Sunday, September 23, 2007

HOT DOG

I just created a new daily blog called I Wanna Be Your Dog NYC.

It's really just a reason for me to post photos of all the dogs I meet in the city when I walk around. I hope you enjoy it.

By the way, my mouth is doing great. On thursday, like i mentioned, i got my 2 bottom wisdom teeth removed. This has been something i've been putting off for about 6 years -- since i got my braces taken off when I was about 21 (i had them put on when I was 19 when I got a freelance job and could finally afford braces because before then my parents couldnt afford 'em). I didn't get my wisdom teeth taken out... again, cause my family couldn't afford the procedure, and then I just ignored the fact that they needed to come out until it got to the point where it wasn't avoidable anymore. So my parents chipped in and helped pay for their removal which was really nice. I dont have health insurance or dental insurance, so the $2100 that it cost was a bit hard on the wallet.

Anyway, when I sat in the chair, the oral surgeon -- whom i've never met in my life -- was like "have you ever had sweet gas before?" I told him that I didnt think so, but wasn't positive. He then asked "Have you ever had whip-its? It's kinda like that." And again, I replied that I never have done whip-its, because, well, i havent. Then his really bizarre response to that was "Oh, so you just look like you like to take drugs. I guess that's because you work in the music industry." I smiled uncomfortably, and said "I guess so, Sir. I'm really nervous, so can we please get started?"

It took about 15 minutes to remove the two wisdom teeth, which I soundtracked with "Intervention" by the Arcade Fire. I played the song three times in a row, trying to ignore the slightly aggressive way in which he pricked my cheek with painkiller, almost to prove that I couldnt feel anything... even though I slightly could and was letting him know this by pained grunts every so often.

When we were done, I let him know that Vicoden would possibly not be strong enough. Again, he replied with a somewhat awkward implication that he thinks I'm a drug addict. "Oh yeah, you know from experience that vicoden isn't strong enough for you? How? You take it a lot?"
"No Sir, I've had a couple of rootcanals and so I know this from experience."
"Sure you do. OK, I'll give you something strong."
I mean, the guy did an exray on my mouth. He could see that I clearly wasnt lying.

So after the procedure was done, I was so out of it and weirded out by the experience that I forgot to ask them to call a car for me like Brandon told me to do. So I walked out and staggered along 57th Street with my face swollen, blood dried up in little reseviors leading from my mouth, and an icepack to my face. I tried to hail a cab, but every time I saw one, I wasnt quick enough to get to it before someone else did, and I couldnt call out for one because i couldn't really open my mouth.

My brother Lawrence called with his girlfriend and I told him that I was stuck in midtown without a cab and too fucked up to take a subway. So he drove up and got me from the duane reede I stumbled into to get my meds and took me home.

When Brandon got home he found me face down in a pillow with my butt in the air like an ostrich, screaming in pain. I guess my dr had prescribed me weak pain meds and strong ones, and I took the weak ones thinking they were generic percocets. I started crying for him to find me mashed potatoes cos I was starving. I cried like a baby for a half hour and took some of the other pain meds, the oxycodone, and about 2 hours later I was feeling good enough to go to the Schoolyard Heroes show at the Annex. Obviously, they were amazing... which was a relief. I love that band and nothing was going to keep me from one of their NYC shows.

The next day, the swelling had gotten a whole lot worse, as did the pain. I laid in bed and watched the entire first season of "Greek" which i bought from iTunes and HIGHLY recommend you check out if you can. I then attempted to eat some food for the Yom Kippur fast... which was REALLY hard since i couldnt really chew much. I popped some vikes and headed to Shul for Kol Nidre and I was high as a fucking kite while sitting in the pews with my mom. Oy va voy.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know, the whole doctor bit sounds a little too made up...

Ultragrrrl said...

what do you mean?

Anonymous said...

how come jay z's colleagues are without health insurance?

Ultragrrrl said...

cos stolen transmission is a joint venture with idj, meaning, i'm not an island/defjam employee. so i dont get any benefits or shit like that.... but i get other perks, which is nice. it's kinda like being a temp.

