Horse sense

I had the oddest dream last night about my sister and her horse, Millie. Here they are in this photo taken recently in Cumbria in the North Lakes. In the dream, I walked into someone's lounge, and there, spread on a sofa, sound asleep, was Millie. She was lying on her side, like a dog. I sat beside her, stroked her neck and muzzle and confessed that I had always been nervous of horses. Whereupon Mille opened an eye and told me I had no reason to be scared of her and that she wouldn't kick or bite me. We proceded to have a long chat. Sadly, I can't remember what about! I must have still been under the influence of the three jabs of Novocaine and the several painkillers I had taken while having my huge molar removed yesterday afternoon.

I now have a hole in my gum an inch long and about 3/4 of an inch wide. It took an hour to remove the tooth, with much wiggling and rocking. My neck and shoulders are killing me. What a pity I wasted money on a massage on Wednesday. I'd really appreciate one now!

To minimise the risk of knocking out the clot and getting 'dry socket', which is agonising as it means the nerves in your jawbone, and even the bone itself, are exposed, I am under strict orders not to eat or drink on that side for a fortnight, not to touch it with my tongue, not to sneeze, blow my nose or make any sucking movements (drinking through a straw would have been SO much easier), and to rinse with warm salt water after every meal and before bedtime. I have had to cancel arrangements for meals and parties for the next fortnight and am living in fear of the dreaded 'dry socket'. I'd never heard of it till yesterday. I most certainly do not want it! Wonder why they couldn't have put some stitches in to hold the wound together?

As for what happens next... In two months' time I can have either a bridge or an implant. I'll need something, as the gap shows when I smile. But I shall have to shop around because my dentist's prices are sky-high. Trip to Budapest? Hmmm. Too far to go if something goes wrong. Now, if I'd have been younger, I'd have looked around for a dentist to seduce, but no chance of that now!!! I knew someone who did that. She had an affair with a driving instructor and got all her lessons free. Then she ditched him and dated, in turn, a dentist, a doctor an estate agent and a builder. She's probably married to a cosmetic surgeon by now and eyeing up an undertaker.