Let me just say this – I know now why people do drugs. I don’t do drugs, but I could be persuaded otherwise.

Today was my follow-up visit to the dentist for two fillings. I took the Valium one hour prior to my visit as advised and immediately felt nothing. I also felt nothing 30 minutes later, so I feared it was a big waste of a buck fifty. However, by the time we strolled into the waiting room, I was feeling good. And giggly. Very giggly. As in, everything is SO FUNNY giggly. Chuck and I were both in tears with laughter. He was laughing at me and I was laughing at God knows what.

Aside from the giggles, I noticed no other effects from the drug. I still felt nervous about the shots, the drills, the picking with those picking tools, the smell of clinical equipment, and everything else I hate about going to the dentist. That is, until I was in the chair with nitrous oxide.

Suddenly there were ocean waves tumbling through my body. They started at my head and shuffled down to my toes. I was light as air, floating – no, flying! And I had nothing to tie me down. Mumford & Sons was loud in my ears and away I was in another dimension.

It was when I reached a cliff and teetered on the edge of total inhibition that I squeaked out, “Too much.”

But in the suspended time it took for me to say those words and for the doctor so respond with, “Too much gas?” I’d already yanked the mask off my nose. My heart was racing and my eyes wanted to roll back into my head.

“Okay, okay!” he said. “It’s just oxygen now.”

That sudden almost-loss of control scared me. Back with the oxygen-only mask, I returned to that happy in-between place for the duration of the procedure. I felt virtually nothing and the sound the drill was mostly drowned out by the volume of my music. And then, we were done.

The rest of the Valium wore off during my late-afternoon, two-hour nap. Now, with a sore mouth, we’ll head to church in a few for a going-away dinner with our Sunday School class. We leave in three days.