{Life Lately} Loss of Wisdom

It’s been a week since I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth and my baby fang removed.  Recovery has been a lot slower and more painful than I had anticipated.  No medicine seems to be strong enough to reduce the pain and it’s hard to fall asleep.  So, I’m trying to tough it out in hopes that things will heal fast.  Since I have braces now, it was strongly recommended that I have my wisdom teeth removed as soon as possible.  I’m so thankful that I never have to do this again because,  if I had known it would be this intense, I don’t think that I would have agreed to do it.  Seriously.

The surgery itself went smashingly-well and I only had minimal swelling (no bruising).  The oral surgeon and his team did a fantastic job and they did everything to make me as comfortable as possible.  Although I’ve never had an IV before this, I was very picky about where I wanted it and they happily obliged.  They also gave me a fuzzy blanket and a heated rice pack to keep me extra warm and cozy.  Once they hooked me up to my iPod and the gas, it was lights out.  The surgery and recovery only took about two hours and then I was able to go home.  I woke up with no memory of the surgery itself.  Perfect.

On the way home from the surgery, we had to stop by the orthodontist to get my wire put back into my braces (I had it removed the night before the surgery).  I don’t remember the details, but it was pretty quick.  Once we got home I was wide awake and felt great for the first two days.  Keeping up on my meds, salt-water rinses and frozen packs of peas pressed against my cheeks helped keep the swelling at bay.  The third day brought the pain and it has progressively gotten worse finally plateauing yesterday.  I went to my follow-up appointment two days ago and they packed little orange strips soaked in clove oil to sooth.  The pain is incredible, but I know it will be over soon.

In the beginning, the ice cream, shakes, malts, etc. were wonderful!  Now, I’m craving real solid food.  A big salad and pizza would be nice.  I’m so hungry all of the time because a liquid diet just doesn’t seem to satisfy me.  In fact, I was so desperate for real food, that I made a pizza and licked!  Sad, right?!  I can’t chew at all, so just getting the taste of it helped.  Yesterday I went to the orthodontist to put my last bracket on the adult fang to start bringing it forward, then they gave me my bite plate.  Take about terrible!  It’s a clear plastic impression that clips on my bottom teeth to prop my mouth open.  This allows room for my adult fang to move forward and “jump” over my bottom teeth.  I have to have this on for 3-4 weeks, so that means I’m still on a liquid diet until then.  Urgh.  After the orthodontist, I immediately went to the oral surgeon to remove those clove oil strips.  It’s been a long process, but it will all be over soon.  I hope your day was great and I’ll be back soon with some more updates on our house-selling progress.