Toothache is a pain - getting treatment in these unpleasant times is agony.

I just spend the last four days in some considerable pain (occasionally fold-up wish the world would bugger off type pain) from toothache.

Thanks to anti-covid measures, my dentist wasn't able to take me as an emergency examination until earlier today; no other dentists, private or NHS, could help, they're all in the same damn boat, and that ruddy Rib (Rigid Inflatable Boat) is just about swamped in the wake of Covid.

By the grace of whatever your Deity might be, I got seen earlier (thanks to a short-notice early morning cancellation), and I'm now on antibiotics (ruddy great horse pills of 500mg Amoxicillin, 3 times per day for five days), which have made a MASSIVE improvement in things already.

The pain was a result of an abscess, of course. The resulting infection-caused swelling in my face was not at all nice, but is going down nicely, even now, just over twelve hours post-exam.

I've got to make return visits for longer-lasting and more permanent treatment (which is going to cost a packet, as there aren't any NHS dentists available around here), but I have the satisfaction of knowing that my gnasher-basher centre is now part of the Portman Group (https://www.portmandentalcare.com/), and has a wide range of resources available to it without need for referral to other firms/practices.

I still don't like the idea of going to a Dentist (I'm sure Torquemada was a trainee gnasher-smasher), but at least I know the one I see is a respected one.

Just another pin-cushion, me...

I suppose I should have posted this yesterday, but it didn't occur to me until now that other may be in the same boat as I am.

I had my first out-patients visit to my local hospital yesterday; in the case, visit No 1 to the Cardiac Care Nurse. I was weighed, measured, ECG'd, and finally, she wanted to take some blood. And that's when the problems started.

I wasn't really in much condition to notice if they had problems putting needles into my arms when I was admitted to King's College Hospital just over a month back, but I was certainly able to notice this time. No joy on left crook of arm on either side. Two tries both arms. No joy with a "butterfly" needle on the top of my hands, either. She gave up (probably in disgust), and sent me to the Blood Test unit, with a fake cheery "don't worry, they do this all the time, they'll be able to draw your blood".

Oh joy.

So, I arrive at the blood tests unit, take a number (23, they're serving up No 8 to the Count, I assume), and wait. Before long, I'm called in, and lo and behold, the Nurse there takes one look, and says:

"Did the other nurse have trouble finding a vein?"

Talk about Masters (sorry, Mistresses) of the bleedin' (sic) obvious!

To cut a long story short, another Butterfly needle was obtained, and mid-way down my right forearm, she found a suitable vein. I was past caring, had closed my eyes, and wasn't looking. I've never liked needles, and this was only reinforcing my opinion as to why I don't like them.

The good news?

If I'm ever bitten by a vampire, they're gonna have just as bloody difficult a job of getting at my blood as the NHS!