I’m not trying to become a poster child for the Book of Job, but…

Last week, I made an appointment with my dentist to check on a sore lower molar. It started aching four or five weeks ago right around the time I began my infusions and became increasingly sore. The oncology pharmacist cooked up a special mouthwash that included Benadryl and Lidocaine which, along with taking hydrocodone, helped but not a whole lot.

Ironically, the day I got to the dentist last week, the pain stopped completely. That might have been good news, but it wasn’t. The nerve had suddenly died which explains why I didn’t feel any more pain from that tooth. I was sent off to an endodontist who began a root canal after taking extensive xrays. Because of my cancer and being immunocompromised, it was a fairly complicated procedure and also had to get cleared by my oncologist. More than a third of multiple myeloma patients have tooth and jaw complications. Often, that’s the first symptom for someone who hasn’t yet been diagnosed. However, it seems like my tooth problem was more of a coincidence than directly caused by the cancer or treatments. There was some thought that my increasingly immunocompromised condition may have revealed the tooth problem that had been previously masked.

More than two hours later, the root canal procedure could only be half-completed due to extensive calicification inside the root canals. Aside from those complications, the tooth itself presented challenges. Most people have two roots coming down from their molar. Sometimes three, rarely four. At first, it wasn’t clear if my tooth has three or four deep root canals. After two more hours today, the endodontist confirmed that I have three root canals: two smaller ones and a larger one that initially appeared like it might fork into two canals – giving me a total of four root canals. Today was supposed to be my “day off” infusion – only to be replaced by a root canal. Sheesh!

Although I’m done for now, there’s a possibility that I might need a third root canal procedure. This will depend on the findings from a review of the x-rays that the endodontist sent off. She tells me that if it's needed, it won’t be as extensive a procedure as the first two.

Once that’s determined, my oncologist wants to start me on a biosphosphonate like Zometa for bone strengthening and reduce the risk of bone fractures. The medication can’t be given during any dental procedure, so the oncologist wants my dentist to double-check if there are any other dental procedures that might need to be done before starting me on the medication. Hopefully, not.

So far, these latest complications won't derail my plans to go to the mountains at the end of the month. I'm really looking forward to it. It's been almost six years since I've been in the mountains.

This is a shot of the T-Rex skeleton at the Life Sciences building at UC Berkeley. Somehow, a flower shot didn't seem right for today's blog.