Found a new oral surgeon, psychiatrist and dentist so far.

[Mark Friedman]

When I left Dobbs Ferry, I left my entire medical support system behind. Somewhere around the 10th day after moving, I was aware of a problem with one of the few real teeth I have left (most are implants, root-canaled or bridged).

I found an oral surgeon several towns away (you can't go anywhere around here without a GPS, like a TomTom) who could see me immediately. He gave me the choice of coming back with my wife so I could be sedated (my usual preference), but she's been so hyper since we came down here that I didn't want to add to her feeling of pressure. So I told him to do it now.

I warned him that my other oral surgeons refused to work on me awake - that it takes a lot to get me numb and my anxiety level goes through the roof.

He was very, very good and used something other than lidocaine and I became numb very quickly.

I felt no pain.

But.

I was gripping my thighs and the chair arm like I was going to fall off. My eyes were squeezed shut and I was breathing heavily. I had all the symptoms of extreme fear - and I didn't hurt and I was aware of it. He asked me to open my eyes and later said my pupils were completely dilated - he'd never seen anything like it before and wanted to be sure I was OK.

I assured him that I was, that this was a physical reaction I was unable to control (I remember low-speed dental drills) and that I had given fair warning.

This whole event took less than 15 minutes. I called my wife, told her the extraction was done and I was coming home. She was amazed and a bit relieved, I think.

That's enough. I'll talk about my new psychiatrist in my next post. I'm still figuring out how I feel about her.