I got no teeth . . .
....just the post-surgery pain to prove they're gone. *l* Owwwwwwwie.
But at least I didn't have to feel a thing or see anything during the process of getting my wisdom teeth out. Woohoo!
One moment I was trying to breathe through the gas mask. The laughing gas was to distract me from any uncomfort I'd feel from getting the IV drip installed that would knock me out with some general anesthesia (sp?).
Then they were hooking all this cold metal stuff and tubing to me. I was having a nice conversation with the dentist and assistant about my jaw aching a bit. The assistant explained what all the gadgets being hooked up to me were and what they did. The one that bothered me most was the thumb clip (she didn't actually give me the official name of it) that pinched my right thumb and measured my heart beat. It was a bit too tight if you ask me. Bleh. My poor finger felt like it was loosing circulation.
Then, the dentist came in and I figured it was time to put in the IV drip. I felt the swab, I felt him smacking my elbow joint to find the vein while I made a tight fist, a lot of COOOOOLD water sprayed on me to numb my arm, and a vague feeling of something sticking into me instead of the usual pinch I feel when doing the blood work for my annual physical.
Mind you, I couldn't see anything because they had me take my contacts out. So I'm only going by what I felt and heard. All I saw were the blobs of the white or blue uniforms with their light blue hair nets and masks. *l*
In any case, I remember trying to stare cross-eyed at the mask and look up at the ceiling lights periodically to see if I could tell when I went out.
*lmao* Yeah. Didn't work.
One minute I was staring from the mask to the ceiling light. The next I heard them talking about me mentioning we were having our ceremony in Finland in May and it felt like they were shoving stuff into my mouth. Then they were saying "Okay Jennie! It's time to wake up!"
The next few minutes it was just a matter of learning how to refocus my eyes and slowly trying to stretch the different muscles of my body, one section at a time, from top to bottom so that I could work out the lethargy. I found out from Jani that they called him in to the surgery room at about 12:40 pm. We arrived at the office around 11:15am but had to wait a bit while I paid the bill, signed a form saying I understood what to do afterwards and verifying when I last ate/drank as instructed by the doctor, and finally took out my contacts. I started at about 11:30am. Not bad!
Other than that, I did pretty well in terms of getting over the dizziness. I'm only just now getting feeling back in my lips and cheeks. It was TRIPPY poking at them and seeing them in a mirror, looking all normal but feeling like...well, nothing. *l*
I was actually walking and talking fairly well afterwards, when we went to Longs to get the pain medication. Haven't had to use it YET. But I did have to use some Ibuprofen after we took out the nice, blood-soaked gauze pads a few hours later. Luckily, I didn't have to put in new gauze pads. The bleeding is stopped for now. But booooy is anything but water an issue right now. Can't really open my mouth much, even though it feels like I'm opening it somewhat normally. And the jello and pudding cups I had made the teeth throb. Big mistake for now. *l* The thought of trying to drink bubbly liquids, milk, or anything too acidic just gives me the willies right now. And I'm supposed to stay away from hot foods until about 1:00pm tomorrow. *sighsigh* Well, at least the water is a blessing. I absolutely LOVE being able to drink that beautiful, cooling stuff now. *l*
The post-op follow up meeting is this coming Monday. Hopefully they find I'm recovering well/quickly. *nodsnods* For now, I'm aiming for recovery before the bridal shower on the 12th, and the ability to do more than just walking exercises starting this weekend or Monday. Yeah!