Playing Catch Up: The Dentist

One thing I never thought of before coming back is playing “catch up.”  I mean, obviously we get to catch up with all of the people we missed an kept us in their prayers while we were away, but there are other types of catch up.  We have the enjoy of TV on demand on the internet now and can catch up on a few of our favorites.  And we can catch up on world events that we didn’t make time to read about while we were gone.

But, it also means on catching up on other things not experienced in the third world, like good medical care.  MAF provides a medical exam upon returning, which we did in early April in Idaho.  We all got poked and prodded, all four of us – an we all came back in the same health as when we left (or even better!).

Last week the kids had their first ever dentist appointments.  The dental clinic was amazing and there were no tears and they both checked out healthy.  We had our appointments this week…those…did not go so well.  Even though we were both given a fantastic bill of dental health before we left, my sugary coffee love (and NEED, ya’ll) and Matthew’s love of Congolese Coke took their tolls on our chompers.  And today we took turns getting fillings.  This was my very first cavity!  I was not really pleased, and they saw a few more spots are troublesome to watch out for this fall, but I made it through.

Matthew went in first thing this morning and got four fillings – one had been hurting him since the end of our time on Congo, and as soon as the anesthetic wore off, he said the pain was gone – praise the Lord for good dental care!  I was up this afternoon and, while it was not entirely pleasant, I am very grateful I got my first filling in 2013 and not any year earlier – the technology now is incredible and nearly pain-free!

So, this fall we still need to get our eyes checked and head back to the dentist and doctors again before leaving the country, but playing catch up, as I now know, is not all fun.  But, I can also be grateful I have the opportunity for good, and even preventative, health care – something rare to our corner of the world!