Getting back to my "roots"

That is usually a positive statement: Getting back to our roots, but today it wasn't positive at all. The roots that I am talking about are the very roots that reside inside of my back right molar, tooth #30 to be exact. Those roots had a bad experience today. I had to get a root canal.I normally have a pretty high tolerance for pain and I am not a problem patient (I have dealt with a few of those over the years) but today proved me to be a liar. It began with a shot way in the back of my mouth along the hinge of my jaw, all was going well. Then came another shot close to the same vicinity, and then finally a third in the same general area. Doc said lets let it sit for a few minutes then we will begin! I got to sport a cool pair of giant sunglasses so I don't get spattered in the eyes with...well we'll leave it at that. He comes in and tells me that we are going to begin, and if at any time I have pain to raise my hand. The assistant squirts water and blows air on my tooth, I raise my hand...oh dear it is already starting. I can feel the cold. Ok says doc, and yet another shot...this time to the inner side of that tooth. (did you keep count, this is shot #4). We begin again. He starts to drill onto the top of my tooth. I can feel slight pain but nothing unbearable, then it happened, he hit a nerve. I raised my hand. I can feel that. Ok then...this time Doc informs me that he will have to admin a shot directly into the nerve in that tooth. YIKES! He says the first one will hurt worst (first one? how many will there be? will I be numb for days???) In goes the first shot. A little hurtful. Then another and finally a third. In case you have lost count, we are at a grand total of 7! He begins to drill and poke and prod and drill some more and by now I have to go to the bathroom really bad, so I raise my hand. I mumble through the latex block on my tooth, mouth hanging as wide open as the grand canyon "I ha to go to da baroom". He was probably secretly wishing that I would somehow get flushed and disappear and never come back. Actually I was wishing the same!
After 1 1/2 hours of this, we finally finished. The doc made me feel better when he said that this was a really hard tooth to get numb on anybody. I hope that is true and that he wasn't just saying that to make me feel like less of a whimpy, but even if he was, I will take it! By 2:30 ( 5 hours later) the numbness finally began to wear off and I drank a vanilla malt and all was well with the world again!