(Wrote this a few weeks ago. Forgot to post it. Might as well.)
Yesterday I went to the dentist, a dreaded but necessary visit. That's not the point.
While I was waiting, that's the point.
Every time I visit the dentist I think back to Catherine and the gum problems she had in the period prior to her death, and how scared she was to be told she may lose all her teeth. In mental health terms, that is termed "catastrophising" or something like that--when a piece of information is blown up out of proportion. While it's true that with severe gum disease you can lose all your teeth, it would have to be really severe, and I think the dentist was just trying to push her to take better care.
Then I remember going with Cath for her last dentist appointment, and sitting in the waiting room, and her coming out quite happy saying everything was fine.
Yesterday my thoughts also turned to another aspect of Catherine and dentists. She never had any fillings. Nor did Pax, but he was only 3. But Catherine never needed a filling or an extraction, and she was nearly 31.
Credit to her, for taking care of herself, but also some credit to her upbringing--healthy food and more or less avoiding sweets except for occasional chocolate, cakes and pies--oh and icecream, that was another exception, probably the most frequent exception!--but virtually no hard sweets, and hardly any white sugar in her diet at all.
And that's a positive thought. She had a healthy dietary start.
It's SO GREAT when I can manage a positive thought and not just be beating myself up for mistakes and regrets and decisions.
Yesterday I went to the dentist, a dreaded but necessary visit. That's not the point.
While I was waiting, that's the point.
Every time I visit the dentist I think back to Catherine and the gum problems she had in the period prior to her death, and how scared she was to be told she may lose all her teeth. In mental health terms, that is termed "catastrophising" or something like that--when a piece of information is blown up out of proportion. While it's true that with severe gum disease you can lose all your teeth, it would have to be really severe, and I think the dentist was just trying to push her to take better care.
Then I remember going with Cath for her last dentist appointment, and sitting in the waiting room, and her coming out quite happy saying everything was fine.
Yesterday my thoughts also turned to another aspect of Catherine and dentists. She never had any fillings. Nor did Pax, but he was only 3. But Catherine never needed a filling or an extraction, and she was nearly 31.
Credit to her, for taking care of herself, but also some credit to her upbringing--healthy food and more or less avoiding sweets except for occasional chocolate, cakes and pies--oh and icecream, that was another exception, probably the most frequent exception!--but virtually no hard sweets, and hardly any white sugar in her diet at all.
And that's a positive thought. She had a healthy dietary start.
It's SO GREAT when I can manage a positive thought and not just be beating myself up for mistakes and regrets and decisions.
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