preparing for departure

Hurry up and wait. At least that's what it feels like when traveling. Hurry and get to the airport, hurry through security, and then stop. Wait. we are 90 minutes from departure. Thank you Air Tran for having such a great bike flying policy..... when the ticket agent complained that he'd have to "Lug this thing to security" i said to him..... dude it's a girl's bike! Always making new friends!

The week went well. I had a bit of a dental emergency that took away any pre race nerves.

The long term benefit of having an eating disorder (although I have been recovered about 15 years) is the subsequent dental damage you sustain. I was scheduled to begin my third mouth reconstruction in January, and that's been moved up!

You kill your teeth with Bulimia, especially the molars. You strip the enamel off of all of them. Having this all repaired is expensive.

This week one of my crowns broke and I had the most incredible pain. I rushed to the dentist who determined said tooth needed to come out. Next Wednesday. OMG. I came home screaming and crying it hurt so bad. Labor.... not this bad. Curt called and got me an emergency appointment at another office, same company for an immediate extraction.

However as the pain subsided I realized the tooth to be taken out was not the painful one. It was the one two behind.

I arrived at the different office and somehow felt like English was the second language of every single person there. The hygienist seemed to have a Russian accent and could not understand as I explained to her that while I thought I was there for an extraction...... the pain was coming from a different tooth. she kept telling me she didn't understand my English.

Interpreter ANYONE? If you come to our hospital and don't speak English we use a special phone to help you translate. I was about to ask for that phone here.

Enter dentist.

With a thick Indian / Middle Eastern accent.

Oh man.

It took me several minutes and begging him to just let me explain slowly from the beginning. Finally he stopped and he listened. We didn't need an extraction. I needed a root canal.

Whew.

Only in my world would I view a root canal as a relief.

Problem was: couldn't do the root canal today. Or tomorrow. Or anytime in the next 2 weeks. I will be gone until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Which is fine because before a root canal you have to be infection free.

And might I just add that I am meticulous about my mouth. I brush three times a day with prescription tooth paste, a special brush, and I floss twice a day. So the fact that I have an infection is irritating.

They don't tell you this stuff in eating disorder school! Or how much it costs. Even with good dental. Don't steal my bike..... steal my mouth.

They write me a script for 2 weeks worth of antibiotics. I am relieved to not have a dental surgical procedure before a big race. The pain is gone with a good loading dose of the antibiotics. I listen to my dentist slam my other dentist for missing this. They work for the same company, what teamwork!

I am then sent to checkout to realign the plan of action. Root canal first, then extraction, bridge, and then month by month through 2010 I get a new mouth by 2011. I ask if it's possible to just yank it all and get implants.

The girl who handles the appointments and does the billing speaks primarily Spanish. She tells me her English is not good.

Where am I? Where is there a blue interpreter phone?

Finally I leave the international house of Dentistry feeling much like I have just left Germany. Tired from thinking. Tired from hearing about how much damage I have done to my teeth.

You should have seen my heart 15 years ago... is what I want to tell them. And my esophagus. Among a few other luxury remnants of 10 years of vomiting.

But I chose the disorder, and I have to deal with those consequences. That's life.

If I were a dentist I could have a business called Yank-This. It's a thought at least.

So here I sit at gate A2. I got to see my friend Wendy as she boarded her plane minutes ago. I hear there is wi-fi on my flight. Probably 8 million bucks but I might pay for the ability to say YO from the sky.

Many updates to come, I can't wait for the beach!