Earlier in the week I received my dental statement for the work Dentist Andy had to do on a molar that had a chunk crack off last month. It was just shy of $1K. Insurance took care of about half, and I paid the other half out-of-pocket. That was the second or third time that a molar fell apart on me; the first one was while eating a Zone bar some years ago, and I had another one that seemed like the filling and part of the tooth fell out, and Andy had repaired both last year, and this one happened while I was eating a panini last month. Andy determined the tooth was so compromised that I needed a crown, so I have a temporary crown in place right now (my first one, and I was hoping that’s the end of crowns for me) and the permanent one will be installed next month. Well, on the same day that I received the dental statement, I was laying in bed when I realized I was so thirsty, that I just HAD to go downstairs for a drink of water. While I was drinking, I realized I hadn’t flossed yet that night, so I went to the bathroom and started flossing. The floss got a little stuck between two teeth (on the opposite side of where I had the temporary crown), so I gave it a little tug. That freed the floss, all right, but it also freed something else that flew out of my mouth and landed with a rattle on the bathroom sink counter. I looked closely, and recognized it immediately. I mean, I’ve had enough practice. It’s a chunk of ANOTHER molar!! Who the hell’s teeth fall apart like this?! I’ve been going to the dentist nearly every furlough day to get work done and just when I was finally done, my teeth start falling apart. I already have a dental appointment for mid-January for the crown, I suppose I’ll just wait till then. I went back to bed and laid there lamenting and regretting my thirst and good oral hygiene (WHY did I have to floss?!) and gave myself acid reflux all night.

On top of teeth problems, I’ve also been having the old breathing difficulty again. It feels kind of like my lungs are unable to expand to take in more air, or the air isn’t filling up as much as it should, even though I can tell air’s coming in. I think it may just be a sensation of not having air since I’m not wheezing or choking or anything. Maybe something’s wrong with my diaphragm. I end up gasping for deep breaths, trying to get all the air in I can, and then get light-headed from hyperventillation. That means I must be getting some oxygen, right? I asked Vicky yesterday whether anemia would cause the sensation of not getting enough air, and she said yes, so maybe that’s it. I’d rather think it’s that (which makes sense cuz this happens when I’m eating little-to-no red meat, such as the summer before my wedding and now), or what she thinks — slight bronchial inflammation from the cold or the bad air quality — than to think it’s something like lung cancer. I had the suffocating feeling fairly often summer of ’08, then periodically earlier in the year, and recently it’s been all the time, all day long, so I finally had to call the doctor for an appointment. The attacks have never lasted this long; usually they’d come and go within minutes, and in the past week it’s all the time. I also think I may be a little short of breath, as at the gym I now have to stop and breathe before moving on to the next exercise. If I’m sitting very still, I don’t have the problem.

All this could only mean one thing — my manufacturer’s warranty must have just expired.