A bit of sympathy please…
April 13, 2008
I underwent some minor surgery a few days ago when having 2 wisdom teeth removed. Unless you’ve actually undergone this as surgery, rather than in the dental chair, you’ll have little appreciation of what is really experienced.
There were 8 other patients the same afternoon as me and it would appear we were all to suffer the same fate. The waiting was the worst part. Those who know me know I don’t sit still very long - I’m always on the go. I did take a book in with me and read that for 2 hours and then had to endure another wait in another room of around 45 mins whilst they prepped me and finally came and got me to undergo the small op.
One of the last things I remember was telling the guy who was hooking me up to the heart machine about the time my hubby was hooked up to a machine in 2001 when he’d come off his bike and broken some ribs. Every time I touched his hand his heart rate went up. Our kids had thought it was ‘cute’ at that stage. The guy asked me if that would occur if hubby was there with me right now and I said ‘you bet!’
The surgeon came in and said ‘hello Mrs Thomas, how are you?’ Silly question. My answer was ‘hungry and bored’ and he just smiled. What else do you expect? I’d not eaten a thing since 8.30 in the morning and here it was after 4.30pm or something and I’d been lying on a bed in a room waiting for someone to come get me and didn’t even have my book with me for that past half hour or more.
Anyway, hubby’s face looked funny when he came to get me sometime later. Think it might have had something to do with the pack tied around my head. I mean, not very becoming, is it? A long ice pack wrapped in cloth and tied around your head. And then to be told you can’t eat any solids for several days, only mushy stuff. mmm, jelly and icecream would be ok if I were a kid but I’m not anymore. And I actually enjoy decent food. But right at that moment I couldn’t even have a drink without dribbling down the side of my mouth. Not very becoming at all.
Well, this is my 4th night home now. Still on the antibiotics and the pain killers. And I can’t eat anything that is hard or has seeds in it so it doesn’t dig into the pockets in my gums where that bit’o'wisdom used to sit. I had to find things at the supermarket you could add hot water too and mix up so that it resembled edible food. At least it doesn’t look like baby food and it does have flavour. The thing I miss the most at the moment is being able to bite into a good solid piece of chocolate. But my daughter did tell me about Paul’s chocolate mousse and I can savour that! After all, having something cold and soothing on the gums is just what the doctor recommended! 
Posted in My Thoughts
April 13th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Oh, Kathie–
That doesn’t sound like any fun at all! Since all four of my bits ‘o’ wisdom are still resting comfortably in their respective gums, I now appreciate them with a newly found enthusiasm.
And, yes, I send you my sympathies. Hope you’re feeling better real soon!
April 13th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Had my wisdoms removed in the chair. The dentist said my roots were straight, so all four teeth popped right out! So sorry for your pain. I know you will feel much better for it though in a few days.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:36 am
You poor dear - I have never had my wisdom teeth removed (dentist phobia! I figure since they don’t really bother me they can just stay right where they are!). But I have watched my daughter and my sister recuperate from such surgery and it did not look at all like anything I would want to experience. I hope you are feeling better soon. You have my sympathy and prayers for a swift recovery. Meanwhile, any excuse for chocolate mousse is a good one (almost!).
April 14th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Oh Kathy! Bless your heart!
I had to have two of my “bit’o wisdom” cut out, but it was in a dental chair. I got the dreaded dry sockets and thought I was dying.
Please take care. Before you know it you will be back to eating good food.
Big Hugs,
Betty
April 14th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Just had a thought…if I am to follow suit and have my op, I will use the food restriction as a chance to test my own willpower where ’sweet things’ are concerned. Maybe i’ll lose some weight??? lol Don’t like the idea of going through with this, but I am sure you’d agree, better to have the teeth removed, opposed to continual pain.Hope you begin to heal and send you a hug!
Debbie
April 14th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Kathy: So sorry to hear of your “toofus trials”! Indeed, I DO know how horrible this stuff can be. I had 2 impacted teeth @ the same time — & stayed that way for 3 months because they were so bad off no doctor would touch them ’til infection subsided. And I DID lose a considerable amount of weight.
I’d rather have another C-section — seriously — than go thru that again . . . so my sympathies are heartfelt. Take good care of yourself!
– Linda
April 14th, 2008 at 10:42 am
So lovely to hear from your ladies and thank you for sympathising with me - much appreciated!
Yes Linda, I know what you mean - at least that was over with relatively quickly and you had something to show for it!
Debbie - you might not lose weight, sorry. It depends on how the anaesthetic and drugs affect you - constipation doesn’t help for weight loss, if you know what I mean!
Melodieann, I suffer the same phobia you do but unfortunately I could not escape and the pain I’ve been experiencing leading up to the operation was also difficult. I’d had a bad cold several weeks prior and was ok till that point but then got an infected ear which somehow connected with the bad wisdom tooth and it was hard to tell which was hurting the most or which was causing the pain.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Oh my, no fun at all. I am very fortunate to have all four of my wisdom teeth, but my kids have had their’s removed.
I can understand the dribbling thing. One son had his done morning before heading back to college (same day). His soon to be wife doing the driving, only half-joking about getting him a pan to catch his dribbles while going down the road.
Great to see you come through, shame we can’t bill for the time we lose waiting in an office. Good luck, keep healing.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
You poor thing. Dental surgery - no food that’s fun, rinsing with salt water, throbbing jaws, ugh!
I had all of my wisdom teeth removed when I was about 13 - all I remember is being completely zonked on truth serum and hoping I didn’t tell all my teenage secrets to my brother who drove me to the appointment!
May 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Oh Kathie - you poor thing!
I had some major surgery on my jaw once (I won’t describe it) just before Christmas and was on soft food for about a month - great for weight loss because you just lose interest if you have to mush it all and it is this grey-brown sludge that doesn’t really make you want to wolf it!
For Christmas dinner, I actually mushed all the bits separately just so I could pretend I was feasting!
I hope your recovery is as smooth as possible.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Ouch … you have my sympathies both on the waiting for surgery and the pulling of wisdom teeth … I only had one/two out in the chair and the after effects are awful.
Hope your recovery is swift.