The Morning After (Surgery)
So I don't think I was quite as lucid in my previous post as I thought I was. Reading over it, I don't really remember it that well. I remember writing it, but it's a little fuzzy. But that pretty much sums up yesterday: fuzzy.
In the morning, before surgery, I assumed that I'd be really sleepy from the anesthesia so I put on an old t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants. No makeup, according to the pre-op instructions, but since I had the time I went ahead and did the rest of my morning routine and hair. It helped calm me a little, having something normal to focus on.
Mom arrived about 45 minutes before we needed to leave and when it was time to go, oh the butterflies started exploding in my stomach. We didn't have to wait long at the surgeons, though can I just say I am so grateful to have dental coverage - with insurance my upfront pay was about $250 dollars. I can't imagine paying for something like this without insurance.
Once I was in the back, in the chair, with nurses flitting around, putting a blood pressure cuff on and taking my glasses, it got *real*. My blood pressure skyrocketed to 149 over... something or other. I couldn't see the bottom number. I was this close to having a freak-out. Breathing deeply like they do in yoga helped a little - the bp went down a few points and it helped to be thinking about the breaths and not what was going to happen. But just as I was calming down, the nurses starting the major prep - giving me an IV, putting monitor clamp things on my wrists, and a heart rate monitor on my finger, so the BP went back up. Bless the main nurse (or probably she was the physician's assistant more likely) who did her best to keep me at ease - talking, asking me about my job, reassuring me that I wasn't going to have any problems because my roots were straight, no impaction, etc. I don't know that it helped much, but it was nice of her. Anyone who knew me could tell how nervous I was because I kept making awkward comments like teasing the surgeon for being on a phone call when he should have been operating on me. lol Then again, that could have been the slow drip of the IV affecting me before I was cognizant of it. Then the surgeon turns around, says something they increase the drip of what the nurse called The Good Stuff. The last thing I remember is the window in front of me turning wavy, like a pretty stained glass window.
Next thing I know, I'm in the post-op room, my mouth full of gauze and the nurse is helping me sit up because I tried to lay down. Or maybe I was laying down for awhile and it was time to sit up. I don't know; don't remember. No pain; none at all, though I did gradually become aware of a vast numbness where my lower jaw once was.
My mom was sitting across from me - the post-op rooms are big enough for the little bench/cot thing and a seat just opposite it and I think she was talking to the nurse, probably getting my instructions. Most of my time there is really fuzzy, though I do remember that I asked the nurse where my teeth were (I think she said they threw them away?) and the surgeon came in and asked me how I was doing. I waved my finger around and said, garbled through the gauze, "loopy." But he seemed to understand and then he was gone. Sometime when it was just my mom and me, I started to cry for no apparent reason - not sobs, thank goodness, which probably would have upset the clots or something - just silent tears running down my cheeks. I remember my mom saying "You're crying" and giving me a tissue, but it's all fuzzy after that until the nurse came back and said that we could leave. Mom went to get the car and the nurse walked with me to the parking lot. I stumbled a lot, though I concentrated very hard on not falling. I just just a little weak and dizzy. I don't remember getting into the car, but I do remember exchanging my glasses for my sunglasses at some point, which is an odd detail. I also remember thinking that other people who saw me with the gauze sticking out of my mouth would probably get a good laugh.
Next thing I know, we're back at my apartment and I'm on the couch. Sometime in that time, mom removed the gauze and tried to give me something to drink, but my jaw was so numb I couldn't tell when my mouth was closed so it all came back out. That made me laugh so hard I cried - I was really loopy. Anyway, sometime after I managed some water and the swallowing of an ibuprofen, mom got me settled on the couch and went to pick up my prescription and a few things to make soup. Looking back on it now, it's all really strange, distant, like remembering something in a dream.
I got an old towel that I wasn't afraid to bleed on and took a nap on the couch. I woke up, not sure how long later, but mom was still at the grocery store, feeling a little more clear-headed and that's when I wrote the LJ entry of yesterday. I think. The rest of the afternoon got progressively more clear; after that initial nap, I wasn't tired anymore, just hungry. Mom brought me a milkshake that I had to eat with a spoon and my towel under my chin because I kept drooling it everywhere, which made her laugh at me which in turn made me laugh, but eventually I got the whole thing down and getting food in my stomach really helped get the last of the loopyness away. I helped her make cookies a little - most of the time I just told her where various things were in my kitchen. But I was tired by the time the soup was done. Still no pain, even as the numbness was finally going away, but I was just... tired, like I'd did something strenuous the day before. I sat on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, drinking water and then soup when it was done and cool enough to eat. When mom left, just before rush hour hit the Friday afternoon streets, I played video games the rest of the night - interspersed with another cookie, some applesauce, and graham crackers that I made soft by dunking in milk. I took only one of my prescription pills right before bed, figuring that if I was going to get any pain, that it would happen in the middle of the night when blood gets more easily to your head as you're laying down and since I'm a side or stomach sleeper, maybe putting pressure on my jaw would cause it to hurt too. But no, I didn't wake up until my normal time, way past when the pain meds should have left my system.
