-

HI gang! After an amazing holiday in Sri Lanka it's good to be back in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and I certainly hit the ground running!

Trying to run away from my next dental appointment that is, which seemed to have come round rather too quickly. (Remember a few months ago I told you about the tooth and cyst I had removed and that I needed an implant to replace the gaping crater that was left? Well, at that time my dentist Dr Talal put in some false bone tissue that had to have time to grow, and now it was time to go back). So with trepidation in my heart (because of past experiences with school dentists) I strengthened my resolve and headed back.

I was greeted by Dr Talal and his friendly staff. He asked me how I was and I replied, "Ok now, but probably NOT in 10 minutes!" I was given an oral anaesthetic, which had a nice pineapple taste and was rubbed over my gums to numb them before the first of the nine foot needles went in! Ha! I'm only joking, but the jokes certainly eluded me when I was in the dentist's chair.

The first few injections went in without much trouble, then Dr Talal said, "This one you might feel". He injected the needle into the roof of my mouth. OUCH! As tears streamed down my face and I told myself to 'be brav', I squeezed the side of the chair until my knuckles went white.

Next was a little wait until the anaesthetic took hold, during which I wished that I could've had a general anaesthetic and slept through the whole procedure. But all too soon it was time for the incisions and the drilling to begin. Dr Talal showed me the implant that was to go in. It looked so long that I thought it would stick out of the top of my head! He assured me that enough bone tissue had grown and it was 'all systems go'. The banging and the cutting went on for a time and when a photo was taken I tried smiling. Ha; not pretty sight! Then the implant went in and was screwed tight. Finished! I thought. But no, it was time for the stitches. It didn't actually hurt but the feeling was so yucky.

After a good rinse I was finally really and truly finished. Phew! For now anyway. My appointments to have the stitches taken out and then in about two months to have the tooth attached to the implant were arranged. I left the dentists with some antibiotics, painkillers and a new resolve to make sure that my whole family brushes their teeth three times a day.

But when I got back home there was no-one there; they had all gone out Christmas shopping. I had been looking forward to some TLC, so I lay on the bed feeling sorry for myself and drifted off into a restless sleep after a few hours. In the end I was grateful for the rest as I later got a phone call from the radio to say that I was to do an outside broadcast from the City Centre Mall between 7pm and 8pm.

I scooted down and met up with Celine (the PR lady), interviewed a few people and watched a great show that is performed three times daily called 'the Great Sea Adventure'. It features acrobats, jugglers, tumblers, dancers and lots of exciting action and is on until next Monday. It's also absolutely free, so you really should go and see.

On Sunday night two lovely ladies from our compound; Terri and Kim, organised a Christmas Carol get-together for everyone, where songs were sung and lots of lovely food (courtesy of the German Bakery in Country Mall) was enjoyed by all. After the earlier trauma of the week it was a lovely end to my first week back home. It has also done wonders for my Christmas spirit. Krazy Kevin