Before:
Well I decided to get a head start on this blog entry. I've head people say that they don't remember much from the day they got their wisdom teeth removed. I'm going to jot down a few things here, then I'll report back later on how everything went.I woke up to my normal alarm. I wanted to try and keep my morning routine un-adjusted, but I kept finding my brain thinking about the procedure and my routine was just off. For instance, I normally brush and floss then start my shower, but for some reason I brushed, then showered, then flossed. I also normally turn on a light when I'm waking up, but I forgot to do that. Mostly, it was just small things that varied. The weather is looking nice; me thinks I will wear some shorts instead of pants to be a bit more comfortable. Oh and I'm already hungry... at 6:30a. I remembered why I like to eat late at night, because waking up starving many times started to give me acid reflux or something that was painful. Stomach want food.
I was ready to go ahead of schedule, so I hopped on my computer to start this entry. I like thinking about what to write instead of waiting and thinking about the procedure. Sorta feel like I have writer's block though.
(The remainder of this entry was written after the removal, so some details could be incorrect)
Lead up:
I went downstairs and my dad was watching the morning news, only up a little earlier than normal. It was just about time to go, and I was already starving. We hopped in the car, didn't really hit any traffic, and just talked about miscellaneous things. I would say that helped get my mind off it quite a bit.
Arrived at the office, my dad went straight to the huge comfortable couch they had, said he was probably going to sleep (lucky). I had to fill out a document that had me confirm that I understand the risks and that there are no guarantees of recovery or results. Neat. Then they said to take a seat while the prep the room. (I was a little grumbly about this because that was the point of an appointment.) Eventually a lady came to invite me to the back, I started getting nervous and said "hello" twice. In the room, there was a normal reclining seat, plus lots of room on all sides. The decor was Texas-y. She hooked me up to a heart rate monitor on my chest, a blood pressure monitoring system to my left arm, and another clip-on heart rate monitor to my hand. She made some small talk during this time, which did actually calm me down (my heart rate was calm). She left and said she would "be right back", so I'm guessing she was going to get the surgeon. I felt like this part took forever. Listening to my heart rate swing up and down from my nervousness just added to the issue.
Eventually the surgeon and assistant showed back up. He made some small talk about my work, but he almost wanted to talk about school with me at first. He went over to my right side, reclined me and started tying off my arm to put in the IV catheter to one of the veins around my elbow. They had to wiggle it around a little, which is pretty uncomfortable (side story: almost nobody has gotten one of my veins on the first try). Once they got it, he untied my arm. I'm pretty sure at this point I just have a standard bag of fluid going into me. He then walked around and got a syringe with something, and I think he inject that into the IV stream near the bag. Within about 30-40 seconds, I tell them "Woah, I'm definitely feeling something. NEAT." The assistant then said "Yeah? Feels good, don't it?". Then things get really hazy, and I think I remember saying "Goodbye".
Post-Op:
This is when things get pretty piece-wise in my memory. I don't remember leaving the operating room, I don't remember being in the waiting room, but I do remember being led to my dad's car while walking. I remember sitting without any issue, then putting on a seatbelt, then next thing I know my dad puts the car in park and we are at home. Guess I still passed out.
At home, I went straight for the rocking-chair to sit and relax. I probably just passed out again. I sorta remember my dad leaving to go pick up my prescriptions, but then I was woken up by my dad to nibble on some waffle that he made. I put in a tiny clump in my mouth, then lost it. Didn't realize that everything was still very numb. My tongue was very numb, my jaw, my lips, just everything. Had to fish out that food so it doesn't stick into a wound. Instead of eating, I did a mouth rinse with some fluid they gave. After a minute of standing, I started getting dizzy and nauseous, then dry-heaved a little. My dad laughed at me, and said to go sit down. I put some new gauze in, then went back to sitting and sleeping.
At some point in the morning, I started texting people. I dont really recall doing that. Thanks drugs.
I spent a majority of the day sitting in that rocking chair, watching tv, snoozing, and surfing the internet on the laptop. Eventually I felt capable enough to take some pain medication, which then quickly put me back to sleepy/drowsy.
Later, my mom prepared some soup for me. Thanks mom. My parents left to go to some meeting about time shares, and Kelc came over to watch a movie. We watched Austin Powers Goldmember. I think I still like Austin Powers 1+2 better.
Went to bed, thought it would be easy to sleep with the drugs, but I kept playing around on the computer.
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I took some pictures pre-op and post-op. If you feel squeamish looking at surgical sites, I would suggest not looking at these pictures. I took the 'before' one Wednesday night, and 'after' one on Thursday night.
To describe what you are seeing. On my lower jaw, on my right (your left) is where my first wisdom tooth broke through the gums. Both of my lower teeth were "impacted", meaning they aren't going to align themselves upright. I probably have been living with it in this state since I was 19-20ish. Food would sometimes get stuck in there, so if you ever saw me making weird faces after meals, it was probably me trying to fish out something that got stuck.
Before:
The after pics aren't going to be that great, since it hurt to open my mouth. My jaw muscles are sore, my checks and chin feel bruised. The creepy part is how my right (your left) lower tooth looks like it left a huge hole. Neat?
After 1:
After 2:
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