Wisdom Teeth
I had my wisdom teeth removed on Friday. I thought it might be a more terrible experience than it was, but it has been easy. I didn't think I needed pain medicine yesterday, but I took it anyways, just in case. I didn't take any today, though I did take my antibiotics as well as my anti-swelling medicine.
My jaw is slightly sore and swollen on the left side, and I can't open my mouth all the way. I ate a piece of salmon as my first solid food in a few days. I have been eating fruit juices, pudding, and stuffing. It is strange feeling the stitches in my mouth.
This was the first time I've been under the influlence of any kind of anesthetic. I sat in the dentist's chair, and the dentist put a tiny drop of an analgesic under my skin. Then, he put an IV in. I wonder if the anesthetic -drop was necessary, consdering how much I enjoy having needles put in me, but I've never had an IV put in, so maybe this is part of the normal experience. The dentist put 5 syringes-worth of fluid in me; at the end of the series, I asked him why he didn't use a bigger CC syringe (seems more efficient), and he said each of the syringes contained a different kind of medicine. Alright. I started to feel a little light headed so I laid my head back to rest on the chair. All the rest is a blur after that. I vaguely remember some sort of conversation about shivering after recovering from anesthesia. I remember science lover holding my hand. I remember stopping at the pharmacy. I remember science lover telling me I'd already told him something twice before, and that short term memory loss was a normal part of the process. I vaguely remember walking to my apartment. My complete memories returned after getting to my apartment. I found a receit for gas with my medicine, so I wonder if we stopped for gas after the procedure.
The whole experience has been very easy, and it only cost me $300 (it cost my insurance quite a bit more). Not too bad to get rid of hallitosis and the problem of biting the inside of my cheek with my wisdom teeth.
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I came across a strange sight this morning. I found a nearly dead chipmonk on my floor. I'm not sure how it got there, whether sama brought it in sometime yesterday when I had the door open, or if it somehow came in through another unfortunate path. At first, I thought the creature was dead. I picked it up and felt a slighth muscle twitch in my hands. The poor creature was still alive. Uff. I gave it to Sama -- he had no interest in the chipmonk. There was a big gash in the chipmonk's undersection, including its thigh. It was probably in pain, and would not heal on its own. What to do? I decided the responsible thing would be to put the animal out of its misery. I thought letting it slowly die outside would be cruel. Had I a BB gun, I would have shot it.
Instead, I drowned the creature in a bowl of warm water. It seemed to hold its breath a long time. It sat in the water for what seemed like forever, not moving at all. Then is started to twich, every so lightly. Probably 3-4 minutes passed until it finally stopped twitching......when it died, it stretched its back legs and crossed its front legs in front of its body. Maybe I should have tried to break its spine, but I didn't know how similar it would be to killing a mouse. I think I did the right thing. Who knows how long it sat underneath my sewing table, suffering.
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I tried making Laurel leaves for a hood, but I'm only semi-pleased with the results. I might try to do some subtle embroidery, instead.
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I finished Memoires of a Geisha today. It was a really good book.
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I want to get a new cell phone. I don't want an i-phone. Any advice for a phone with GPS, one that I can have access to the internetz and e-mail. A blackberry, maybe?
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