No Time for Thinking

Hi All,

Sorry this post is late. I had my wisdom teeth (all four) yanked out on Friday and the pain killers have officially worn off. Though I would love to sit and write about character development, it seems that the only thing going through my head right now is: "Why are these darn drugs not working?"

For years I've been avoiding the inevitable. Every time I would go and see my dentist she would give me that "you're naughty" kind of look and tell me that I should get my wisdom teeth pulled. I would tell her that they weren't bothering me and that if and when they did, she would be the first person I'd call. What I hoped was that I would never have to call her...I was wrong. Last month my bottom, left wisdom tooth began to really bother me. I knew that the outcome was not going to be anything I was going to be happy with. I've never had a cavity, nor have I ever had freezing or a filling...hence my worry about the whole tooth extraction thing. I went in and explained everything to my dentist, who then told me I HAD to get them pulled. At first she said just the bottoms, but then she looked and said, "Nope, I think we'll do all four!" Oh, goodie.

She sent me to an oral surgeon who seemed like a nice enough man. He sat me down in a comfortable chair and told me that he had a movie for me to watch. He started the movie and then left the room. What unfolded was a fifteen minute fright fest of all the bad things that could happen (including death) if you have your wisdom teeth removed. Now when you are a certificate carrying hypochondriac (I'm kidding about the certificate, but would gladly carry one if one existed) telling me that I could die from this procedure is not going to calm me down. Instantly my anxiety went through the roof.

Finally the big day came and I arrived at his office, not having eaten since 5 p.m. the previous day, because I was going to be placed under general anaesthetic, I got there with my nerves barely intact. They had told me that I had to wear black and couldn't have nail polish on my left hand (IV hand), so I arrived in jogging pants and a short sleeved black top. They placed the IV in the soft bend of my right arm. Within a few seconds I was out and was only aware of a few slight things that were going on, including the cracking of my teeth as he pulled them out. When the whole thing was done he informed me that I would probably be in a lot of pain, because he had to cut into my jaw bone on both sides of my mouth.

The whole thing took less than an hour, but has rendered me quite sore. My husband (Mr. Compassion) said, "Geez, when I had my bottom ones out, I wasn't in that much pain." This from the man who can't get out of bed for a week if he gets the sniffles. I think the pain medication may actually be working now. It took long enough. Well I thought I would let you all know why my post was late, and now off to bed I go while the pain has subsided.