One of the more surprising aspects of my health that the transplant team demanded be in order was that of my dental health. I suppose if you stop and think about it then the mouth is a fairly primary source for infection to take hold in the body so once I had considered it it made sense and I even remember being told it pre bone marrow transplant so I perhaps should have remembered but I've got a lot to carry about in my mind so there are bits I forget. Not much granted but little bits.
To this end I've had to have two teeth out, one wisdom tooth that had impacted like two others previous, and another tooth out not because of any decay but the x-ray showed that it would likely cause trouble in the future not only in itself but for the surrounding teeth, so after a bit of an endurance test out it came. I've also had a few filling repairs done so I'm now in perfect dental health.
On the advice of the dental hygienist I got a posh sonicare electric toothbrush that has been a complete revelation. I've become somewhat evangelical about it. She also introduced me to the marvel that is the interdental toothbrush - these curious little things look just like shrunken test tube cleaners and they get right in the gaps between teeth. It's a really odd feeling but they're also brilliant. All of this allied with assorted mouthwashes and my mouth is almost always perfectly fresh feeling. It keeps the docs happy too.
As well as this going on my assorted docs are going through my entire prescription list looking for alternatives to the current medications I take that are a little less damaging to the kidneys. There's quite a few that can be swapped apparently so hopefully my next set of blood tests show a bit of an improvement.
I've had a good few visitors in recently and they all have the same opening gambit - sorry I've not been sooner. In almost every case I don't care how long it's been as I know how busy people's lives are but with one friend it had been nearly two years since he had been to visit. I've got friends that live in other countries that visit more regularly than that so I've no idea why it took him so long but it did. Still as soon as he was here it was like nothing had changed and that's the point I really want to make. It doesn't matter at all how long it's been since you've seen your best friends - as soon as you do see them you resort to type. If only a few others trusted that I'm not angry that they've not visited and just made the effort they'd feel better as well. For what it's worth as well as opening with the same line they all leave with the same line, that it'll be less of a gap next time. We each know it's a lie but it's a harmless one.
The sky all day's as black as night. But I'm not complaining.
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