Monday, September 24, 2007
Ow! (and Yech!)
Last Saturday I had to face what I have been trying to postpone for the longest time… having my wisdom tooth extracted. Actually, it was more of a nuisance than out of fear. And also because that would mean spending money I could use somewhere else. My sister just had her tooth extracted too, some months or weeks ago. And she did say it was just a short ordeal. Nothing to worry about then, I said to myself. so after having my X-ray and having that examined, I scheduled for the surgery.
The “easy” part was all a sham. First off, the x-ray proved to be misleading. I guess partly because it was blurred which may have made the tooth appear “easily removable” when, exactly opposite, it was in the most difficult position for extraction. I had my arm tested with the anesthesia to see if I wasn’t allergic and after 15 minutes, I was cleared. We started around 2:30 in the afternoon, with only the bright afternoon sun as light in the room. So with my mouth half-numb, I opened up. Apparently for a 3-hour (not the expected 30 minutes) ordeal. Thrice they had to put anesthesia because I’ve started to feel pain in my gums. I was getting teary-eyed both from tiredness and frustration (God! Please let them pull the tooth out! I was silently shouting in my head.) Even the doctors were starting to give up. The tooth was coming out in pieces. It was already nearly 6 p.m. (I later learned) and the afternoon soon has begun its fast descent. When the doctor was ready to give up, one last push and out came the stubborn root. Thank goodness. The bits and pieces of my broken wisdom tooth, all bloody and wet, was on the dentist’s table. I didn’t want any remembrance of that day.
With still half of my mouth and tongue numb, I mumbled a dozen thank yous to my dentists. It was a looong day for all of us and I’m sure they’d be heading for a quick dinner and long sleep after that.
An hour and a half to go still before we reached home. Around 30 minutes into the rocky ride, the anesthesia has started to wear off. I was at the back of the van where I can feel all the bumps and swerves of the road but I was determined to stay as far away from the others. Alone with the throbbing pain of my gums. I realized that as soon as the anesthesia wore off, I can also feel the painful pricks of where the needle was stuck, close to my throat. So I can’t even swallow. I almost used up a whole role of tissue to wipe off saliva. The glands were overactive that night! I can now taste blood and Betadine. I can even feel the surgical thread with my tongue. The pain began to be unbearable, I can’t stop from crying. I even snapped at my sister because I had to shout what I was saying, which was hard for me to do.
Today, the swelling has gone down to a did-you-just-gain-weight-on-your-face or candy-in-mouth size. Which is actually bearable. But I still can’t open my jaw well and have to push it small bit of pasta in my mouth. Can’t chew as much, because my jaw gets tired easily too. I’m hoping for a full recovery by the end of the week, when I no longer have to take antibiotics and my dad finally gets to remove the surgical thread in my mouth. Yey!
I feel like a new person! And I’m not exaggerating. I say that only because I have never had to endure that much physical pain in my life, or at least I don’t remember anything worse than that. I’ll be trying to make that the last one.
P.S. right after the surgery, I also had my ears pierced, at last! Just one ear, because the piercing in my left ear is still good. I’m wearing kiddie hypo-allergening earrings of my birthstone—topaz—today!
Labels: personal
tweenkies_1106 at 8:31 PM