Wisdom Teeth, Be Gone!
Today I had my wisdom teeth removed.
I know, you're thinking, "You JUST got these removed?" I feel like everyone had them removed back in high school, but I just had to be special and wait until after I turned 30. Honestly, I just didn't want to spend the money. But being that my wisdom teeth were partially impacted and coming out sideways, it was probably time. Plus every time I ate, food would get stuck in them - I was bound to get an infection. So on a day I was feeling extra adult-like, I made the appointment. Then after receiving a quote of how much it would cost, I had nightmares up until the surgery.
A bulk of the cost was for the general anesthesia. It was so costly that I was on the verge of not opting in. Instead I decided to research and ask others about their experiences. These were some of the responses I received from colleagues at work:
“When I went under, I woke up gagging and wanting to vomit.”
“I didn’t go under because it cost too much. They still have to numb you though. But my surgeon forgot to numb me on one side. When he made the first cut, I screamed like I was dying. And he said, “Oooh, guess I forgot to numb that one.””
“If you go under, there is a chance you’ll never wake up again.”
As you can see, work wasn't really giving me positive reviews on either front. I decided to branch off and ask my family about their experiences.
“Your brother went under and woke up loopy and hitting on all the nurses. I had to piggy back him out of there.”
“Stay awake. That amount of money is a trip to Paris. Or Thailand. Or anywhere. Just make sure to get pain meds. Those things are amazing. ”
I finally reached out to my cousin who had gone under a few times for her surgeries.
“Don’t be nervous. You’ll just be groggy when you wake up. Better than being awake omg. That would be terrible.”
Yes, that would be terrible. And that is when I decided to go under. The only preparation I had to do was fast for 8 hours before the surgery, which was at 8 AM the next day. Then the day came.
The nurse took me into the operation room. She honestly sounded like she was on something, but she was incredibly sweet - so not worried at all! While she was discussing her relationship about her boyfriend (he wanted to move much quicker than her but she just bought a house and wasn't ready), she set everything up so she could track my breathing, pulse, and blood pressure. While she was getting equipment setup I had fun trying to lower down my heart rate and watching the measurement on the screen.
Finally the doctor came in, "Do you have some big veins for me today?!" I did not. My veins are quite tiny but they eventually found one and stuck the IV in. Is it weird that I like that feeling? After taping the IV to my arm, they put a small oxygen mask over my nose.
I also read about various experiences of people going under. I was curious if I would end up dreaming. As I read, I learned the doctor is putting you in a light coma. Some people have experienced dreaming, while other experienced hallucinations. One could also undergo "intraoperative awareness". That is where you see the surgery being performed on yourself but are in a state of paralysis. Again, is it weird that I wanted to experience the latter?
Let's go back to the operation room. I sat back, wide awake, listening to everyone around me as they started prepping. I was wondering what crazy phenomenon I would encounter when it happened. But then suddenly the nurse came up to me and said, "Alright! Time to take you to the recovery room."
Wait. That was it? I didn't even feel myself get tired or fall asleep. I stood up, a little groggy as my cousin had stated, and my boyfriend was there. I wasn't hallucinating, he was my ride home. The nurse took us both to the recovery room to watch a tutorial. I don't remember anything about that video now that I think about it, but my boyfriend must have since he gave me step-by-step instructions of what I had to do when we got home. Before we left, I paid the bill - GAH. Thankfully I was still groggy and didn't worry so much about the price anymore.
On our way home I wore the Hannibal ice pack over my face:
Not the most sexy picture of me.
We also picked up the pain medication. This is another subject I wanted to look into as I had never taken prescribed pain medication before. Everyone I talked to wouldn't stop raving about it.
“If you have any left over, you should share.”
“Take a Vicodin. You’ll drool but it will be amazing.”
“They are addictive. Your brother refused to take them at first because he was scared he would turn into a drug addict. He finally caved when he couldn’t stand the pain anymore.”
While getting the prescription, my boyfriend also picked up some chocolate pudding, Neapolitan ice cream, and egg noodles for me (he's the best). I ate a bit at home, swished with salt water, re-applied my gauze and popped in the first pain killer. Even the bottle has a warning label saying that it is highly addictive. Since my boyfriend went to work, I decided to distract myself by watching mindless t.v. It beat thinking if I'd end up turning into a drug addict in the near future. But then the t.v broke. Not sure how that happened - maybe I was hallucinating? Either way, I went back into bed and an hour later I was feeling completely fine. I still had the numbing, throbbing pain in my mouth but I was also way more alert and awake. With the energy and focus, I decided to go through personal and work emails.
Short term effects of pain medication include feelings of euphoria, feeling calm and relaxed, and lower perception of pain. But I'm on hour 3 now and I really want to deep clean all the bathrooms in the apartment.
I suppose my recovery days may have different effects, but all in all, the procedure wasn't bad. I woke up from my coma, I highly doubt I'll be addicted to these drugs, and over my years of procrastination I've saved up enough money for the surgery. I look forward to not picking food out of the back of my mouth anymore!