This post is about a visit to my dentist yesterday, I felt fine when I arrived at the dental surgery but half an hour of sitting in a waiting room that was so bright it was as if it had come from the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I felt as if my spine was soft spaghetti and I could barely hold my head up. As the minutes ticked by I could feel my energy oozing out of my pores. My head felt so heavy I had to slump over, elbows on knees with my hands holding my head up.
After 30 minutes of light torture, my saviour, in the form of a dental nurse, came to rescue me. I explained why I was talking and walking slow and she was sympathetic as I joked I would lay in the seat, close my eyes and snooze while they worked. I was slurring my speech now and was struggling to explain the reason for my visit (mouth guard issue) to the dentist.
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| *Foggy* He has dark glasses on....grrrrrr |
BOOM..... the overhead light was turned on, 2 ft from my face and straight into my eyes. I
understand why they need light to see into the deep crevices of mouths but.....why have they not twigged that some patients might need dark glasses to counteract the harsh lighting? I needed to keep my eyes open to communicate effectively with the dentist and so my eyes were being assaulted! My glands were enlarging at a rate of knots and I felt as if my weary body was now melting into the dentist chair. My body was trying to regulate itself and was fighting against my light sensitivity.
By the time I walked through Reception and exited the building, I felt like vapour. All this by 9.50am thanks to the over-use of harsh fluorescent lighting. The reception area has a glass wall, high ceiling and is light and airy. There is no need for 20 or so bright lights! Natural light with a bit of additional lighting should be plenty.
I am happy to help dental practices in an advisory capacity to make sure they are doing all they can to make dental treatment easily accessible and a non-challenging experience for all!
Love,
Sally (and Foggy obviously) xxxx
Apologies if this blog is a bit waffley - brain fog today xxx
Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry you had to go through that! Would one of those sleeping masks help? I may just have to carry a pair in my purse to avoid another embarrassing meltdown.But I get it. I was at the ER last Friday (I had a fight with my veggie peeler and lost), and they had all the florescent lights on. I could feel my body getting more and more amped up. Within about 10 minutes I was reduced to a sobbing puddle with all my senses screaming at me. When the nurse came back I asked her to turn off the lights, and attempted to explain why with slurred speech and an inability to find my words. Within minutes of having all the lights off, I could feel my body calm right down. This is another lesson I learned from you (first it was the noise, and now the lights, among other things).
ReplyDeleteTrying to live a chronically ill life is freaking hard! Having to deal with people who just don't get us, don't believe us, could care less about our needs, etc. makes everything that much harder... and exhausting. Thank God for you and your Foggy blog! Just knowing that there is someone out there who actually knows what I'm going through. That is huge Sally. Thank you for your dedication to sharing your highs and lows; for giving us a safe compassionate space to just be who we are :-)
I hope this made sense. I'm heading for a nap now and given how tired my brain is, well this could sound just plain silly ;-)