Sunday, May 08, 2016

Toothache


If the area beneath a tooth is aching like the dickens, get off to the Doctor, will ya? If you have poorly controlled Diabetes, you haven't seen a Dentist in 7 years, and in general, you're noncompliant with your health.............your toothache is a death sentence. And frankly, if you don't go to the ER, until there is pus seeping from your eyes from that abscess, it's pretty clear, you are destined to leave the planet.

Cultivating an abscess
A tooth unattended,
Bulging eyes with purulent pus
Not recommended,
Paranasal sinuses
Infected with goo,
Seeps into the brain
Sticks there like glue.

Grossly septic
Bacteria in command,
You need a breathing tube
Your head a swollen gland,
Suffice to say, your consciousness
Has gone off the deep end,
This out of control infection
Is too late to apprehend.


3 comments:

Oldfoolrn said...

Great work. It gets better each time I read it!

Joanna said...

I can't say I've ever seen a poem like this before but it is quite good! It's also sad that people are willing to let themselves go to such an extent that something, which could easily be taken care of if treated early, will instead kill them. Going to the dentist as soon as possible is the best solution.

Fibril_late said...

Joanna,
Thanks for your comment. There was another time about 20 years ago, when I was working in the ED at the University. A woman brought her seven year old grandaughter in to the hospital at about 2am, telling that her child had a swollen and painful gum. The Triage Nurse queried: "How long has this been going on?" The woman replied, "Oh, about 5 months". Apparently at that time, there had been an Urgent Care appointment, where the "see a Dentist" advice had not been pursued. Well, there you go, another on-the-ball adult, moving forward and onward. I have no idea what happened to the child, but hopefully she didn't die from the abscess.