I broke a molar
Last night, while driving home from the art gallery on York road 27, because I over did it and was too hungry for the 400, I broke a molar in half eating a particularly crunchy chip. I'd love to go into a long, somewhat detailed explanation of how chemotherapy weakens your teeth and leaves you more susceptible to tooth decay and other damage. Chemotherapy can cause a lot of oral complications, the most common being painful mouth sores. But I didn't really experience any of that. And, with the possible exception of some mouth cancers, cancer and chemotherapy don't really affect your teeth (I don't know about radiation, I never recieved any and even if I had, it wouldn't have been pointed at my face).
This is a 100% self inflicted injury. At diagnosis, I had to change my diet pretty dramatically. I was the sort of person who did a good job getting my fruits and vegetables, my fiber. But with my compromised digestive system, insoluble fiber is not something I should be having. These changes were fine, largely sustainable and did not cause harm, but it meant my new standard diet was largely my comfort foods, both for dietary and psychological reasons.
Ten months later, in June, the stress leading to the surgery broke me. Since comfort foods were already normal (and since I genuinely didn't know if my guts would allow fast food ever again), I switched largely to junk foods and a lot of pop. But that was only a week, and had things worked out, we wouldn't be here.
But gang, the concept of long term planning is cut off for you, and you're pretty sure you can't fuck it up bad enough to develop, say, diabetes in the time left to you, you always get that pop (or drink that makes you happy). I didn't take care, because in most circumstances I don't need to take care*, and now I'm stuck at home all week eating soup. And I don't care for soup.
From the comments
James Petrosky: *not needing to care isn't necessarily a end of life thing. I know very well what I'm not going to want to consume once chemo starts, and know already that I should only have a burger if I have no plans for the next day (and am near home already). Both of these suck in their own way, but they aren't death.
James Petrosky: This tooth is dead, I haven't taken any painkillers for it at all. It was almost pulled last summer when it's pain level was similar to that of the cancer pain (a greater pain may exist, but it is beyond my capacity to imagine it). Waiting around hoping for a cancelation is more frustrating than the tooth is painful
James Petrosky: Also, big problem with groundwater that people round here on groundwater likely think is an advantage is lack of fluoride. My teeth were simply not as strong as they should have been