Roberto Jeremías Bútler on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 11:50am
Wow. Have I really been here for 29 days? That's a little wild. I love this place more than words can describe. As some of you know, today is my last day in the beautiful country of Argentina. I don't know how I'm going to live w/o Argentina, but I'll manage somehow I guess. Anyways, tomorrow I'll write the last entry about Argentina, the whole summary how I feel about the country. This entry is to tell about my adventures this week with my friggin wisdom tooth. Ugh.
So when I was in Uruguay, my tooht started to hurt a whole bunch. I didn't know what was going on becuase this was a different kind of ache, it hurt so bad. It was so bad that I got up in the middle of the night and had to run to the pharmacy to get something. When I'm in severe pain the only option for me is hydrocodone. Usually Robert has hydrocodone on stock, always. This time I didn't have any because I left it in Argetnina, so I had to deal with normal medicine. What's the point of taking a painkiller if it doesn't make you loopy? Anyways, I took the pain killer that they gave me and although it worked, it was no hydrocodone. Anyways, when I got back to Argentina a couple of days later, the pain got worse and worse. I went to living room in the hostel, fell to the floor and almost started screaming. No, I'm not exaggerating, the pain was really that bad. I decided to take action, so I went down the street to the pharmacy. In Argentina (as well as Spain) the pharmacies are a good resource becuse they are almost like doctors. As long as you describe your medical condition properly, you can almost get any medicine over the counter. ONe time I got the strongest antibiotics known to man by simply telling the pharmacist that I thought that I had strep throat. ANyways, I went there trying to score some hardcore painkillers for my tooth. I found out that hydrocodone doesn't exist in Argentina, and their codeine only comes in liquid form for cough. I decided to push it up a notch and ask for Oxycontin, but when I asked for that they kinda laughed and told me there's absolutely no way I could get that without a prescription. I'm kinda glad too because when I got home I read that Heath Ledger died from Oxycontin and Hydrocdone, so I'm definitely staying away from that. Anyways, they recommended me to go a dentist down the street. I ran out of the pharmacy and got to the dentist office as quickly as I could. WHen I arrived, it was just a normal apartment building so I asked the doorman if they had a dentist inside. He looked confused, but then instructed me to go to the 12th floor , apartment A where the dentist was. I arrived at the 12th floor and I knocked on the door. What was inside was definitely different than what I expected.
The dentist opens the door and the first thing that I notice is the cigarette dangling from his lip. Ok, I love cigs and I definitely respect people who smoke them, but seriously, what DENTIST smokes? Shouldn't a dentist know that cigarettes are terrible for your teeth? That's almost the equivalent of a throat doctor eating shreds of glass.. Anyways, that definitely put me off. If you're going to smoke, at least try not to do it when I'm coming to see about getting my wisdom teeth taken out. HE instructed me to go back to his chair in his "office". Btw, this is a regular apartment except instead of an extra bedroom, there was a "dentist office". I went back, the chair anda ll the equipment was dusty and dirty. It looked like 1950's in a 3rd world country. The sink was full of ashes, dirty and disgusting. THe medicine bottles had labels falling off of them and they were completely dusty as well. AFter taking my X-ray with the oldest x-ray machine you've EVER seen, he looks at me (with another cig dangling from his lip) and tells me that my wisdom teeth will be difficult to take out. Then he says, "Has a dentist ever told you once that they didn't want to take your tooth out"" Reazling that that was not a good sign, I told him no and kinda nervously laughed/smiled. He told me he could do it, but the surgery could take hours. Even though I was desperate to get my tooth taken out bc it hurt so bad, something didn't seem right about this guy. He was so anxious too, as if he had never seen a patient in about 5 years. I told him Id have to consult my parents first and I took my x-rays and bolted out the door. I felt a bit bad bc he said he was going to wait on me, but i'd rather him wait than have a serious infection from my wisdom teeth.
I got back home and decided to go to the emergency room. When I called them they said their dentist/surgeon was not on site until March 15th. Isn't that a bit weird that they only have 1 surgeon and he's gone until March 15th? In a city of over 5million people, I would think that I'm not the only one who needs emergency surgery.. Weird. Anyways, since I decided that there's nothing I can do, the only remedy left is alcohol. You can take all the painkillers you want, but NOTHING takes away the pain like alcohol. I got my friends, we got 3 bottles of wine a piece and got completely toasted. Seriously, who goes from about to go to the emergency room to getting trashed? I'm out of control.. Anyways, I don't even remember the club at all that night, all I remember is being on the floor trying to break dance and talking to a semi-cute Israeli girl all night long.
