"Dehumanising for an outcome."

The process of being prepared to undergo heart surgery begins with many checks and decisions to be made. For me one of those was the preparing of my mouth to reduce the risk of endocarditis. All started well with originally having an appointment made. It was decided at that appointment to have two sessions of extractions while undergoing antibiotic treatment. The first appointment was 9am the second was the same day at 1pm. Throughout, the outcome seemed more relevant than any process or compassion. 

Empathy did not seem a trait accustomed to being employed.

After the initial one hour appointment the decision was made to push on at 1 pm to finish the extractions. It was at this last appointment that my emotional and sometimes physical responses were either unseen or disregarded. 

After the numbing topical solution application I let the attending physician know I needed to spit. I was told that wasn't necessary and to just swallow. I began to object but was quickly made aware that swallowing was the preferred option. Just after swallowing the physician realised why I was concerned and finally turned to face me but realised I had already started to feel the numbing effect on my throat.

More than once throughout the procedure this caused discomfort and I had to focus all my strength not to gag. 

I felt pain at the start of one extraction and upon letting the Dentist know it, felt I was dismissed but with the same response to the next attempt the Dentist relented and applied some more local anaesthetic and skipped over that tooth and returned after some time. I was visibly shaken and quite emotional as I was facing constant challenges to prepare for my heart surgery but felt my situation was not fully understood or appreciated by the Dentist.