Happening #3

Chemotherapy has its secrets. A friend who had gone through chemo warned me about one of these secrets. This is a story of one of those secrets.

One day, I was minding my own business, eating some blueberries. Blueberries are yummy, but something annoying happened. The skin of one of the blueberries got caught in between my teeth. I could feel it, so I went to the bathroom to floss and brush my teeth.

I flossed between all of my teeth except two particular teeth. I tried and I tried, but I couldn't get the floss through. How could the skin of a blueberry be so tough? I picked at it with one of those plastic flossers, but nothing happened.

That is when I called my lovely daughter, A2. I asked her to see what was stuck between my top, back molars. Her reply was chilling.

She said, "Mom, you have black teeth."

I said, "What?!!!!!"

She said, "You have rotten teeth."

I said, "What?!!!!!"

I tried to look at my teeth using a large bathroom mirror. Could not see a thing. Then, I asked A2 to let me use one of her little mirrors.

To my horror, I saw black also! My two, top, back molars. I had to steady myself. That is when the other curious souls who live in this home came to look. My husband had a look. A1 had a look. A3 had a look. Then, A2 had to have another look and so did I!

Maybe that is why my teeth had been so sensitive and hurting these past few weeks? I've been brushing. I've been flossing. But as my friend had shared: chemo ruins your teeth. She had discovered that she had 10 cavities after her chemotherapy was done.

O Lord, help me.

And yes, after what seemed liked a few hours, I did get those blueberry skins out - only to get a few more stuck the following week.