Morning After

I am so hugely grateful that I spent a virtually pain free night and now a pain free morning after having two teeth, one a molar pulled from my head. I was worried that I would be visited by thrashing pain during the evening and over night when the last of the analgesics used by the oral surgeon wore off but nothing really, nothing like I thought I would experience.

Yesterday morning Dianne and I rolled into oral surgeon's office just a few minutes before my scheduled appointment. We had to do the whole check in thing like medication lists, history, and the exchange of filthy lucre and the wait. The office is a fairly new building upscale with lots of nice furniture and glass windows, huge windows with gorgeous views of the Wasatch Range and Salt Lake valley. I always try to project myself into what different seasons look like through such windows especially the summer or winter storms.

There seemed to be a bit of chaos since my Dentist had not sent over my film for the OS to look at—this kind of really surprised me since my doc is usually pretty good about that kind of stuff. Of course my dentist did not have the images he took of my teeth last week digitally so his reception ran and got them. Luckily my dentist's building is just half a block of the surgeons. The images were less then helpful so he decided to get some more done with his machine which coolly orbits the head—well sort of cool if you can stand and since I cannot we tried to get it work with my wheelchair. Dianne took off the head rest and this sort of worked. We were able to get imaging done enough to please the doctor—who looked at the root work and seemed pleased.

I was pleased that the doc said he would be able to do the work from my power-chair with the seat reclined. Being able to not have to transfer to the dental chair from my wheelchair is such a gift especially after the procedure when I am a total goose. I chose to have them them knock me out. I was feeling a little guilty for doing so. Maybe I was missing something by choosing not to be conscience during the extraction, or maybe this choice revealed my more cowardly side but didn't matter now because the nurse had just hooked me up to drip and I was going under—no turning back now.

It's so strange to feel the analgesics take effect and wonder when they will start the operation and then realize you're in recovery and it over the whole thing is done and you're still alive and life is moving forward. The office gives you a printed document on how to survive hours/days following extraction. No sucking. Smoking, eating anything you like for at least three days, no mouthwash for at least three weeks and no working out! He write me two prescriptions one heavy duty painkiller and one for antibacterial and then it was time to wait, wait for the analgesics to wear and see how miserable I was going to be. I wasn't and have not been. I was in no distress at all before going to bed.

I did not sleep well, I was terrified I would wake in the night engulfed in unspeakable pain but the pain never came and I managed to get some sleep for I am feeling great right now. I did note a little discomfort around the extraction sites but was not oral pain and that pain only came when I held my mouth a certain way. I'm good I'm about twenty -eight hours post surgery and I feel great, bleeding nearly stopped and relieved to have this behind me. I want to extend special love and thanks to Dianne who drove me two and from the doctor's office and also was able to sit with me through the surgery to hold my legs down when they spasm, and they did through the event.

I have probably have three of four more trips to my regular dentist's office to clean up a bunch a cavities which surfaced during the initial examination but I think those will be cake compared to yesterday. I am so relieved.