Dental Issues Again

I just noticed one of my front tooth has a huge piece chipped off, probably like 1/4 of the tooth from top to bottom. Also, it is a bit dark underneath so there’s probably a huge cavity there too. My dentist did say that he wanted to cap almost all the teeth in the top row of my mouth. At $1,500 per tooth, it’s going to cost a lot but now I have no choice. There is a huge gap between the front two teeth that needs to get fixed. I think the piece broke off when I ate something but what happened to the actual piece? Did I swallow it? It’s weird since the tooth is a bit sore when I blow air across the gap. How come I didn’t notice until I brushed my teeth just now?

These health problems just keep piling on. I have an entire list of stuff to go through. Maybe it’s time to review again since it’s been more than two months.

• ESRD: I made several posts recently about waiting for UCLA to make a decision again
• Dialysis access: fistula is kind of working half the time; waiting for vascular surgeon to call me back after an ultrasound scan of my arm last week
• Cardiac rehab: still on hold but I probably won’t continue since UCLA already cleared me post-heart surgery
• Atrial flutter: it’s been over two months since the ablation procedure and heart rate seems stable in the mid-50’s; still have some shortness of breath and some chest pressure but that may be more from the bypass surgery
• Peripheral neuropathy: stopped all arrhythmia medication, including Multaq; also did not restart acupuncture; bought a large shiatsu foot and calf massager to see if that will help
• Back pain and pressure in chest: about same; still difficult to sleep on left side
• Minimal urine production: almost no urine output; maybe 50 mL per day?
• Insomnia: still not sleeping more than 3-4 hours per night; just starting working part-time so taking lots of short naps during the day
• Dental issues: dentist wants me in for teeth cleaning every three months; still fall asleep often without brushing first; see above for continued issues
• Endocrinologist: saw new doctor; she prescribed a new (and expensive) drug since she wasn’t comfortable that I was not taking any blood sugar medications
• Lump in left leg: no change
• Constipation: not noticeable anymore; having pretty regular bowel movements
• Ophthalmologist: need to make appointment; the one year exam deadline passed during the pandemic shutdown; probably also need to see the optometrist for new glasses again

Right now, the UCLA thing is taking up all my attention since we wanted two years and it seems we’re back exactly where we were. I’m very upset that UCLA deferred making a decision and I had to suffer two years of dialysis, including failed peritoneal dialysis which probably messed up my health even more. I know they’re being cautious but it’s not like I have a hangnail. A kidney transplant is night and day difference for a dialysis patient. My quality of life could have been so much better if we did the transplant two years ago. Seriously, I can’t believe were at exactly the same place we were two years ago and they still won’t make a decision.

It’s hard to have hope when looking at that huge list of problems. I don’t think I can work through everything in my remaining lifetime. Living with dialysis is already hard, plus trying to stay healthy enough for a transplant while your body is trying to kill you. Then I go and almost break a tooth. So many things to worry about and we’re basically stuck at home trying not to get infected with COVID-19.

I”m tired and just rambling now. It’s 12:34 am and time for sleep (for a few hours anyway). First priority is getting the tooth fixed before it gets any worse.