Last weekend Louise and I went to Plymouth for a couple of days to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary and see my old friend from university, Michael, who was having a party for his thirtieth birthday. It was great to get away, just the two of us, for a couple of days.
We decided to go to the Eden Project on the Saturday. We visited it for our first wedding anniversary, shortly after it opened. It has certainly improved over the intervening years; it’s far more established now.
Over the weekend Louise developed a bad tooth ache, which we later discovered was a tooth abscess. By the time we had made it home on Sunday the pain was reaching unbearable levels — “worse than childbirth” in Louise’s words. Therein started a marvellous adventure in attempting to find emergency dental care on a Sunday.
Listen up Reading folk, useful information: There are (at least currently) no dentists running emergency sessions at the weekend in this area. Do not go to A&E, they will only refer you to a helpline number. Do not call this helpine number, they will only tell you there are no dentists running emergency sessions and refer you to NHS Direct. Do not call NHS Direct, they will only refer you to the helpline number. What you should do is go to WestCall at the Royal Berks where a nurse will at the very least be able to prescribe you antibiotics and/or painkillers. Moral of the story: If you get a toothache on Friday morning, make an emergency appointment that day.
What followed was a very difficult week all round. Louise was a real trooper through it all and our heartfelt thanks go to her mum who helped look after the children every day. A cocktail of wickedly strong antibiotics and painkillers has done its work and Louise is now on the mend.
Tags: health