Well, I missed the mark of posting every day of this business trip I'm on. I am still, B"H, holding clean. I do think I owe a bit of an explanation, though. Thursday morning I woke up with a toothache. It was one of those where you know this is bad news, and here in the US, we had a three day weekend approaching. I spent all day Thursday very uncomfortable, but (foolishly) hoping the toothache would just go away. By the time Friday morning dawned, I knew I had to see a dentist.
Now I just assumed from past experience that I would get an antibiotic and would have to suffer through until it kicked in. B"H, I found a Jewish dentist, a real mentsch. He took an xray, and gave me the bad news. I had two teeth right next to one another that were beyond help. He said it would be best if they came out, but he gave me the option to just get an antibiotic and wait or to do it right then. I decided to do it right then. As it turned out, this was a good thing, because once he pulled the one tooth, the dentist realized that it was much worse than he could tell from the xray. Antibiotics might not have made a bit of difference.
So here it was, about 1 pm, Erev Shabbos, and I had just had two teeth pulled. I make my way to the pharmacy to buy ibuprofen (which I was to take in very high dosage). Much to my chagrin, though, the pain killer the dentist used started to wear off before I even got to the pharmacy. By the time I got back to the company housing I was in complete agony. There is something medical people call referred pain. My understanding of this idea is that severe pain will "reproduce" itself in surrounding locations. Nothing is actually wrong in those places, but it feels like something is. At any rate, I am in a near panic at this point just trying to open the childproof bottle and remove the cotton wad. That was almost too difficult for me, but eventually I got the tablets out. Unfortunately, it takes quite a while for pain meds to take effect, and I already was deep into pain. It felt like I had multiple toothaches, a sinus infection, an ear infection, a jaw muscle cramp, and a tension headache all at once. I wish I could report what great strength I had in face of this pain, but I can't. For nearly two hours, I was a quivering heap. After two hours the pain killer finally took enough effect and the trauma of the extractions subsided enough that I was able to doze off for a while. After napping for an hour or so, I was in good enough shape to prepare to go to my Shabbos hosts' home. I wasn't great company on Friday night, but I made it through services and the meal (being selective about what I ate). B"H, I woke up Shabbos morning feeling reasonably well. I was able to daven normally, and was almost my normal talkative self at the Shabbos table for lunch.
I'm not sure of the reasons behind all this. I can only hope that the suffering will count as a kappara for things I have done, especially considering the time of year. I just hope to Hashem that I never have to experience anything like that again! Needless to say, for much of this time there was NO struggle whatsoever with any kind of improper thoughts. Things are pretty much back to normal now. My mouth is a little sore and swollen, but that is small potatoes. At any rate, I thought I owed an explanation for my lack of posting for the last few days.