Day 28: Woke up in the hostel living room as usual with the worst pain imaginable. The Russian guys wanted beer for breakfast of course, so we started drinking. When the pain got worse, they booked me an appointment with a dentist. At 1pm, I went to the dentist. It was really nice this time because he was a respectable dentist, with a real office and up-to-date machinery. I was really impressed. After my consultation, he decided not to take my tooth out because of the pressure in the airplane. Apparently teh pressure in the airplane would absolutely kill me if I had surgery. Instead, he prescribed me some really strong medicine. I didn't really understand what it was , but he did tell me that the medicine would last for one month. Some kind of really strong anti-inflammatory. Anyways, I ent to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled and I learned that it was a shot, not a pill. I got a bit nervous because I didn't know what hte hell I was taking, but sometimes in foreign countries you jus thave to go with the flow. After asking 5 pharmacies if they could administer the shot, I finally found one. The guy told me to come to the back room. I pulled my sleeve up thinking that he'd give it to me in my arm, but to my surprise he told me to pull my pants down. I pulled my pants down, he pricked me in my ass (bad choice of words), and sent me along my way. Since I didn't know what kind of medicine this was, I didn't know waht to expect. About 30 minutes later back at the hostel, I started to get really loopy. I started rubbing my arms cause everything felt really good, like i was on ecstacy or something. I got really high and completely passed out for like 4 hours. When I woke up, I had absolutely no pain and felt on top of the world. I haven't felt that good from medicine in ages, so I decided to google this to figure out what the hell was in that medicine. My research concluded that the medicine was for people who have brain tumors, leukemia and other grave conditions. wow. what kind of doctor prescribes that medicine for a tooth!?!?!? Here's what the internet said:
Decadron has many uses in the treatment of cancer. Decadron is a trade name ofr the generic chemotherapy drug Dexamethsone. It is used specifically to decrease swelling associated with tumors of the spine and brain, and to t reat eye inflmmation.Also as a treatment for a vareity of cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
Did i accidently start chemotherapy? I sure hope not, but whatever was in that medicine was the fuckin bomb. I'm really worried because this stuff is in my body for one month.. Not good. Anyways, since I was feeling good I decided to get drunk 4 my last night in Buenos AIres. I drank alot at the hostel with the crew and headed out to Buenos Aires' finest club, Asia De Cuba. We got bottle service of course with about 6 bottles of wine. For 100 dollars split between 3 guys, we got private vip service with 6 bottles of wine. Where else in the world can that happen? Love it. Don't remember much of the night except of dancin to Killin in the Name and then catching a taxi home.
Day 29:
Woke up this morning in the living room of the hostel (this has to stop...) and came to the realization that today is my last day in South America. I got really sad packing my suitcase. This month def. has been a month of adventure. Today I plan to go visit some more of the city, say bye to everyone Ive met . I've made friends with the ladies in the bakery, the people in the pharmacy, the people next door in the locutorio, and even the guys who sell hot dogs down the street. What am I going to do without these people?
Oh well. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens on my last day here. I have major plans to go visiting the city but so far it's 3pm and I'm still at home. I need to get out and see the city. My last day in Buenos Aires. Maybe I should break my leg or something so I can't return back to the states. I really love it here.
Peace,
Rob
So when I was in Uruguay, my tooht started to hurt a whole bunch. I didn't know what was going on becuase this was a different kind of ache, it hurt so bad. It was so bad that I got up in the middle of the night and had to run to the pharmacy to get something. When I'm in severe pain the only option for me is hydrocodone. Usually Robert has hydrocodone on stock, always. This time I didn't have any because I left it in Argetnina, so I had to deal with normal medicine. What's the point of taking a painkiller if it doesn't make you loopy? Anyways, I took the pain killer that they gave me and although it worked, it was no hydrocodone. Anyways, when I got back to Argentina a couple of days later, the pain got worse and worse. I went to living room in the hostel, fell to the floor and almost started screaming. No, I'm not exaggerating, the pain was really that bad. I decided to take action, so I went down the street to the pharmacy. In Argentina (as well as Spain) the pharmacies are a good resource becuse they are almost like doctors. As long as you describe your medical condition properly, you can almost get any medicine over the counter. ONe time I got the strongest antibiotics known to man by simply telling the pharmacist that I thought that I had strep throat. ANyways, I went there trying to score some hardcore painkillers for my tooth. I found out that hydrocodone doesn't exist in Argentina, and their codeine only comes in liquid form for cough. I decided to push it up a notch and ask for Oxycontin, but when I asked for that they kinda laughed and told me there's absolutely no way I could get that without a prescription. I'm kinda glad too because when I got home I read that Heath Ledger died from Oxycontin and Hydrocdone, so I'm definitely staying away from that. Anyways, they recommended me to go a dentist down the street. I ran out of the pharmacy and got to the dentist office as quickly as I could. WHen I arrived, it was just a normal apartment building so I asked the doorman if they had a dentist inside. He looked confused, but then instructed me to go to the 12th floor , apartment A where the dentist was. I arrived at the 12th floor and I knocked on the door. What was inside was definitely different than what I expected.
