It was a rough trip home from Bhutan. Rugged. Remember my tooth and jaw were hurting upon arrival to Thimphu after our extra-long drive from the river? Well, pain woke me up around 3 AM the next morning. Something was going south. Knowing my predicament of 40 something hours of travel immediately ahead, I gritted things out taking no immediate Advil or anything for the discomfort. I was saving drugs in case pure desperation occurred.
I shut my eyes once on the plane leaving Bhutan but upon landing in Bangladesh, some cabin pressure changes sent pain flying through my jaw. I damn near screamed. The now throbbing pain was a bit more serious. During this layover I downed two Advil. Desperation already!
Lets just say, things didn’t get better. Every inch of the way home the pain grew and my face began to swell. By the time we descended on Bangkok the agony was excruciating and I stepped up to three Advil every four hours. The five hour flight to Seoul was no fun. And on the 12 hour flight Seoul to Minneapolis I took at least a dozen or more Advil.
Naturally my flight Minneapolis to Duluth was delayed. I didn’t land in Duluth until nearly 1 AM. I drove 30 minutes for home before I had to pullover. Too many deer and I was way too tired to drive. Fortunately I always have my Exploder bed ready to rock. I pumped another four Advil and slept till the pain woke me again at 5:30 AM.
I’d texted Granny from Seoul asking her to plead our new dentist to see me the minute I got home. Dentist time is hard to get but Granny pulled it off and at 2 PM I was in the chair. Diagnosis, a broken in half molar all the way to the bone. Five days of tooth infection creeping through my face. By 3 PM I was one tooth lighter and on antibiotics. And a little shocked now with the hole I have right in the middle of my left upper.
The infection was bad. I could hardly get out of bed Wednesday (which is why the blog was on hold). I had chills, sweats, pain and a hungry stomach that hadn’t been fed in three days. And I couldn’t stay awake. Yesterday was about the same but today, happily, I’m on the mend.
All I can say is I’m lucky this didn’t happen a week earlier. I can’t imagine using my Global Rescue Insurance for a tooth issue but I’ve learned a ton about tooth infections this week. They are nothing to mess around with.
I’ve closed the book completely on Bhutan and I’ll spend the next few days continuing to recover and getting ready for a few days with old college buddies Howie and Neuman on Lake Superior.
I hope everyone enjoyed the Bhutan blogs. And once again, a very special thanks to Jim Klug and Bryant Dunn for inviting me along for such a memorable expedition. Be ready for a very cool film coming soon on the Yellow Dog “Field Reports”.
Damn dude, hope you heal up quickly. Great Bhutan blogs – looking forward to Columbia (their tuna fishery looks insane!).
Feeling you Jeff… just went thru that with a broken wisdom tooth 2 weeks ago but mine was in my living room!! (Is this what age 59 is all about??) Feel for you, watch those dry sockets… really enjoyed these Bhutan blogs and Kev & I are already talking with Jim for a 2025 trip…got to get on the list early. Get well
Hey fellas glad you enjoyed the blogs and appreciate the tooth concern. Lance – yes – 59 – might have some consequences! Also glad to hear everyone has Bhutan on the radar!
Oh my lord, I was wincing just reading this. You are one tough dude, Jim. Wishing you a fast recovery.
Thank you for ALL the cool and inspiring blog posts. Was just reading your Oman posts, as I have an Oman business trip on the horizon… and I’ve already called Yellow Dog about a side trip to Southern Oman.
Ron, I’m actually not that tough when it comes to a tooth ache. I was just trapped with no way out. And I made it!
Enjoy fishing in Oman with my friends from Ocean Active. Great guys and a very cool place to fly fish.
Awesome trip! Sorry about the tooth, though
One less to worry about now Lane!