A Conundrum

That's a good word for a lot of issues I face in my life.  I looked up the definition of the word when it popped into my head, "A confusing and difficult problem or question."  It fits.

This weeks' conundrum has to do with having a wisdom tooth extracted.  I have never cared for dentists so making the first appointment took some courage on my part.  I felt like I either had a sinus problem or a tooth problem.  It turns out that I have a wisdom tooth growing sideways into the tooth next to it causing it to decay.  My dentist says that soon it will cause me a lot of pain if I don't deal with it.  So I allowed him to make me an appointment with an oral surgeon.  Okay, so "soon" in dental terms means I wait two weeks for my "consultation".

I head off to the oral surgeon thinking that by the next week, my problem would be solved.  Wrong....because I have a pacemaker, he wants my cardiologist to clear me for the drugs he will use to sedate me.  Even though I'm a coward (only with dentists) I ask about just using a local and leaving me awake.  I want to get this over with.  But he says that working so far back in my mouth would be very uncomfortable as far as "gagging" and he would prefer to sedate me. He also mentions the possibility of doing this at the hospital.   At this point, I have $250 invested in a tooth that is still in my mouth and causing me a great deal of discomfort.  As I leave his office, I hear him calling the cardiologist and still believe that I'm going to have this over with soon.

Wrong again.  After a week I call back and they have not heard from the cardiologist.  I then take it upon myself to make the call.  After explaining to the nurse what I need, I make the statement that I cannot be considered a "serious" heart patient because I don't even have a follow-up with the cardiologist.  She tells me that I "missed" an appointment in December.  (I called them in November and was told I had nothing scheduled.)  So now I have an appointment with the cardiologist on Monday.

I have made the statement several times that I will not have this done at the hospital ($1500 out of pocket plus oral surgeon's fees) and I will not have a bunch of tests done.  But realistically, is a cardiologist going to sign off on something that easily? No, he is going to cover his *** (prison word).

In addition I have checked the oral surgeon's hospital affiliation and he is not affiliated with the hospital where the cardiologists are.  Does it make sense that if I'm hospitalized for this extraction due to my heart issues, that I would go to the hospital without my heart doctors?  So now, would I change oral surgeons?  

For all my assertions about what I will not do, I am not a doctor.  How do I know what is best for me?  Do I want to gamble with my life -- over a tooth?

I truly believe after my meningitis last summer that a lot of what goes on in the medical field is a "racket".  You should see the list of doctors that we owed that I don't even have a glue what they did for me.  I think they all just wanted a piece of the pie (me).

Sometimes Bubba says that we have a lot of bad luck.  I don't think a wisdom tooth and plumbing leaks qualify as a lot of bad luck.  In the grand scheme of things, we are very blessed.  It does seem like every week brings on a different conundrum though.   Who knows how long it will be before this is settled?