De-wisdom-ized

This chick did the right thing. Ice, rest, and gauze.

DISCLAIMER:
The views herein expressed are solely the opinion of Nina, and not any medical or proffessional directive or treatment to prevent or diagnose illness. You are at your own risk for applying the following tips.
Friday the 22nd of October was quite possibly one of the most miserable days of my life. I would say maybe #3.

During the procedure, I started to hyperventilate. I couldn't control my lungs or my breathing. I got about five novicane shots, laughing gas, and conscious sedation.  When I got out of the surgery, I almost toppled forward. I felt like I had two sucker punches straight to my jaw.

And as soon as I got home, and most of the stuff wore off, it was hell on earth for the following six hours. No position I laid in I found comfortable. The worst part was the gauze.. it felt ooey and wet and just plain out gross inside my mouth. 

So herefore I've gathered some do's and dont's for those of you that have this rite of passage in the future..

• DO get drugged as SOON as you wake up. Pop pop pop those happy pills! And hopefully they make you drowsy enough to sleep through the six hours of excruciating misery before the sedation wears off.
• DON'T lay on your cheeks. Sounds obvious, but on the car ride home I rested my face on the car seat and slept for 20 mins, and when I woke up I was swimming in a medium sized pool of blood and drool. Gross, I know.  
• DON'T take the gauze out inmediately. I did and ended up swallowing a lot of blood, which in turn made me throw up about 9 times. It was neither comfortable nor visually pleasing.
• DO put an ice pack on your face, the sooner the better. It will numb the pain and keep the swelling down, too.
• DO eat something with your pill. I survived on tapioca, jell-o, and sweet mashed potato with cream cheese and butter.
• DON'T spit or drink through a straw.
• DON'T conquer the world the 2nd day. That includes any strenuous activity- EVEN talking. I was also moving that weekend, and because vycodin gave me a sense of false security and carefree-ness, I lugged boxes to our 3rd floor apt and ate chicken. And I paid with massive throbbing headaches and sharp shooting pain in my cheeks and gums.
• DON'T sleep face down, even if doesn't hurt when you do it. Once the pill wears off, and feeling comes back, you'll be howling in the middle of the night thrashing like a blind deer with rabies searching for your next pill.
• DO brush your teeth as often as comfortable. Clean mouth equals less chance for infection, equals less agony.
• DO keep popping the happy pills as often as you need them. I'm on my 7th day, and I STILL have pain, especially when I wake up in the morning. So I'm making my transition from Vycodin to Motrin today.
• If you have an oral rinse, over the counter or prescription, DO use it. It will kill the microbes and keep your mouth clean and remove excess food when your brush can't do the job to get those hard to reach swollen places.
• DO keep putting warm cloths or bottles on your face.

For more tips and ideas of what to expect, follow the link here.

As I gather more pearls of wisdom, I will share them with my dear readers. I apologize for the lapse between blogs, but between my move and the surgery, I've been out of network for a while. Onward and forward- for Ninfamous McChimpmunk Face will not let her public down! :)

This is what all 4 of my impacted teeth looked like. If yours are also impacted, and growing in crooked, you may be next!