thought: lidocaine is cool.

Two weeks ago, I went to the dentist and got numbed with some lidocaine. 

Apparently, novacaine is no longer used due to a number of allergic reactions and remains simply a term to describe numbness (kind of like the mercury in thermometers deal). Upo

n getting numbed, a peculiar cognitive bubble seemed to float about with the excitement over a new sensation of being treated with an anesthetic. I thought it would be slightly entertaining to include my immediate thoughts on the situation below. (The quoted text was written two weeks ago, moments after the dentist appointment.)

Lidocaine is cool.

Today, I got a filling done on a cavity on the side of one of my molars and Dr. Finkle numbed the right side of my cheek. It took quite a while for the tingliness to change to heaviness, but this is how numbness really feels: like I got a fat lip. I try to grin and outcomes a wry smile. Much effort is needed to pull the tips of my mouth up. Effortless, my face is Abe Lincoln's--half smile, half indifference. My cheek feels soft and tender (haha, kind of like a baby's bottom) and the wetness of my bottom lip may oddly be compared to the sliminess of an uncooked piece of chicken thigh, the fatty part that we often pick with our finger and slice off. What an odd feeling this is as there is actually none (haha or the nerves rather)! 

Lordie, I'm so weird.

Despite my fun, it took four hours for the numbness to fade away. When eating dinner, I took special precautions in chewing slowly to make sure I did not accidently chomp on the cheek. Ah, the food tasted so strangely that meal. Placing quiche into my mouth lacked true joy and the flavors could only be tasted by half of my tongue. I continued to eat and chew with the left side of my mouth--for it was not numbed-- with the discontent feeling of dull weight being plopped gently into the right cheek. Later, the tingling feeling returned. I marveled at how the numbness vanished and the true feeling of touch was finally restored.

-lilxerica