Recovery

It's been 55 hours since my wisdom teeth were yanked from their sockets, I have to say...I am recovering wonderfully. So wonderfully, I feel a little silly having put this off for as long as I have! Nearly the entire process has been easier than anticipated.

Nearly. There was a slight hiccup in the beginning. 

David and I arrived at the Endodontic & Oral Surgery office promptly at 8am, having left our house around 7:20. I check in, and find out two things: I have to have a new consultation because the surgeon I met with previously no longer works there; and  this new surgeon may decide not to put me under general anesthesia because I forgot I was supposed to fast from both food and water and had a small glass of water when I woke up 6:30. 

Needless to say, there was a small amount of panic while I waited to meet with the new surgeon. Why wasn't I informed about this beforehand? I thought. How could I forget I wasn't supposed to drink water? I will freak out if I'm awake for this! I was feeling a little stupid for potentially sabotaging myself  and angry with the office for not informing me about the new surgeon. The funny thing is, I didn't even like the first surgeon, as he had "helpfully" informed me that now that I'm getting older, my body doesn't heal as fast as it used to. Thanks, buddy.

I meet with the new surgeon, who is way nicer and jokes about me drinking water earlier today. He says he feels comfortable continuing with anesthesia, if I don't mind waiting a little longer to make sure my stomach is empty. I happily agree; after all, I already had the day off from work. 

I ended up waiting an additional 3 hours total from when the surgery was intially scheduled. Granted, some of that time was before the second consultation, but considering I had already been feeling anxious, this was not a pleasant time. I hadn't brought a book or knitting or anything else, because I wasn't expecting to be waiting long. Eventually I get called in and the process begins. 

One minute the surgeon was asking me if I could feel the effects of the medication and I said no; the next thing I know they are waking me up and I'm crying. Hysterically. I have no idea why I'm crying, so when the nurse asks I think I try to make something up that comes out as an incoherent jumble. The nurse smiles and tells me it's a normal reaction to the anesthesia. She brings David back, he checks us out and drives us home, where I feel compelled to take 40 photos of myself. Behold:

I am not embarassed to post this, since only my mom reads this blog anyways. Hi Mom!

I have no idea why it seemed so important, but it is now totally cracking me up. 

I alternated between dozing off and being cranky for a few hours, ate some delicious soup, and watched 10 Things I Hate About You on the tv that we just setup in the bedroom. I'm in some pain, but its tolerable and I go to sleep after the movie.

Yesterday I wake up, and I'm actually feeling...well, not quite good, but definitely not as awful as I anticipated. Still cranky, as David will attest (I called him at work and complained in such a way as to convince him to take the rest of the day off). I take the smallest amounts of pain medication allotted, watch tv, and knit. If I'm feeling well enough that I can knit, then I'm doing pretty well. In fact, I felt well enough that by the end of the day, I was able to pretty myself up and make it to David's show. Behold, once again:

Owl necklace and coordinating gold chain belt? I'm not only feelin' good, I'm lookin' good!

Today I'm a little worn out and definitely more tired than usual, but this is a very long winded way of saying that I am really impressed with my own resiliency. Yes, wisdom teeth removal surgery is very common and not the most dangerous, I am aware of that. However, despite at the putting-off and panic and worry, the overall experience has been not bad. Despite the fact that I'm "not 16 anymore" my body is healing pretty quickly. I'm about to start training for a 5k at the end of January, and even though I had some doubts about myself, I know that I am gonna kick some ass.