Emergency Root Canal

So, last Wednesday I woke up with a terrible toothache. My back, left, bottom molar was throbbing constantly. I started fixing soup for every meal and popping Tylenol/Motrin every 4 hours. Late Friday afternoon, I was in so much pain, I broke down and called the nearest dentist. He wasn't able to see me until today (Monday) for an exam. Turns out, I had received a filling in this tooth about 8 months ago (by a different dentist) and the filling was really close to the nerve. The dentist who had filled the cavity told me when she was done that the decay was closer to the nerve than she thought and that the tooth might be sore for a few weeks. Well, I have had a dull ache that has come and gone for the last 8 months, then BAM on Wednesday, it came back with a vengeance! Today I found out that the nerve was dead and I had an infection going on. The infection caused some swelling that threw my bite off, which irritated the whole situation some more. I was a nervous wreck about the root canal, but it turned out to be no big deal at all! The dentist did a great job, and I already have a ton less pain then before. Why oh why did I wait so long to get this taken care of!