₦airaland Forum

I don't know why they keep deleting my posts. I'm tired of re-writing it so that entry's gone.
Suffice it to say,i got the extractions and everything done on Wednesday. On thursday,i travelled to Warri. My dad's younger brother and his family live there. I went to hang out with my cousins and just flex for a bit.

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The problem with my teeth was caused by overindulgence in sweets,ice-cream,chocolate etc. My dad had always warned me about my sugar intake,and when i say always,i mean always.
You know all those practical fathers that teach their kids practical lessons? That's my dad.
When my teeth problem started,he told me with not a little glee that he would not be involved in my tooth matter.
I would pay my dentist bills myself,he said.
This was a lesson in facing the consequences of my actions,being responsible for what i do and all that Zen crap.
When my dad said this,i told myself that i would give him time. When he saw his favorite daughter(okay favorite is a bit of a misnomer-my dad doesn't have any favorites;i just happen to be his last girl and the one closest to him. My sisters are closer to our mother,while i'm closer to him-i'm a daddy's girl) in pain,he wouldn't be able to stand it,right? WRONG. He was able to stand it pretty well.
For the one year my teeth bothered me when i was still in Lag,he told me to handle it myself andhe never got involved.
So i knew i was gonna have to pay the bills myself. My cousin had extracted a tooth a few years back,and she'd paid less than 1,500(including x-rays and all). Factoring in inflation,the fact that i was getting rid of two teeth,i'd told myself that everything would be less than 5k. I'd recently opened a new account with some of my money and i couldn't access that money for the next two weeks,so all the money i had in the world,my life savings and my blood amounted to exactly 5k. This was what i went to the dentist's with. Throughout the bus ride back to Uselu(we live off campus in Uselu),my mind was reeling. 2,500 x 2 for the extraction. 1,500 for the x-rays. 3,500 for the S and P. Altogether,10,000 naira. Where the bloody hell would i get the extra 5k from? I have a mortal fear of borrowing money from anyone,and even if i overcame that-my sisters were broke. Plus,the little money they had left would be spent transporting themselves to Lagos for the holidays. They were leaving the next da(Wednesday),the same day of my procedure. This was Tuesday afternoon. When i got home,i was very subdued. My mind was travelling in so many different directions i almost felt that my thoughts would fall out of my ears. My cousin noticed my mood and asked me what was up. I told her. She told me to ask my dad. "He won't give the money',i said. I'd called him the day before to tell him that i was going to the dentist's,and he told me that didn't concern him. She told me that possibly he didn't know how expensive it would be. Where did he want me to get the extra money from? She said i should call him,and tell him that i hadn't eaten for two days. She said i should tell him that i would soon die. She laughed. I laughed too,but i got the point-i was to be as dramatic as possible. She also said i should call my mom first. Woman power and al that,i reasoned. So i called my mom and told her everything. She told me to call my dad. I gathered my courage and did so. "What?",he said rather gruffly. My dad doesn't believe in exchanging pleasantries on the phone-at least not with me. He knows that when i call him i almost always want something,so i might as well get on with it. He's right.
Quivering,i told him what was happening. I told him the price. I told him that i hadn't eaten for 3 days. I said tha if i died,he would know who to blame. And then,a stroke of genius. I asked him whether he wanted me to friend an 'uncle' and get the money from said 'uncle'. He burst out laughing. Me and Aristos? Ludicrous thought. "Ok. I'll send the money now and then you can withdraw it today if it enters before 4 snce it's already past 3",he said,chuckling.
I nearly fell off the chair. "Ehn? How much are you sending?",i asked,scarcely believing my ears. "Is it not 10k you said you need?",he asked. "Yes daddy. Oh God,thank you. Thank you soo much. I love you daddy". He laughed. Why would you not love me when you've aready gotten what you want from me?,he asked. "If you like,after they remove it you can go and start licking sweets again",he said and ended the call.
Dude i was soo happy. Seriously. I went to hug my cousin. Hell,i hugged everyone. All the worrying over where to get the money from evaporated,and i was in a glorious mood.

