Found the light switch this week, and turned myself back on. Feels good. Dental Drama. At my routine cleaning last Thursday, the doc took an xray of #14 and said, "That don't look right. Go talk to this Endodontist". So I did. Endo said, "Wow. You have a helluva infection there, my friend. Looks like that root canal (from >10 years ago) wasn't done properly, and the bone in your jaw has receded massively around #14. I don't understand why it doesn't hurt more. We need to either do another root canal to get the missing root out ($2k), or pull the tooth entirely and put in a fake one ($6k). Lemme know what you want to do." I took the weekend to think, and got the root canal yesterday. Painless. Easy. No sweat. They found I had a 'hidden' 4th root on a tooth that should only have 3, and they cleaned it out. I watched two episodes of the Great British Baking Show while they worked. We will know in 6 months to a year if the bone is going to regrow or if an implant is in my future. Synthesizers/Musicmaking I've bitten off a LOT and am having a hard time chewing. Switched from GarageBand (>15 years) to Logic Pro, and the learning curve is steep. I am learning how synthesizers work in software (first with flac and now doing Syntorial), which is mind-blowingly good) and learning how to play piano again (with Melodics) while trying to figure out my two synths, the Novation Bass Station II which is half knobs and half software and half keyboard, and my Warfield Blofeld Desktop which is all software and few knobs and no keyboard, all while applying what I have learned in Syntorial to the built-in software synths in Logic, and being unsure how those things apply to the Bass Station and the Blofeld... But to connect all this equipment together properly I went from "the dumb guitar player's audio input", aka a Focusrite Scarlett Solo to a Scarlett 4i4... which turns out to be an enormously configurable and capable input, mixer, and MIDI device, that is confusing to set up when you don't have a fucking clue what yer doing. But while convalescing yesterday from my root canal (took the day off work) I made a BIG breakthrough with my understanding of routing cables, and what device should speak to what and via what type of cable/protocol, and I MADE SOME COOL MUSIC that wasn't accidental! Worked out. Well, got on the exercise bike for 30 minutes, which I used to do every day at noon because the downstairs where I have my home office gets cold, and if I take a break at noon and exercise for a bit, I am warm for the rest of the afternoon. And I hadn't done that in ... a while. Felt good to work up a sweat and something other than a resting heart rate. Talked to my wife. We discussed the dark space I have been in for the last week or so, and how I was feeling, and that I have broken through... it was the tooth, the frustration with largely failing to learn new things I wanted to learn, and some work pressures I was trying to get finished before my tooth went completely to hell on me. It's amazing what having a loving partner is like... you can just talk about your weaknesses and feelings and it only deepens your connection. And I watched Blade Runner 2049 again, and ... I love this movie so much. Definitely want to spend the Christmas holiday pretending to be Solar Fields' writing the "Mirror's Edge" soundtrack, but with 2049 and Fury Road as my inspiration... Feels good to be back on track.
Yo, I had a similar thing happen with a tooth. Did a root canal, thought they got it. Turned out that the tooth had a short root and cracked after it was filled. Now that I think about it, this happened to my dad more recently too. Anyway, it sucks that one of the most expensive things I own is a little piece of my head. That said, walking around for almost a year with no tooth is a humbling experience, even if wasn't noticeable. I found that it was also great for keeping me mindful of my own suffering in relation to that of others.
What a sobering experience... you are all good now, I hope? My endodontist was very happy with what she found, and her remediation work. So much so, that instead of filling with a temporary filler (which is normal, as you assess the success of the root canal) she went ahead and filled it with the final filler. (After assessing me of the situation, her evaluation, and asking my permission.) I get to keep my tooth (at least for the short term), and am not in pain, won't have any more temperature sensitivity, and possibly my overall health will improve as the infection in my jaw bone goes away.
I am! I have to say, that I had no idea how much low-level pain I'd been carrying around FOR YEARS until that damn tooth came out. I'm really glad to hear that you get to keep your tooth AND get healthy! In this world we're in, that tired old line of "health is wealth" is suddenly and markedly, relevant once again. I'm also glad to hear that your improved situation has been helpful in managing things with your wife. With that background discomfort and pain, I was always primed for conflict, I know vulnerability is fashionable these days, but there's nothing like letting the guard or the walls down to facilitate getting back on the same page. I'd encourage you to try to find ways of creating some kind of plans/goals/structure to sustain the music, your overall health, and your relationships as I know that when I (or my clients) don't make such plans, things can slide back to where they were (more or less) and that sense of backsliding can be as demoralizing as realizing you've reached that low, in the first place. Anyway, glad that things are looking up!