Four Pieces of Wisdom

Yesterday at 1:00 I was lucky enough to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed...After setting up the appointment, I did a significant amount of research concerning how to prepare for the procedure and the best ways in which to nurture myself once I no longer had the use of my jaw. Two of my best friends accompanied me on the adventure to the oral surgeon, not because they couldn't wait to take care of me, but rather so they could make fun of me afterwards. Needless to say, they had the camera ready to roll.

Once I was properly seated in the dental chair with an oxygen tube in my nose, a heart monitor attached to my chest and a blood pressure monitor hooked to my arm, it was time to put me to sleep. Unfortunately, that task proved to be easier said than done. The needle was stuck into my arm and fiddled with four times before the medicine finally entered my body, and I think they forgot it was a living thing they were stabbing over and over. I've never been a fan of shots, but I can usually handle them pretty well. However, yesterday I was cursing my silly veins for making things so difficult.

After what felt like ten minutes of pinching and pressure in my arm, things started to go blurry. The next thing I knew, a woman was telling me to stay in my wheelchair as I attempted to stand up on my own. Definitely not a good idea. I don't remember much about the next hour or so, except for the fact that I had a huge mouthful of gauze, I was absolutely starving, and it seemed like I had a never-ending supply of blood in my mouth that I constantly had to spit out.

I tried to talk to my dad on the phone with gauze in my mouth...poor guy couldn't understand a word I was saying.

I also found myself to be extra emotional. When my friend wouldn't let me get raspberries with my frozen yogurt because she didn't think I could chew them I felt like the world was ending and the tears began to flow. Later on I cried again when I found out Gurus was closed and when I couldn't decide what I should eat for dinner...it proved to be a hard day... Ha.

I refused to go into spoon me without this over my head...for some reason I was convinced the coat made me look less conspicuous than the bloody gauze coming out of my mouth.

Thank heaven for supporting friends and roommates. Laur stayed with me until 11 at night and made sure I was taking all the right medicines and getting things to eat, even after I called her the worst driver in the world and cried whenever she tried to look out for me. Two of my guy friends brought me my favorite smoothie from jamba juice even after I supposedly called them stupid on the phone when they jokingly asked how I really felt about them. My roommates made sure I was as comfortable as possible and stayed calm as I pretended to dump my cup full of blood and saliva on them after they scolded me for spitting into it without warning.

Today the chipmunk cheeks have started to arrive, I feel weak and dizzy, and my jaw is too sore to open more than a centimeter, but I can tell I'm on the road to recovery. Now I just have to pray for no more swelling, no infections and no dry sockets!