I feel compelled to tell you that i am a bit of a brain. I'm like a nerd except i'm not socially inept. Not to blow my own trumpet or anything(okay,who am i kidding? If i don't blow my own trumpet,who will? ),i'm a helluva lot smarter(and not just book smarts) than most people my age and it shows in the way i think,write,talk etc.
Oh dear,i think i sound a wee bit conceited. *sigh*
Well enough of that. Today's entry:
I'm in Warri. School's on break because of the NUGA games so all of us were chased outta school on the 12th i think,and the games started a week after.
I had to go see the dentist and take out two of teeth. Two molars on both sides of my mouth.
It wasn't pretty. See,i've had problems with my teeth for like a year,and i refused to go to the dentist's(because i was scared)so i managed my teeth like that.
On Saturday(the 12th)a molar in the only side of my mouth that was working broke off piece by bloody piece when i was eating. So there i was,both sides of my mouth out of order. I couldn't eat(except with my incisors and canines). I had gotten to the point of no return.
It was time for me to toughen up and face my fears. I couldn't very well eat with my front teeth for the rest of my life,could i?
So i decided to go to the dentist's on Monday. I didn't leave on time and i had a couple of things to do in school and by the time i was done,it was too late to go.
So on Tuesday,we went to the dentistry in UBTH,we being my sister and i.
Did i forget to tell you that my sisters are in Uniben? They're twins and they're in 200l. One's reading my course-Ecostat and the other's reading Maths and Eco. There's three years between us but we're insanely close. I imagine you'll hear a lot about them and other members of my family as time goes on.
So anyways one of them followed me to the dentistry.
Good Lord,you should've been there. You shoulda seen people with swollen jaws so big it looked like mumps,all in varying states of pain.
I saw a couple of people come out of the OR with gauze/cotton wool in their mouths and blood pouring out of their mouths. Needless to say,that didn't do anything for my nerves.
My liver almost failed me.
I musta looked like a rabbit about to bolt because my sister tapped me and told me to stop staring at the blood in such a horrified way. I didn't know it showed.
So we waited. And waited. And waited.
I have to tell you,UBTH's dentistry dept(i don' know whether the whole hospital's like that) is the crappiest hospital i've ever been to,
No sense of order at all. Students and doctors were just walking up and down,and everything was beyond hap-hazard.
After a few hours(that's right,hours!)i finally got to go into the oral diagnosis room.
The nurse there wanted to take my blood pressure and when read my file she saw that i was under-age. The silly woman embarrased me,saying i was a kid and i didn't have any blood pressure. Mscheww. . Couldn't she have done it coded-ly?
In the end she took my weight and then the student doctor came in to examine my teeth.
At this point my temper was already at a boiling point. Waiting aimlesslyfor 5 hours'll do that to you.
The student doctor was a cutie,so that made me calmer. Marginally so,but calmer all the same.
He asked me a bunch of funny questions,like did i drink(to which i said yes)and he looked surprised. I smiled and said;'don't go thinking i drink beer oh,it'sj ust Smirnoff ice. I can't drink anything that's bitter' and he says 'okay,for a moment i was worried there).
He's got lovely teeth,i can't help but noticing. He really is a cutie.
The exam goes on for a bit and then i tell him i want to take out one of my bad teeth and leave the other one. Another doctor,a real one this time or at the very least a final year student comes in and says they'll have to take x-rays of both teeth first. Obviously,the one that was already in pieces(at least 90% of it had broken off) would be extracted,but the other one(at most 30% of it had broken off) might bot be extracted but they wouldn' be sure until after the x-rays.
I said cool and paid 1,500 for the x-rays. They told me an extraction was 2,500 each,and they couldn't do an extraction without an S & P which was 3,500. I said cool and we set an appointment for Wednesday. Inside me,my heart was going into over-drive.

I've always wanted to keep a journal-there was always something so. . idyllic about putting my thoughts down on paper,imprinting memories worth keeping  with my trusty Schneider pen.
I never actually got to it-until now.
There've been some changes in my life-i graduated from High school and i'm in University,Uniben.
I had to move from Lagos to Benin,and my life is in a different phase altogether.
I write-stories,poems,etc etc,but this journal is different. It's about my life and saving the thoughts and memories i know i'd want to remember in the future.
Like my topic says,i'm a teenager-17(ish),i'm studying Economics and Statistics,and chances are,this year or next,my dad'll enroll me for the ICAN exams.
Well that's enough of an introduction.
I'm gonna try to write something at least once every day.