Older Entries

Newest Entry

Guestbook

Site Meter

I don't feel any dumber

Thursday, Feb. 06, 2003
8:50 AM

Wisdom teeth - who needs 'em anyway? Not me...

If you've been following my dental saga, you'll know I had all four of my wisdom teeth yanked out of my head yesterday. All things considered, I'm not doing too badly. I was pretty nervous when I went in to the oral surgeon's office, so I happily gulped the Valium they gave me when I got there. I did start to relax a little when they took me back, got me settled in the chair and hooked up to the various monitors. The worst part was when the anesthesiologist was trying to find a vein in my arm for the IV. "Small veins," he said in a thick (Italian?) accent. Yeah, I could have told you that, buddy. He actually did a pretty good job, got it on the first try and I only have a small bruise on my arm. They let the IV drip for a few minutes and then put the general anesthesia in. I don't even remember falling asleep.

I do vaguely remember waking up after they had numbed me, which the nurse said would happen (that I would wake up). She said I probably wouldn't remember it though. I remember talking a little bit but not what was said. It's all really vague and then I was out again.

Waking up from the anesthesia was interesting. That's all kind of fuzzy too, though I had a mouthful of gauze and was feeling slightly dizzy. I remember crying a little bit, not sure why but the nurse said that was normal. Just being disoriented I guess. They took me to a little recovery room with a recliner and a blanket and brought Kevin back to hold my hand. Didn't seem like we were in there for long but he said later it was about twenty minutes.

When I was calmer and able to (sort of) stand up on my own we headed out. Had to stop by Giant to pick up my prescriptions and get soft squishy foods. Kevin ran in and did that while I stayed in the car, feeling my face and being willing to sell my soul for something to drink. My mouth was so unbelievably dry, it was horrible. I looked at myself in the mirror, which was probably a mistake. My mouth was still kind of bloody looking - it was really gross. I flipped the mirror back up and tried to go to sleep. Bleah.

My sweetie, bless his heart, brought me a vanilla Diet Coke, which helped the dryness. That first sip was amazing. He drove me home and took care of me. My tongue, lower lip and chin were completely numb. Talking, especially through all the gauze, was a challenge. So was eating - I felt like Regan, getting yogurt smeared all over. Hey, you know those Life Saver Creme Saver hard candies? They're orange and raspberry swirled with cream - well I am happy to say that Breyers now makes them in yogurt form. Yum!

I got safely ensconced on the recliner with a blanket, my laptop and Harry Potter playing on the DVD player. Changed out my gauze every so often, drank water with my meds, finally started feeling less dizzy. The lovely Shannon dropped by with Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream (which SO does not suck) and the loan of the Princess Bride DVD. It was nice to see her, even if I couldn't really talk very well. She's such a sweetie.

So that was pretty much my day. I stayed put most of the time and caught up on my email (I still had a ton I hadn't read since I got back from Miami). I put ice on my face, swapped out gauze, ate squishy things.

Today I'm doing better. Still needing the gauze a little, but much less than yesterday. I can finally feel my entire face again! My tongue came back yesterday but when I went to bed my lip and chin were still mostly numb. They were coming back but with some slightly painful tingling - that's because it wasn't the anesthesia that was making them numb, it was the nerves in my jaw that got messed with when the teeth were taken out. The doctor told me that might happen, and said it might even be numb for as long as a month! (Actually, there was a small chance it could be permanent...) Fortunately, everything feels normal and I am much relieved. My jaw is still swollen, especially on the right side, and I have a couple of bruises on my face. I look even more like a chipmunk than I normally do. Harrumph. It should be fine by Ymir, thankfully. No drinking from straws for a couple of weeks, which I will have to remember. I think I am progressing well, though.

So that's it - hopefully the end of my dental woes for a very long time. I'm sure you're all relieved to hear the end of it. ;-)

Ciao!


ProfileDiaryland