This morning, I felt only a little bit of tenderness, like you might feel if you scraped your gums by eating something sharp the day before. Ibuprofen took care of that though and I think I'll probably be able to have a normal weekend, aside from no hard food.
In the morning, before surgery, I assumed that I'd be really sleepy from the anesthesia so I put on an old t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants. No makeup, according to the pre-op instructions, but since I had the time I went ahead and did the rest of my morning routine and hair. It helped calm me a little, having something normal to focus on.
Mom arrived about 45 minutes before we needed to leave and when it was time to go, oh the butterflies started exploding in my stomach. We didn't have to wait long at the surgeons, though can I just say I am so grateful to have dental coverage - with insurance my upfront pay was about $250 dollars. I can't imagine paying for something like this without insurance.
Once I was in the back, in the chair, with nurses flitting around, putting a blood pressure cuff on and taking my glasses, it got *real*. My blood pressure skyrocketed to 149 over... something or other. I couldn't see the bottom number. I was this close to having a freak-out. Breathing deeply like they do in yoga helped a little - the bp went down a few points and it helped to be thinking about the breaths and not what was going to happen. But just as I was calming down, the nurses starting the major prep - giving me an IV, putting monitor clamp things on my wrists, and a heart rate monitor on my finger, so the BP went back up. Bless the main nurse (or probably she was the physician's assistant more likely) who did her best to keep me at ease - talking, asking me about my job, reassuring me that I wasn't going to have any problems because my roots were straight, no impaction, etc. I don't know that it helped much, but it was nice of her. Anyone who knew me could tell how nervous I was because I kept making awkward comments like teasing the surgeon for being on a phone call when he should have been operating on me. lol Then again, that could have been the slow drip of the IV affecting me before I was cognizant of it. Then the surgeon turns around, says something they increase the drip of what the nurse called The Good Stuff. The last thing I remember is the window in front of me turning wavy, like a pretty stained glass window.
Next thing I know, I'm in the post-op room, my mouth full of gauze and the nurse is helping me sit up because I tried to lay down. Or maybe I was laying down for awhile and it was time to sit up. I don't know; don't remember. No pain; none at all, though I did gradually become aware of a vast numbness where my lower jaw once was.
My mom was sitting across from me - the post-op rooms are big enough for the little bench/cot thing and a seat just opposite it and I think she was talking to the nurse, probably getting my instructions. Most of my time there is really fuzzy, though I do remember that I asked the nurse where my teeth were (I think she said they threw them away?) and the surgeon came in and asked me how I was doing. I waved my finger around and said, garbled through the gauze, "loopy." But he seemed to understand and then he was gone. Sometime when it was just my mom and me, I started to cry for no apparent reason - not sobs, thank goodness, which probably would have upset the clots or something - just silent tears running down my cheeks. I remember my mom saying "You're crying" and giving me a tissue, but it's all fuzzy after that until the nurse came back and said that we could leave. Mom went to get the car and the nurse walked with me to the parking lot. I stumbled a lot, though I concentrated very hard on not falling. I just just a little weak and dizzy. I don't remember getting into the car, but I do remember exchanging my glasses for my sunglasses at some point, which is an odd detail. I also remember thinking that other people who saw me with the gauze sticking out of my mouth would probably get a good laugh.
Next thing I know, we're back at my apartment and I'm on the couch. Sometime in that time, mom removed the gauze and tried to give me something to drink, but my jaw was so numb I couldn't tell when my mouth was closed so it all came back out. That made me laugh so hard I cried - I was really loopy. Anyway, sometime after I managed some water and the swallowing of an ibuprofen, mom got me settled on the couch and went to pick up my prescription and a few things to make soup. Looking back on it now, it's all really strange, distant, like remembering something in a dream.
I got an old towel that I wasn't afraid to bleed on and took a nap on the couch. I woke up, not sure how long later, but mom was still at the grocery store, feeling a little more clear-headed and that's when I wrote the LJ entry of yesterday. I think. The rest of the afternoon got progressively more clear; after that initial nap, I wasn't tired anymore, just hungry. Mom brought me a milkshake that I had to eat with a spoon and my towel under my chin because I kept drooling it everywhere, which made her laugh at me which in turn made me laugh, but eventually I got the whole thing down and getting food in my stomach really helped get the last of the loopyness away. I helped her make cookies a little - most of the time I just told her where various things were in my kitchen. But I was tired by the time the soup was done. Still no pain, even as the numbness was finally going away, but I was just... tired, like I'd did something strenuous the day before. I sat on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, drinking water and then soup when it was done and cool enough to eat. When mom left, just before rush hour hit the Friday afternoon streets, I played video games the rest of the night - interspersed with another cookie, some applesauce, and graham crackers that I made soft by dunking in milk. I took only one of my prescription pills right before bed, figuring that if I was going to get any pain, that it would happen in the middle of the night when blood gets more easily to your head as you're laying down and since I'm a side or stomach sleeper, maybe putting pressure on my jaw would cause it to hurt too. But no, I didn't wake up until my normal time, way past when the pain meds should have left my system.
This morning, I felt only a little bit of tenderness, like you might feel if you scraped your gums by eating something sharp the day before. Ibuprofen took care of that though and I think I'll probably be able to have a normal weekend, aside from no hard food.