Looking for a corner

After the work on my jaw Monday my week went into a slow, but steady, decline. Each night sleep was a little more elusive, each morning the jaw hurt a little more, each afternoon I hoped the next day would turn the corner. By the time we got to the boat Friday any real thought of making a dent in the to-do list was abandoned; no corner yet but there was hope for the weekend. It looked like it might work out. Yesterday the crew from Paradise invited us along for a really nice sail. Realizing I was not up to par they made me designated cockpit ballast - I sat and watched everyone else do the work. By the time we got back to the marina I was feeling good enough to actually join in the games surrounding our big club dinner. (We have a lot of those.) Turning a corner is a good thing.

Part of getting there is doing all the "post surgery" stuff on the list...including taking the meds. Ops. Unknown to me "hydrocodone" is actually generic vicodin; vicodin and I are not friends. This morning, after nearly a week of that stuff accumulating, my system reached overload and crashed.

This list of possible side effects for vicodin include nausea, confusion, light-handedness, hallucinations, fear, unusual thoughts, and convulsions. Yeah Baby! Now we're having some fun. I didn't quite make it to the convulsions stage, but Deb tells me I was within a minute or two of getting a ride in an ambulance. Apparently, just before she started to dial 9-1-1, I started to settle down and eventually fell asleep.

My boss let me take another couple of days to make sure I am actually on the mend, so no flying again for me this week. (Who would have thought a tooth could end up causing so much trouble?) This night I am glad to have really turned the corner.