MDS: Medical Battle Fatigue

Yesterday required two trips to the dentist. Seems a crown that pre-dates MDS had never been permanently posted-and-pasted into my mouth because a root canal had to be done somewhere in the interim.

So, Dr. D posted-and-pasted the thing. I went home, took one bite of a ham and cheese sandwich, and the crown chipped. Sharp edges were scraping my tongue. Back to Dr. D I went.

Meanwhile, the stitches in my biopsied lower leg are itching like mad.

A kind of medical battle fatigue is setting. How many more body parts are going to betray me and begin to fail? I mean, my

• teeth are falling out
• legs are breaking out
• bones are copping out
• bowels are holding out
• skin is itching out-rageously.

It's enough to make a person freak out.

When I trace this entire adventure back, it's astonishing and a bit depressing to think how many medical disciplines have entered the fray.

• Internists (3)
• Orthopedist
• Oncologist
• Orthopedic Oncologist
• Radiation Techs of all Kinds
• Surgeon
• Anaesthesiologist
• Infectious Disease Specialist
• MDS Specialist
• Dermatologist
• Nurses in Many Numbers
• Nurse's Aids in Many Numbers
• Medical Assistants in Many More Numbers

and now the Dentist?

Oy boy. Good thing I'm here to keep these people occupied and gainfully employed.

You can see where this might wear a person down. Especially on a day when two dental visits were required. It's almost enough to make me forget that my feet always hurt, and have been hurting for 30-plus years.

On the other hand, my

• hair isn't falling out
• brain isn't checking out
• bodily fluids aren't leaking out
• ambulatory ability isn't flunking out
• sense of humor isn't passing out
• will to move on isn't giving out.

As my kids used to say, it's all good.