :=O).
