Brian’s Dental Adventures
Posted on March 4, 2024 by Ching under Health, Life.
I asked Brian to write about his experience as a warning to everyone out there not taking care of teeth but he’s not going to write about it so I’m going to do my best to tell this story from my perspective. I’m probably going to mess up parts of it but that’s what you get from hearing about what happened second hand(ish).
Last year Brian told me he needed to get some dental work done. He had this tooth that was bothering him and it had caused an infection of some sort. I urged him to get it done at the end of the year because, at my last dental appointment, our dentist’s office told me we had “unused benefits” for the year. In my brain, I’m thinking “We better spend it!” However, I didn’t need anything further done beyond the fillings which I actually got done last year because, for the first time ever in several years, I had cavities. Well, Brian always drags his feet to do things so he didn’t get the treatment needed before the year ended.
Fast forward to the beginning of the year, when the infection was finally causing him significant pain and discomfort and finally needed to be dealt with… Even then, though, he probably still wouldn’t have scheduled an appointment with the endodontist. Yes, a specialist had to deal with this situation because the problem had gotten so bad that it was far beyond what our regular dentist is capable of handling. Anyway, at the end of his last dental appointment, they actually called the endodontist office and scheduled his appointment for him because they didn’t trust that he would do it. I had no idea that this problem actually went as far back as before the pandemic (more on that in minute) but, considering how long he had been putting this off, I wouldn’t trust him to deal with it either.
Here are some pics that I took at the endodontist’s office when we were there for this procedure a couple of weeks ago. I have almost 30 days of vacation time (and no pickleball tournaments to travel to) this year so I have a crap ton of time to burn. I decided to use one of my three personal days offs (I think most people just get one PTO bucket but our work gives us three “personal” days in addition to our vacation time and we can use those “personal” days however we wish) to “take care” of him. I was mostly just there for moral support. He didn’t really need much caring for but I’m glad I got to keep him company. I always appreciate the days we get to spend together.
I had never been to the old Wichita Endodontics office but Brian was there a few years ago (when he should have dealt with this problem and didn’t) and he says the new office is much nicer. The waiting area is comfortable and decorated beautifully. Their furniture and decor reminds me of the decor at the Belmont — like 60s modern. Anyway, I also appreciate that there is free public WiFi in the lobby.
I went with Brian because he wasn’t sure if they would knock him out for the procedure and he would be too groggy to drive home. He wasn’t knocked out so he was totally fine but I think he was grateful to have me there. Besides being there for support, and in case he needed a driver, part of me was hoping they would let me livestream the whole thing – lol. No such luck. They wouldn’t let me back there with him so I was glad I planned ahead and brought my book to read. Shift is book two of the Silo series. I can tell you more about it in another post rather than hijacking this one.
Here are some pictures of Brian’s mouth x-rays from his pre-op appointment. So back in 2019-2020 time frame, the infection was only the size of a pea (left). He didn’t do anything for several years so it grew to the size of a ping pong ball and eventually a fistula formed. Don’t look that up. It’s gross.
I didn’t even know about the problem back then or, if he mentioned it to me, I had forgotten about it. The first time I’d caught wind of this issue was last year and, even then, I encouraged him to take care of it immediately. You’re probably wondering what happened in 2020 and why he didn’t take care of it then. I wondered the same. Well, the pandemic happened.
Here’s the story that Brian told me: The dentist discovered the problem in 2019 and referred him to Wichita Endodontics. He went for his pre-op, got x-rays done, and paid whatever amount it was he needed to pay for all of that pre-work. Then everything was shut down because of the pandemic so the operation that was scheduled and set to go got canceled. Months later when everything reopened and people figured out a way to continue with life in the midst of a raging pandemic, he contacted them to try and get the procedure done. However, they wanted to do all the pre-op stuff again. Fair, because it had been months and the situation in his mouth may have changed (things could have shifted and so forth) and so they wanted to do all new x-rays and stuff. Brian felt that it wasn’t his fault that they canceled his operation and was pissed off at this whole situation so he was like, fuck that — I guess I’m not going through with the operation. He was thinking he was punishing them by not giving them any more money but in reality he was really just punishing himself by not dealing with this infection thing. Anyway, rather than talking to them about the whole thing and telling them exactly why he is angry, he pretty much was like, “Okay. Never mind. Thank you.”
Dr. Hoffman at Wichita Endodontics was great to work with. Brian told me that after he told the doctor what happened, the doctor told him he should have said something to them instead of just suffering in silence all these years because they would have made it right. I mean, they actually did make it right. They gave Brian credit for what he originally paid for because the original operation never happened. Anyway, here are some more x-rays of Brian’s teeth:
They had to do a double root canal, which was the first step to clearing up that infection. Brian has a follow up appointment this week to see if the infection has drained itself and has pretty much healed. If things look good then he won’t have to go through oral surgery. If the root canals didn’t solve the problem then he has another operation to look forward to because this time they’ll have to do actual surgery remove the infection.
Let’s hope and pray that the infection is gone because all of this dental stuff has not been fun for Brian. Kudos to Wichita Endodontics and Dr. Hoffman for being awesome. May we not have to see you all again. LOL.
