After a very quiet period I had started succumbing to minor infections- chest, mouth and urinary tract. Nothing major. My GP had instructed me to ring for antibiotics immediately rather than let things fester , which I did. In retrospect I had several tooth abscesses even before diagnosis which had resulted in root canal work and several tooth extractions when the treatment had failed. It ever occurred to me there might have been an underlying cause.

Indeed I struggled to even contemplate trips to the dentist after a near- death experience in the dreaded chair about 15 years prior to the bout of tooth problems. It was a reaction to a anaesthetic that had caused that! After a horrendous experience with a needle in the rear jaw I felt the room fading away and told the dentist to stop. Fast forward I passed out an woke to a room full of assistants head virtually on the floor, feet in the air. All I can remember is going towards a bright light and saying “ I can’t go through the light I have to pick my children up from school and can’t be late”. Quite an out of body experience looking down on oneself from the ceiling!

Apparently my heart had stopped. But no one actually told me! A subsequent visit a week later and I was greeted by a strange man who ushered me into a private anteroom and told me he was a doctor not a dentist! Turned out he was the Dentist’s father who checked me out, did an ECG and told me I could not have adrenaline based dental anaesthesia ever again as I had reacted badly. His daughter did actually fill my tooth with my chest wired up to a monitor and said subsequently she would not be able or willing to treat me again , I was told to ask for citonest non adrenaline anaesthesia when visiting another dentist. I did actually notice that in the room were prominently displayed resuscitation instructions on wall posters that had not been present the previous week! It appears I had frightened the hell out of the dentist and she just wanted rid of me and her father had been tasked to do a thorough check after the event. Never even considered a complaint but ever since have had a fear of dentists!

I found a lovely lady who was employed by the Community Dental Service to treat phobias. She and I had such a long relationship whereby she treated me using a form of hypnosis and much gripping the chair arm on my behalf. Sadly in the process I had lost several teeth, victims of prolonged infections due to my compromised immune system. It was only after the diagnosis of a blood cancer that she realised why I got such deep seated abscesses, Even before the diagnosis my body was finding it hard to fight bugs Hindsight is wonderful!

Now my cancer is controlled all the trauma has stopped! No more endless prescriptions for antibiotics and tooth loss. I value my remaining knashers like gold nuggets and despite the closure of the Community Dental service and loss of my phobia dentist I have managed to have regular check ups with relative ease and the odd filling without dread! “What doesn’t kill you can make you stronger “ as Nietzsche said!