The dentist opens the door and the first thing that I notice is the cigarette dangling from his lip. Ok, I love cigs and I definitely respect people who smoke them, but seriously, what DENTIST smokes? Shouldn't a dentist know that cigarettes are terrible for your teeth? That's almost the equivalent of a throat doctor eating shreds of glass.. Anyways, that definitely put me off. If you're going to smoke, at least try not to do it when I'm coming to see about getting my wisdom teeth taken out. HE instructed me to go back to his chair in his "office". Btw, this is a regular apartment except instead of an extra bedroom, there was a "dentist office". I went back, the chair anda ll the equipment was dusty and dirty. It looked like 1950's in a 3rd world country. The sink was full of ashes, dirty and disgusting. THe medicine bottles had labels falling off of them and they were completely dusty as well. AFter taking my X-ray with the oldest x-ray machine you've EVER seen, he looks at me (with another cig dangling from his lip) and tells me that my wisdom teeth will be difficult to take out. Then he says, "Has a dentist ever told you once that they didn't want to take your tooth out"" Reazling that that was not a good sign, I told him no and kinda nervously laughed/smiled. He told me he could do it, but the surgery could take hours. Even though I was desperate to get my tooth taken out bc it hurt so bad, something didn't seem right about this guy. He was so anxious too, as if he had never seen a patient in about 5 years. I told him Id have to consult my parents first and I took my x-rays and bolted out the door. I felt a bit bad bc he said he was going to wait on me, but i'd rather him wait than have a serious infection from my wisdom teeth.
I got back home and decided to go to the emergency room. When I called them they said their dentist/surgeon was not on site until March 15th. Isn't that a bit weird that they only have 1 surgeon and he's gone until March 15th? In a city of over 5million people, I would think that I'm not the only one who needs emergency surgery.. Weird. Anyways, since I decided that there's nothing I can do, the only remedy left is alcohol. You can take all the painkillers you want, but NOTHING takes away the pain like alcohol. I got my friends, we got 3 bottles of wine a piece and got completely toasted. Seriously, who goes from about to go to the emergency room to getting trashed? I'm out of control.. Anyways, I don't even remember the club at all that night, all I remember is being on the floor trying to break dance and talking to a semi-cute Israeli girl all night long.
Day 28: Woke up in the hostel living room as usual with the worst pain imaginable. The Russian guys wanted beer for breakfast of course, so we started drinking. When the pain got worse, they booked me an appointment with a dentist. At 1pm, I went to the dentist. It was really nice this time because he was a respectable dentist, with a real office and up-to-date machinery. I was really impressed. After my consultation, he decided not to take my tooth out because of the pressure in the airplane. Apparently teh pressure in the airplane would absolutely kill me if I had surgery. Instead, he prescribed me some really strong medicine. I didn't really understand what it was , but he did tell me that the medicine would last for one month. Some kind of really strong anti-inflammatory. Anyways, I ent to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled and I learned that it was a shot, not a pill. I got a bit nervous because I didn't know what hte hell I was taking, but sometimes in foreign countries you jus thave to go with the flow. After asking 5 pharmacies if they could administer the shot, I finally found one. The guy told me to come to the back room. I pulled my sleeve up thinking that he'd give it to me in my arm, but to my surprise he told me to pull my pants down. I pulled my pants down, he pricked me in my ass (bad choice of words), and sent me along my way. Since I didn't know what kind of medicine this was, I didn't know waht to expect. About 30 minutes later back at the hostel, I started to get really loopy. I started rubbing my arms cause everything felt really good, like i was on ecstacy or something. I got really high and completely passed out for like 4 hours. When I woke up, I had absolutely no pain and felt on top of the world. I haven't felt that good from medicine in ages, so I decided to google this to figure out what the hell was in that medicine. My research concluded that the medicine was for people who have brain tumors, leukemia and other grave conditions. wow. what kind of doctor prescribes that medicine for a tooth!?!?!? Here's what the internet said:
Decadron has many uses in the treatment of cancer. Decadron is a trade name ofr the generic chemotherapy drug Dexamethsone. It is used specifically to decrease swelling associated with tumors of the spine and brain, and to t reat eye inflmmation.Also as a treatment for a vareity of cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
Did i accidently start chemotherapy? I sure hope not, but whatever was in that medicine was the fuckin bomb. I'm really worried because this stuff is in my body for one month.. Not good. Anyways, since I was feeling good I decided to get drunk 4 my last night in Buenos AIres. I drank alot at the hostel with the crew and headed out to Buenos Aires' finest club, Asia De Cuba. We got bottle service of course with about 6 bottles of wine. For 100 dollars split between 3 guys, we got private vip service with 6 bottles of wine. Where else in the world can that happen? Love it. Don't remember much of the night except of dancin to Killin in the Name and then catching a taxi home.
Day 29:
Woke up this morning in the living room of the hostel (this has to stop...) and came to the realization that today is my last day in South America. I got really sad packing my suitcase. This month def. has been a month of adventure. Today I plan to go visit some more of the city, say bye to everyone Ive met . I've made friends with the ladies in the bakery, the people in the pharmacy, the people next door in the locutorio, and even the guys who sell hot dogs down the street. What am I going to do without these people?
Oh well. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens on my last day here. I have major plans to go visiting the city but so far it's 3pm and I'm still at home. I need to get out and see the city. My last day in Buenos Aires. Maybe I should break my leg or something so I can't return back to the states. I really love it here.
Peace,
Rob
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