Self Diagnosing

Confusion reigned for a moment. I knew I was on my back. It was dark all around me. I could have checked the time, but realizing my glasses were not on, I would not have been able to decipher the numerals. I was in bed. Why was I awake?

Then it dawned on me. I was in pain. There was a dull throb in my head. Specifically, on the upper right side of my jaw. I had a toothache! Ugh!

My mind recalled a conversation with my dentist from four months previously. “You will need a crown on that tooth. If you don’t do that, you will have a root canal and then you will have a crown. But, you will be okay to put that in next year’s plan.”

So, I began to diagnosis my situation. In the middle of the night. Flat on my back. “The doctor was wrong. Now, I will have to get another root canal plus the crown.” My mind did some auditing of my financial situation. My plan was to have waited for a couple more months for insurance purposes. Other plans would be shelved. There was do doubt. I was going to have to foot the bill sooner than planned. A root canal and a crown. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

My diagnosis didn’t change over the next couple days. I set an appointment with the dentist. I need a root canal. There is pain in the tooth that wasn’t supposed to have pain this soon.

Yesterday morning, I sat in a chair built for people significantly shorter and smaller than myself. The dentist informs me they are going to do a x-ray. I think why? I already know the problem. He wanted to be sure.

The x-ray was developed. The picture put up on the screen. There was a dark shadow as expected. However, the darkness was not on the tooth I had diagnosed, but on the tooth beside it. There was inflammation and a cavity that needed filled.

I walked out 45 minutes later, having to pay significantly less than what I had expected. I felt good about that. Amazing! Feeling good about a trip to the dentist.

Sitting in my car with half a numb mouth, I thought, “You misdiagnosed!” I was happy with my misdiagnosis. Then I thought, “How many other times have you misdiagnosed?”

When we misdiagnose, the real diagnoses could be good news, or not good news, but it will be accurate news and not fake news. Misdiagnosing can be dangerous in the physical, spiritual, mental and/or emotional.

I see folks on a regular basis that at one point self-diagnosed. However, they came to the point when they bravely decided to get a diagnosis from somebody else. Many times, their original diagnoses was incorrect. Other times, they had the symptoms right, but the diagnosis wrong or incomplete.

My simple suggestion to you is to not be afraid of allowing a qualified diagnoses to take place when you are experiencing discomfort. The source of the ache may be what you suspect or not be, but its best to know for sure. We, who provide diagnoses on a regular basis to others, will benefit by receiving a qualified diagnoses ourselves.

Once the correct diagnosis has been made, then the correct treatment plan can be initiated. The sooner this is allowed to happen, the sooner the inflammation can be dealt with and the infection removed. Then, healing can happen.

You do this for others. Allow somebody else do it for you.

Trust me. I’m glad I did. Even if the dentist’s chair was to small.

Now, what did I do with my toothbrush…