Having a crown fitted

OMG I got myself so nervous and scared when it came to having an hour appointment at the dentist for a crown to be fitted. When she told me she was going to fit a crown I asked her if  it would hurt and she said yes, it can be painful. So, being naturally nervous and wary of dentists since knocking my top front teeth out as a pretender and going through a lit of painful dental restoration work then, you can imagine how I was feeling at this prospect. I have had teeth extracted (one of the joys of having fibromyalgia and ME is that your teeth and gums are affected and it is common for teeth to crumble and need extracting). I convinced myself in the end that whatever she needed to do it couldn't be worse than having a tooth extracted. The noises and pressure of that I find almost unbearable  but then I went onto Google this morning to see what the process of fitting a dental crown is exactly so I knew what to expect. It all told me a post would be fitted to my tooth and a top cemented on to that. I know that is what I have in my top front teeth. Several times when ai was younger the temporary crowns would fall out and the post was visible. I read that it woukd hurt at the time and afterwards too and got myself to anxious I nearly backed out altogether. But then my husband reasoned with me that I woukd just be delaying the inevitable. So I made the final decision to bite the bullet so to speak and get it done.

When I arrived there was a full waiting room so I had to hover out by the front door. Then a dental nurse told me they wouldn't be long and soon enough the dentist came out to get me. I told her how scared I was and asked if it was OK for me to put a podcast on in my earphones. She explained the process was very like having a filling, something I am sadly used to. 

She rubbed numbing gel on my gums, gave me two painful injections to make my even more numb and then put a filling on the tooth. Then the dreaded drill and suction combo came into play as she drilled and shaped the filling to allow for a crown to fit. All of that was ok. She caught a painful bit a few times but apologised and reacted when I let her know it hurt. 

Before I knew it she said it was all done!

Then the dental nurse who was also the scanning nurse used a really cool piece of technology to scan inside my mouth. I had a probe a bit like the crevice tool of a hoover inside my mouth and it made a fast clicking noise. It was taking thousands of phitis and creating a 3D image of my teeth and gums on the screen. When that was done they ordered the crown and made me an appointment to go back in a week. She then stuck a temporary crown in which was painless and quick.

Since then my gum has been sensitive in that area but she said that is perfectly normal. I haven't had any pain at all. Hopefully this will work and be a solution to my repeatedly lost fillings but only time will tell.

The Proud Place

We visited the proud place for the first time this weekend. Usually going to a new place involves hours of me researching the location online, in reviews and on Google street maps. This time was different.  When ai looked at the information for the event we planned on attending it included a section about accessibility as part of the main information sheet. Not hidden in a menu or drop down part of the screen, actually clear for all to see with the date and time for the event. I was able to confidently mention this event to my family knowing for certain that we would be able to access it. No questions asked. 

Such a refreshing approach. 

Despite this, on the day I was nervous. That is based on previous experiences elsewhere though. The old 'yes, we are fully wheelchair accessible, we just have two steps to get in' or ' oh, it shouldn't have listed us as accessible' was on my mind.

We arrived in the rain, parked in a nearby disabled bay and found the whole place easily accessible. The front door was a bit tricky with It being automatic but also on a buzzer intercom system but once we were through that it was all open plan, easy to get around and people were very accommodating. 

When there was a breakaway meeting I chose to attend in a smaller space I panicked about not fitting in the room. A volunteer simply moved chairs and steps out of the way to make space for my chair. I didn't even have to ask.

When they came around taking food orders (which we didn't even know happened) they had a gluten free vegan option available. We told them our extra needs with food and all were no problem, easily accommodated. We were actually able to eat food that other people were eating, at the same time and in the same place. That really blew my mind. I thanked the kitchen volunteers and told them how rare that was and their answer was simply that they try to be as inclusive as possible with food. 

If you have a transgender person in your life I whole heartedly recommend the proud place to you and to them. Look them up.

(No photos due to people's personal choice and because unfortunately transpobes choose to exist)

 

Winter Wonderland

We promised our son a trip to winter wonderland this winter and fulfilled this promise at the start of the new year, a couple of days before the fair closes. 

We were able to park on double yellow lines outside the fair using our blue badges and get our wheelchairs to the entrance. For some reason Winfer Wonderland was all set up on a platform this year so our first obstacle was the entrance itself, a sheer step up which took two run up attemps in my electric wheelchair and a lot of heaving for the manual chair. The bouncers offered to help me but there wasn't anything they could realistically have done without a ramp being present.

Once inside we wandered around, past the fire pit and food stands, past the ticket booth and bar and down another step to the rides. My son wanted to go in the fun house and see what else was suitable. My son chose three rides to go on and with the way the tokens were priced it was cheaper to buy enough tokens for 4 rides rather than just 3. This meant two goes on the favourite ride...the fun house. Luckily my son can still stand and walk just enough to be able to manage the fun house with a break afterwards and before. I hope that will be the case for years to come but honestly I don't know. 

The last ride of the three was a wild  choice, a bouncing and spinning ride that went very fast forwards and backwards. Very unlike my son to go on  something like that but off P went. Watching the ride was torturous, I filmed it all, knowing P probably wouldn't go in it again. At the end I asked if P was OK with thumbs up and got thumbs down as a response. Not ok. Thankfully P was alright, just a bit shaky and unsteady but not sick. 

In between the rides we toasted some marshmallows, bought candy floss, had a hot drink and shared some chips too. The second fun house trip allowed time for that to all go down a bit. I offered ice skating as an option but P didn't fancy it that day so we will go to the ice rink one day instead.

Getting down the step to exit the fair was terrifying, my chair tipping down and forwards on its way down.