Installment 3 - Jamie's "Injuries"

Much to his chagrin, Jamie had a dentist appointment yesterday afternoon. But he really wasn't as uneasy as he typically is, I thought he had finally gotten used to regular cleanings with his new dentist (my dentist, Dr. Meisels, who is wonderful despite his profession...lol).

This time, Jamie had to get a cavity filled. He asked me if I wanted to go along...not to hold his hand as I had originally thought. ha, ha. Jamie knew I had to go to Walmart, next door to the dental office, so this was his way of bringing me without actually having to go inside to help me shop.

Anyways, that was slightly off topic...

So, I'm in the checkout line and Jamie calls, "Oh you're done already?" I ask.
Muffled voice on the other end says, "Yeah, I didn't get it done"
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you when you get in the truck." He sounds like his mouth is filled with cotton balls.
So, I go outside and load up my purchases and then ask again, "What happened?"
"The freezing wouldn't take. It's hard to talk."
At this point, the right side of his face is completely immobile. Not a crease, not a wrinkle, his lips look all funny.
"Well maybe you should go back cause it really doesn't look like you're feeling anything in your face right now".
He notes my sarcasm and says, "Myrrrrna, he had another appointment. He gave me the needle three times. The first time I didn't feel any numbness and he tried to fill my cavity anyways but it hurt too much. And the second time it still hurt."
"The third time he gave me the freezing," he admits, "I think it mighta just been in my head that I THOUGHT it was gonna hurt so it did."
I agree, "uh huh, yeah, that's possible." I giggle, completely amused at my tough-guy husband not being able to handle a filling.
"Well, he said that he's seen this happen before," trying to reassure himself, "He booked me back in for Dec 8th so he can give me laughing gas."
Still giggling...
"Is laughing gas going to make me laugh?" he asked, "I mean, is that really the name for it?"
"No", I tell him, "It's really called nitrous oxide and it will help you relax so the mind games won't start playing tricks on you again and the dentist can get his work done. It'll only make you laugh if something strikes you as being particularly funny. I think they use it on kids a lot."

So, he brooded for the rest of the night...complaining about not being able to eat fajitas for supper. He overheard me laughing on the phone to my mom about his little episode at the dentist. He lay on the couch, acting as though the entire right side of his body was paralyzed. He told me he couldn't help with dishes because his mouth hurt too much, an excuse I absolutely did NOT accept.

"Jamie, your mouth can't possibly hurt after all that freezing." and then I proceed to poke him in his cheek, "Does that hurt?"
"Well no", he whines, "but it FEELS funny."
I laugh again.
"Well Myrna, he stabbed me three "effin" times in the gums. That hurts ya know?!"
"Well Jamie, you don't have to tell me about dentistry!" and I proceeded to rhyme off my excessive dental history, enough to make your head whirl:
10 teeth pulled in total (5 "baby" teeth when I was 12, 4 wisdom teeth when I was about 21, and another 1 just last year)
4 root canals (possibly 5, I stopped counting)
not to mention a crazy amount of fillings and more fillings.
I'm no stranger to getting needles at the dentist - terrible teeth here (blame it on the crazy amounts of apple juice I drank as a kid).

He sulked more. He went to bed being sure to tell me that he was refusing to brush his teeth because he was still in too much pain.

"Love you. G'night" he said.
"Love you too."

I lay in bed and realize that I probably didn't help the situation. My husband, despite being a big baby, likes being reassured about being a big stud. I guess all men are like that. They grow up being told they're not allowed to cry or "act like a girl", never allowed to express how they really feel without being tormented for it. And I continue the cycle...I guess my teasing probably hurt more than the needles. I'll try to be a little more understanding next time and keep my chuckles on the inside.

Jamie, don't get any crazy ideas...your futile attempts at special treatment over such slight impairments will still be in vain.