Dealing with the Aftermath

While my professors were really nice about the whole wisdom teeth ordeal, I missed MIDTERM WEEK! I have so much crap to do that I have no time to even breathe. Grrrrr.

2 Less Teeth

I let them do it. I was nervous, and it was a good thing that the sedative works quickly or I would have probably chickened out on this. I looked the surgeon square in the face and asked if he was "prepared for an airway emergency". He gave the nurse the "Do you believe this one" look, to which I responded, "Hey, you know what I do for a living, right?" After that, the last thing I remember is him telling me about the patient he had to trach in the chair. Next thing I know, I am awake and giggling uncontrollably, and the wisdom teeth are gone. Apparently Versed is to blame for the giggles, though I have never seen it have that effect on any of my patients.
Everyone has told me how painful it is to have these boogers removed. I have been pretty sore and not feeling well because I have been taking a low-dose narcotic painkiller. But I have refrained from those for over 24 hours, and now I am feeling the aftermath. But to be honest, after the pain I was having before they were removed, I think this is an improvement. Plus I have the psychological benefit of knowing that I have no more wisdom teeth to cause any problems. All 4 are gone now. I just know that the plan is to work tonight, and I want nothing in my system for that. I have bought a fricken enormous bottle of ibuprofen just for work. I still cannot eat solid foods though. That's okay. The hospital cafeteria has a wealth of frozen yogurts and Jell-O, soups, puddings, etc., to choose from. I'll be a-okay.

Not the Break I Wanted

I came home from work this morning and went to sleep for 2 hours before I was awakened by this God-awful pain in my jaw. Being a bad girl has caught up with me, apparently. When I was 19, I went to get my wisdom teeth dealt with. Being the enigma that I am, instead of having 4 like a normal person,I had only 3. All 3 were in my mouth and looked great, but my dentist was concerned that the bottom 2 would get cavities or cause problems with my neighboring molars, so they were pulled in the office.. Years later, the elusive 4th tooth shows up. It has been in there for years, but it is either broken or jagged. I cannot tell which it is as it is too far back to see. I just know I will have periods where it will hurt for a while, then it goes away. Now it is killing me. So figuring that I have excellent insurance, I stay home from school today to deal with this. But somehow this has evolved from my trusty dentist to an maxillofacial surgeon, a major procedure, and being NPO after midnight. John will have to miss school tomorrow as well. I am now perched on my sofa with a laptop and the phone, trying to get ahold of all of my professors. This completely sucks. But this time tomorrow, I will look like the picture you see for this post.