Teeth & X-Rays and Needles, Oh My!

I've been a bit of a bad blogger, I've been doing far more reading of other people's blogs than writing of my own. At the moment I'm on call for work (Standby waiting for the phone to ring) and so far it has been 3 days without a call.

In one way this is good, as it means I can try to get things done like packing up my stuff and sorting out what to give away and what to keep. On the other hand I can't make any fixed appointments, which has made it a bit difficult to complete some of the medical requirements for my UAE visa.

On Thursday I went to the dentist to have my last wisdom tooth removed. I was happy about this as for most of my life I was told this would have to be done in hospital under anasthetic and would cost a few thousand dollars. Earlier this year, the lady dentist said she would like to double check my teeth and made an x-ray, which showed that all of them could be removed in the dentist's office with just a local anasthetic. Luckily, I only had the 2 upper teeth, which are easiest to remove. Having heard all the horror stories from the other crew about spending weeks recovering, I was hoping for the best but very nervous.

I needn't have worried, both teeth were removed at less than 5 minutes each time for the actual removal. There was a bit of noise as he took out the tooth but not really any pain. I had a bit of a headache later in the day which I took 2 Nurofen for, but after that it was fine. The first time I was back flying on the second day after removal and had no problem. (I should mention I did not need any stitches in my gums; it was just left open to heal naturally & I should rinse it with salty water 3 times per day). Very lucky for me it happened so easily!

Next up was blood tests. As I mentioned, as I am on call I could not make any appointments. I knew however, that if they did not call me by 3pm I could venture to get the blood test taken. Fortunately for me, there is a pathology clinic next to my local mall and they don't do appointments, you just register at the desk and wait. There was only one other person there, so I was in and out in 15 minutes. Another step completed!

Today I did the same thing, I waited until 3pm (as I am on call until 5pm and we require 2 hour callout to fly) and drove to the radiology clinic. Again, I was very lucky and got seen within 10 minutes of arriving. It was very odd but easy, as I have never had a chest x-ray before. I put on the gigantic hospital gown, and they told me to 'hug' this machine and hold my breath- about 20 seconds and the x-ray was done.

I should have all of the reports & results by the end of the week. All that is left now is to get some of the vaccines and have a filling done before the dentist signs the form and I can upload everything to the airline!

PS- I saw the eye doctor & everything is A-OK according to him. Yay!