As high as you’re legally allowed to give it, I’ll take it…

So, the cancer affects your life in ways seemingly unrelated to the masses in your colon and liver. it kind of adds a sort of bonus level sometimes to ordinarily menial tasks. Don’t get me wrong, before cancer, going to the dentist was never a fun thing to do. With cancer, it’s even more unpleasant.

When I realized a few days ago that I’d broken a crown, I called and made an appointment with my dentist to get a replacement because, you know, that’s what you do. Normal. What I then realized is that I also needed to email my oncology doctor to make sure there’s not anything I was missing or extra precautions I needed to take.

I get an email back from the oncology nurse:

“Hi Matthew,

It would be best for you to have a crown placed the end of this week or just prior to you next cycle (7/30 or 7/31).

You will need to have a lab draw completed prior to the procedure, to make sure that your white blood cell count and plt count, are high enough.

Please let me know, if you have questions.”

Well, fuck me, I’d already made my appointment first available for 7/23. That doesn’t match up. It’ll be 2 days after next chemo, if it’s in the morning I’d still have that 3rd slow drip drug plugged into me.

So I call the dentist again to reschedule for the 30th or 31st. I schedule for 7/30. Not long after, the dentist calls back offers me a last minute opening tomorrow(today) morning. I’m like, sweet, yes please, I’ll get it taken care of before next treatment!

Fuck. In my mind, I’m thinking I only had 1 treatment, I’m probably totally fine for the procedure. But my fiancé who apparently loves me more than I love myself is annoyingly looking out for my health and well being – demands I get the ok from oncology before going in. No room for arguments or dissenting opinions here.

It’s after 5pm, everyone is gone from the oncology department and I have to wait to contact them in the morning. No stress there, none whatsoever…

I take a leap of faith the next(this) morning, hoping the oncology department put in my lab request and I go to get my blood drawn at 8:30am at the medical center. They did put in the order! I get my blood drawn and try calling the oncology department to see if I can get the ok even if the lab results aren’t back yet. I leave a message.

Starting to stress out because I’m down to a half hour before my appointment, I give another ring to oncology. They find my nurse and she checks – lab results are back and I’m good to go. Crisis averted, but not without getting hella freaked out about it all.

So here I am, everything working out but definitely a bit of an ordeal getting here.

Some positives:

The dentist had put on this crown and it failed – free replacement!

I requested nitrous oxide when I’d made the appointment – Dentist: “How’s the level of that nitrous going for you?” Me: “As high as you’re legally allowed to give it, I’ll take it…”

My fiancé loves me so much she’s willing to challenge my decisions and not back down when I tell her something is fine. This bodes well for increasing my chances of surviving this disease.

Well, thanks for reading about something that wound up not being a really big deal but still managed to cause a fair enough headache for yours truly.

I love you all – thank you for your continued calls, texts, messages, gifts, food, time etc.

-Butch