Yes, Garth Brooks’ “Two Pina Coladas” popped into my head as the anesthesiologist popped two sticks of anesthetic into my mouth. I’d always thought those things were pineapple-flavored, but it occured to me today that they might actually have been coconut-flavored and the pineapple was just a delusion created by the odd taste of the anesthetic.
The anesthetic sticks were all right, but then she grabbed a needle. “AAAGH!” I said as she jabbed it into the roof of my mouth, left side.
Right side. “AAAGH!”
“You’ll feel a bit woozy now,” she told me. “It’s the epinephrine.”
Great. Some of it had gotten into my throat, so I ended up drooling on myself for 15 minutes, great gobs and gobs of saliva running down my front (thank God for bibs!). I started laughing at myself because I could imagine how damned ridiculous I looked.
There was a large window through which I could see three bird-feeders and a lot of sparrows. The stupid things were on the ground, pecking away and twitching, and completely ignoring the bird-feeders.
I watched them for about twenty minutes, until the dentist came and began the procedure of putting in fillings. I hadn’t needed damn fillings in at least seven years. Surprisingly, it took less than ten minutes to finish it, and they let me go, wondering if I was going to be able to get home in one piece.
Now my jaw aches, probably because half of the muscles needed aren’t working to keep it up, and I can’t speak without gagging or sounding like I’m imitating El Chambo/Mudo. I hope it wears off by two o’ clock, or DiffEq will be a barrel of monkeys.