| August 19, 2005 Editor’s Desk by Aaron Selbig It’s been a relieving week here at Insurgent Headquarters. [Warning!
Portions of this column contain graphic depictions of medieval dental
procedures. Small children and readers with weak stomachs may not wish
to continue.]
Last Friday, I woke up with a noticeable problem. The left side of my face was swollen to about the size of a baseball and I had a dull, throbbing pain in my jaw. Immediately, I knew what it was. I had an abscessed tooth. Damnit. I didn’t have time for this crap. I had an important I-49 meeting scheduled for that afternoon and a radio show to prepare for. As I feverishly scoured the medicine cabinet for some expired antibiotics (left over from my last tooth problem a couple of years ago), my special lady friend implored me to break the schedule and take a trip to the dentist. The dentist. Just the thought of a dentist’s office, with the high-pitched whine of the drill, the year-old People magazines in the lobby and that barbaric, uncomfortable mechanical chair, sent a shiver down my spine. “They’re butchers”, I thought to myself, “... the used car salesmen of the medical world”. I knew, however, that my special lady friend was right. I was in pain and the only way out of it was to lose the troubled tooth. Plus, there was another problem. I’m one of the estimated 45 million Americans who lack health insurance. How would we pay for this? So, after a weekend of popping antibiotics (I got a hold of some fresh ones), it was off to the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center for me at 8:00 on Monday morning. Super. What a way to start the week. At least my special lady friend went with me for moral support. The dental clinic at ANHC in Fairview is booked solid for appointments a month in advance. The only way to get in to see the dentist is to show up at 8:00am as a walk-in. We arrived at 7:30, and waited for an hour or so before my name was called. By then, the lobby was completely full, mostly with poor folks with obvious dental emergencies, like myself. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of care I was going to get here. Are the dentists accredited? What schools did they go to? UAA? One thing was for sure ... I wasn’t going to get knocked out for this. “Mr. Selbig?” Damnit. Here we go. I’d be lying if I told you the experience of having a very large tooth removed was fun. The tooth in question, as a matter of fact, turned out to be a particularly arduous one to remove. The dentist had to saw it into three pieces with her drill, and wrench the pieces out one at a time by jerking them back and forth until they pried loose (I warned you this would get graphic). The whole time, I gripped the nagahyde dental chair with superhuman strength, and tried desperately to place myself somewhere else. After about a half an hour, it was over. I went home with a wad of bloody gauze in my mouth and a prescription for Vicadin. By this point, you’re probably assuming that this column is purely a vehicle for gross-out dental imagery. Well, that’s partially correct but I do have a point here and it is this: Thank God for the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center and the public health professionals who staff it. I didn’t get my dentist’s name, but I’d very much like to thank her for removing my abscessed tooth. Yes, it was an unpleasant experience, to say the least. But her professional manner, especially when dealing with an admitted chicken like myself, was excellent. She was understanding, comforting, and very kind. I came away from the experience with a profound respect for her and doctors and dentists like her who, instead of cashing in on the big money in more lucrative branches of medicine, spend their time with uninsured poor folks who have nowhere else to go for medical care. Our health care system in this country is positively shameful (a complex topic for another day), but at least there is one place in Fairview where good people are doing good work with compassion. What a relief. Regards, Aaron Selbig Editor, Insurgent Media AK |
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August 12, 2005 August 5, 2005 July 29, 2005 July 22, 2005 July 15, 2005 July 8, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 24, 2005 June 17, 2005 June 10, 2005 June 3, 2005 May 27, 2005 May 20, 2005 May 13, 2005 May 6, 2005 April 28, 2005 April 21, 2005 April 14, 2005 April 7, 2005 April 1, 2005 |
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Insurgent Media.
All rights reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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