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Blast Off Bay at Goddard Sports Complex
Posted on February 23, 2024 by Ching under Life.
Finally got to check out Blast Off Bay at the Goddard Sports Complex. I think this place is sometimes also called the Genesis Aquatics Center. Admission is free on Thursdays for Genesis members and kids under 48″ are only $10.
I didn’t really check it out. I just took pics. I was mostly there to check out Melissa’s Zumba class which I wasn’t really sure she was going to make because she was at the Pitbull, Ricky Martin, and Enrique Iglesias Trilogy Tour concert in Kansas City the previous night. She made it, though.
Anyway, here are some pics of the facility.
I think it was busy because it was Sunday. Probably best to come during the week if you want to avoid the crowds.
There’s multiple lanes for the lap swimmers.
The water park/aquatics center is attached to a hotel, which I thought was really cool. So if you’re visiting from out of town, you could totally stay here.
As far as the gym itself, it was pretty quiet. The water park was busy but the gym not so much which is what my friend Kimberly Howe says she really likes about it. This is her main gym that she goes to for workouts.
Missy’s Sunday class in Goddard is small but it was super fun. I didn’t really know anyone besides her so I’m glad Kimberly went with me.
Missy has some work stuff going on over the next two weekends so she asked me to fill in so I guess I’ll be out there teaching Zumba from 1:30 to 2:30 PM over the next two Sundays. Come and join us!
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My Solo Weekend Without Brian
Posted on February 23, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink, Life.
Brian went out of town last weekend so I got to experience an entire weekend alone. I’m usually the one going out of town so this reversal of roles was quite a change of pace. The first day was super easy because it was a work day. Brian left first thing in the morning so it was just me and Saki the entire day, but it wasn’t really different than any other Friday when Brian goes to work and I’m working from home. Except this time he didn’t come home.
Brian picked up his dad from Oklahoma and the two of them drove to Mississippi to pick up some of his late Aunt Sandy’s personal items. It’s quite a drive so he didn’t come home until Sunday. In the meantime, I had the whole weekend to myself. What to do? What to do?
I didn’t have a commitment until my 4 PM team league at West YMCA so I had a nice leisurely Saturday. I kinda spent most of the morning in bed, reading my Silo book and napping. I actually finished book one (Wool) last weekend. And then I grabbed some lunch and picked up a donation for Picklemania MMXXIV from Top Golf. Came back home and read some more before heading to the Y for league.
My schedule on Sunday was much more structured. I started out at Chicken N Pickle, filling in for Kendra during Team Freddy’s practice because she had to go out of town. And then I was off to the Sandbox to deliver some iPickle Nation awards and also stream the games. Then it was a quick bite to eat before heading to the Genesis in Goddard to hit Missy’s Zumba class.
And then it was time to feed myself and Saki. I made one of our Hello Fresh dinners. It was so relaxing, I felt like that Alena Skaya lady on Insta who always shares the “love myself” reels. When Brian came home, he ate the rest of the Hello Fresh dinner I made and I did some more reading before bed. It was a super relaxing weekend.
Meanwhile Brian sent pictures of their dinners while he was out of town.
They had Mexican on Friday night, which Brian said wasn’t particularly great.
I’m not sure where this was but they also ate it.
They also ate at this place called Ribcage Steakhouse, which Brian really enjoyed.
And that’s pretty much the weekend.
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Cheezepanzee
Posted on February 22, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink.
We had Cheezepanzee food truck again at work last week. Brian didn’t get to try it the last time but this time around he met Chris and I at work and we all enjoyed Cheezepanzee together. Food pics follow.
They had a promo where if you bought a Cheezepanzee shirt you would get a free cherry lemonade and I really almost bought one. #girlmath
I didn’t need the shirt though so I didn’t. Paid for my $4 drink and enjoyed the food. It’s pretty good but I’m ready for them to bring other food trucks to work.
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Livingston’s Diner
Posted on February 20, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink.
This is a late post from a couple of weeks ago. Decided to take Brian on a brunch date but our “go to” place HomeGrown had a 2.5 hour wait. I really should have put us on the waiting list when I first woke up that day but it was going to be a nice leisurely day so I didn’t really mind waiting, even if we had to wait an hour. I just didn’t expect 2.5 hours. Anyway, we decided to go to Livingston’s Diner instead and made the best of it. There was no wait there.
Livingston’s Diner was voted “best breakfast” in Wichita for 2023 so it baffles me that there’s rarely ever a wait here; whereas there is always a wait at HomeGrown. I told Brian will have to go to both places back to back and confirm.
I started with a mimosa because can you even call it brunch without one?
Here are some pictures of our breakfast. We asked for crispy bacon and they weren’t playing. These were extra, extra crispy. LOL.
I almost ordered some cinnamon rolls but I’m glad I didn’t because they gave us two free ones. The free cinnamon rolls they give you are smaller than I remembered but at least they’re free. Doo-dah doesn’t give you free monkey bread anymore. I think it’s a sign of the times.
Brian and I went to HomeGrown this morning after his dental procedure and, now that we have a recent comparison, I can objectively say that, although Livingston’s in good, HomeGrown is way better. Stay tuned for our HomeGrown breakfast post.
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