The Tale of 4 Teeth

They are gone! Gone! My childhood wisdom is gone forever with my wisdom teeth!

Ok, I'll explain. Yesterday morning, I woke up at 6:45. By 8, Mom was getting used to driving my car as we headed to the oral surgeon's. I'll never forget my Doc's name. Rosato. Sounds like pasta. Mom and I were laughing about it while we were sitting in the waiting room. The nurse came in. dun dun dun. She got me settled into the chair, hooked up to the machine (those pads were COLD!), and the blood pressure cuff, which squeezed my arm every 5 minutes. Almost 10 minutes later the Doc came in too. He layed the chair back, and slipped this thing over my nose, I'm sure i looked goofy. Then they plugged my hand into the IV. That wasnt too bad at all. For my first IV, I expected it to hurt more. Not so! hardly felt a thing. Giving blood hurt more. Then the Doc said he was going to give me a steroid to help with the swelling. I remember the nurse chuckling about how she has to do things in a certain order every time. I remember nothing else. 30 seconds tops from when they started the IV until I was out.

The next thing I remember was them telling me they were going to bring Mom in. Recovery! Dont really remember much about my time in that room, I was kinda touch and go. I do remember I got a ride out to the car in the wheelchair, but I dont remember the ride at all. I dont really remember the ride home either. But I DO remember how numb the lower half of my face was. I couldnt feel anything on my chin or lower lip!! Or my tongue, which is a very weird feeling. The first time Mom changed the packing in my mouth, I just about passed out.

I slept on and off, with ice inbetween, but since I couldnt feel my mouth, I couldnt take any meds. Half of my face came back to life pretty quick, including half of my tongue. At least I could drink now. The other half of my face was still coming back by the time I went to bed last night. It felt all tingly every time I touched it, like a foot that fell asleep. This morning, I can feel my whole mouth just fine.

I haven't had any of the gauze in my mouth since yesterday afternoon, and I start salt water rinses today. blech. But such is recovery.

The good part is, I'm hardly swollen at all. One side of my face, the side that came back sooner, isnt' swollen at all. And the other side is a little bit. No chipmunk cheeks for me! Wahoo!

So, there's the tale of my 4 teeth. Not too gory, actually. I'm gonna go ice my face now, and probably sleep some.

love and hugs.