recovery, day 2

i finally got a good "night's" sleep after dozing off a little past 2am. while the sleep did wonders for my swollen cheeks, the inactivity of my jaw made it quite soar. not to fear, mom was ready with lots of salt water, vitamins, and of course MORE drugs. hahaha. [i can't imagine what people did before modern medicine.]


here is my lovely morning face:

and PROOF! that i used salt water. i loathe that stuff. =)

dolor del diente

surgery & recovery, day 1

so... yesterday i had the pleasure of experiencing the removal of all four of my wisdom teeth. i don't think i would have been as nervous if i hadn't listened to everyone's horror stories about their own gruesome experiences. it ended up turning into a competition between my co-workers on who had the worst experience... [just the kind of advice you need to give someone with an overactive imagination when it comes to the mutilations doctors can do to a patient's body during surgery. i've seen enough tv to know the truth behind it all. oh, you think i'm kidding? television NEVER lies.]

everything happened so quickly. i walked into the office and signed in. you know, all the usual stuff. i told myself i wasn’t going to freak out--there was no way of getting out of it. almost immediately, i was called back into their operating room. i didn’t have to wait long for things to begin, for which i‘m very thankful. (it didn’t allow me too much time to think it all through. after all, ignorance IS bliss.) but as soon as the nurse put the hair net on me, i started to freak out. big time. they put that clamp on my finger to track my heart rate. i messed around with it, making the beat rise and fall. it was oddly calming. one of the nurses chuckled when i owned up to it and then promised to stop.

the doc came in shortly after to start my iv. he said the usual line: “you will only feel a small pinch” to which i rolled my eyes and told him i’d heard that before. to my utter amazement, it truly was ONLY a small pinch! i congratulated him on doing such a wonderful job and told him he was the first person to have ever told the truth when it came to needle sticking. (i HAD to butter him up… he was about to CUT my teeth out!)

once the iv was in place, the room started to spin ever so slightly. then it hit me. that horrible nervous feeling right in the pit of my chest. the doc assured me it was just the drugs kicking in. the nurse then put the oxygen mask on my nose and that was the last thing i remember.

after i woke up, i found myself on a cot, shaking uncontrollably. my sweet, sweet mama was sitting next to me rubbing my back, telling me everything was ok. i sat up at once and starting shooting out question after question. it didn't register that neither the nurse nor my mom could understand my "guaze-talk". i just kept rattling off questions, wanting to make sure they got ALL of my teeth. both my mom and the nurse tried to stop me from talking. it was all in vain. =D

by the time we got back home, my mom was fluent in “gauze-talk”. =) she got me all settled in, expecting me to fall asleep. nope. i didn’t actually fall asleep till around 3am. then again at 4:30am. FINALLY, i was able to get a couple hours of sleep around 9. i haven’t slept since.

saying goodbye to wisdom

today i'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled... yanked. snatched. wrenched out of my head. whatever you'd like to call it.

right now i'm fine. but as soon as i get into that chair and they pull out the needle to stick IN me? dear lord! my heart is gonna start racing. BUT! i've got to prove to my dear friend that i'm not a panzy and that i can be tough. (choking on laughter)

yeah. i'll be fine.

right.....?

pizza--of all the culprits

i've had my wisdom teeth for years. years. and they've never given me any problem. that is not until a couple days ago. i chipped my tooth on some pizza and had to go in to the dentist to get it checked out. as a result, i'll have to have a crown put on it. BUT! before any of that happens, i have to have my wisdom teeth pulled! of ALL the luck. =( next tuesday is my lucky day for getting all of my wisdom teeth ripped out of their comfortable homes--deep in the caverns of my gums. they'll then be slung around the trophy necklace i SWEAR the oral surgeon must hide under his pillow.

my doc prescribed me this mouth wash, chlorhexidine gluconate (the cheap version of periogard) that i have to use three times a day until the appointed time. now i can't sleep because the after-taste is like yak spit mixed with listerine. the bottle warns to not swallow but i can't help the little sloshes that sneak down my throat! its just awful! my tongue tingles, my gums feel dry, and my dangly thing feels like it was scrubbed with ascorbic acid. not only do i have to use this stuff taken straight out of snape's closet... but i have to use it 3 times a day--every day until my surgery!

i’m sure tooth extraction technology has advanced from the days of metal tools and pliers but why can't they just get a lock on them and beam them out? it would certainly save me from all the misery i'm sure will ensue.