Anonymous said...

you should have explained that def jam is a little different then the rest of the music industry... "We carry guns, now please get started before I get impatient"

Anonymous said...

cool racism, harvey!

Anonymous said...

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/15757878.html?page=1#comments

Ultragrrrl said...

hm.... yeah, harvey... this place is actually not like that at all.

Anonymous said...

I bought Abominations yesterday and am still a little blown away by "All the Pretty Corpses." The ending harmonies are the highlight of the entire album for me.

Send 'em back to Philly, pls.

Anonymous said...

maybe you should consider going abroad for expensive surgeries?
I mean I've had many surgeries when I visited Korea and it was really cheap.(I had septum deviation for about $500 and had 2 of my wisdom teeth taken out for $100? or something like that..) g one of th

I mean the fact that my dad is a doctor and the surgeries were done by his friends really helped but I know that a lot of Korean people living in LA go to Korea to get plastic surgeries because it's way cheaper even with the airfare & hotel.

a lot of people outsource medical help nowadays ( Latin America is being very popular) and you should really into that because you will get top medical help with a fraction of cost.

oh and btw, when I got my wisdom teeth removed, I had REGULAR TYLENOLS as painkillers-they had to cut open my gum since the teeth were growing sideways inside.

many doctors have told me to just endure it lol but I mean they provide excellent anaesthesia for the actual surgery. It's just a different story about expected level of pain-endurance. I guess it's a cultural thing since Korea isn't really big on drugs in general.

Anonymous said...

I mean... what doctor will actually talk about whippets to you and pass judgement that you look like someone who does drugs? Sounds so exagerrated. I do like your stories though!

MEIK! said...

hope your feeling a little better. Apparently I was so knocked out when had my wisdom teeth removed I was passed out in a wheel chair for an hour after the surgery.

LJK said...

Oh my God I hate wisdom teeth. I had mine taken out a couple of years ago, and my dentist was also a raving lunatic of the sadistic persuasion. With a big sharp knife.

I'm glad your feeling better and that you got to go to the shows! I wish cool bands would come and play in Hawaii, but alas, they never do. The last one that I went to was NIN a week ago, but other than that, it's only local stuff.

LJK said...

cappie from greek is a fox. nice to have something to cheer you up.

Anonymous said...

who said anything about race nick?

I was kidding about the ex-drug dealers that are now signed to Def Jam. (jeezy, rick ross)

Anonymous said...

LOL yeah like it's so hard to beleive people are so judgemental. Cause you know we live in this perfect world where we can dress the way we want and people won't judge us and label us based on their own perceptions. :-|

I am actually am happy you posted this. I have to get 4 removed and they told me I have 2 extra baby teeth growing behind my two on top. I'm going to call and make my appt now....i'll make sure to ask for extra strong drugs.

Anonymous said...

hi. wow, in Panama (central america), getting your wisdom teeth out it's about $150.00 per tooth. (in dollars)

Ultragrrrl said...

i know the story sounded totally unbelievable. i couldnt believe it when he was saying that stuff to me and my parents were laughing their asses off. people say shit like that to me all the time. it's really weird.... not to mention, i was trying to dress normal and not how i dress normally cos i was worried i'd be discriminated against when getting my pain killers.

Amanda said...

You've gotta be kidding, anonymous. You think medical/dental professionals are never loons? And if she doesn't have dental, she probably didn't find him based on the recommendation of a trusted dentist. Plus she's a tiny 20-something, and a lot of older dudes find it completely normal to have inappopriate conversations with people of that size/age.

Christopher Cochran MD said...

Your story is very believable. Some doctors falsely assume anyone in pain is a narc seeker. If I cut on someone, they get pain medicine. If they call back in pain, they get stronger pain meds. We do get narc seekers, but they are usually fairly transparent. I hope you feel better soon and be sure to take some stool softeners as they oxy IR is very constipating. (i'm not trying to be off color here)

fashion suits said...

many doctors told to endure it but I mean they provide excellent anaesthesia for the actual surgery. It's just a different story about expected level of pain-endurance.