First Root Canal, SW Being Awesome Again, and WTEAW Work

So, first of all, since its been so long since the last update and even though I'm VERY tired of talking about this crap, I made the mistake of letting my doctor talk me into trying yet another new (for me) medication in September and it went about as badly as the others did, maybe worse.  It basically turned my stomach into the Fires of Hell for the better part of a month, culminating in the constipation of all constipations where my intestines just said "fuck it" and stopped doing their business.

Luckily, being wary of all pills by this point, I stopped taking them just in time and sucked down 4 stool softeners over three days to rectify (oh how those words have never seemed more appropriately linked by their first three letters!) the situation, but...there went another month to misery and sickness.  I'm now on the exact pills and dosage I want to be on and frankly should have been on since I ended up allergic to the one all the way back in March, but...well, next time I know to speak up, don't I?

October was generally looking up.  Got a flu shot that made me pissy for a few days, very typical, and here's hoping I dodge the plague this Dec/Jan since I think I deserve that break at this point.  Finished my read-through of all the school sections I've written before, and starting working on War to End all Wars again.  Also worked with the people over at Deranged Doctor Designs to get covers done for WtEaWs and the Vicky Welf novel, which I'm not going to show you yet, but the Vicky Welf cover is sO SO Sparkle Princess Fantastic.

And yes, since my plan on how to split the massive FM7 is so very fucked up at this point, the new plan is just to release the last school story as it's own thing whenever life stops smacking me upside the head and I get to finish it, because I think you poor sods deserve whatever King Henry you can get as soon as its down at this point.

Like...the first chapter is done.  Like...very done.  There's a great conversation between Welf/Val/KH/Miranda that's just all over the place and so very them and wonderful and, damn, how am I that good?  Only...there's 7 chapters to go and that first chapter is an amazingly indulgent 85 manuscript pages, so...what's that?  680 pages?  On a SCHOOL story?  The fuck is going on, Raley?  But it's such a wonderful conversation guys...you're going to love it...I mean...this is anywhere as bad as Rothfuss or Martin, so there's that at least, right?

Oh  yeah, October was generally looking up...and then I cracked a molar.  We would eventually find out.  At first all I knew was that something was horribly wrong.  I have broken my ankle, I have gotten second degree burns all over my forearms and hands, I tore my deltoid once...NOTHING compares to the agony I experienced about a month ago.  Just hours and hours of unrelenting pain that nothing could fix or temper.  I couldn't even close my mouth, tooth on tooth was too painful.  Broth hurt.  Water hurt.  Cream cheese felt okay.  Yay for fucking cream cheese. 

Cracked it on a Friday, didn't get to see my dentist until the next Thursday.  By Wednesday the pain had started to lift, not because the problem was fixed, but--as we would find out--the nerve had finally died.  By Tuesday I'd developed a oral-gel addiction and I'm pretty sure I threatened to cut my mother if she didn't get me more of it.  HORRIBLE PAIN.  Also, don't forget the cream cheese.

So...dentist doesn't do anything to help since he already knows what's up and sends me to an endo-something-or-other.  I mean, he did tap the tooth with a FUCKING METAL TOOL.  It hurt.  CAN'T IMAGINE WHY.  So I went to the endo-person and she turned out to be younger than I am, which is the first time I've gotten to experience that existential crisis, wasn't as bad as the one I went through to accept my grandfather's coming death this time last year (Still Alive BTW, still driving himself to all of his appointments, still lifting the middle finger to prostate cancer one month at a time) but...was a general 'oh, that's gonna happen more and more often, ain't it?'  Then they'll all be younger than me.  Then they'll start treating me like a retarded golden retriever...

She performed a few equally brilliant tests, the one that did the job was touching my teeth with a nitrogen cooled bit of cotton one by one until I said, "yeah I don't feel anything on that one."

Necrotic tooth!

Sounds badass at least...

So I got a root canal.  Paid quite a bit for the pleasure.  Hurt a lot less than the whole nerve death thing, so I guess there's that.  Couple days from now I get to have ANOTHER appointment to prep for a crown installation and then the crown installation itself...

*WHIMPER* 

After that, I have about a 10 day period where it looks like I can actually get back to WtEAW.  I am...just, so, so need it.  Fuck you, Thanksgiving!  Especially green bean casserole!

After that 10 day period, we have December.  I haven't mentioned it yet, because it seemed so very impossible that insurance would actually be helpful to a person for once, but given my trouble with my weight since...almost forever and my high blood pressure, and there was a whole thing dealing with lumbar arthritis and whether it was arthritis or something far more sinister going on behind the scenes that I also didn't mention to you lot that involved a nerve conduction study and an MRI, but point is:  I have the opportunity to undergo elective gastric bypass surgery.

We're still a long long way from whether it happens or not, but I've got about 8 different tests or procedures to go through in December to kickstart the whole thing.  So, December is going to be a bitch.  After that, my schedule should ease and I'll be right back at it on WtEAW.  If I do go through with the surgery, we're probably talking Jun/July and then who knows how long getting used to the new stomach.  Yes, there's a chance I could get sepsis, just like any major surgery, but it's all laparoscopic now and much much safer than it was years ago, chill out, my mother already has dibs on the freaking out, okay?

Basically I'm a lot better and I'm writing, but...I'm busy making sure I stay healthy for decades to come, okay?  So stop with the "are you dead?" shit.

Also, watch The Mandalorian and play Jedi Fallen Order, because Star Wars might just rock again.  I mean..."Rise of Skywalker" is going to be a total disaster, but...

I have spoken.