Prepoceros

It’s been two weeks since the teeth came out, and things are almost back to normal inside my mouth. I stopped taking Advil three days ago when the pain had faded enough that I could ignore it most of the time.

Now nothing hurts (except sometimes my jaw, which doesn’t quite have its whole range of motion back) ; the problem is extricating all the bits of food that get stuck in front of the bottom sockets. It’s almost the same situation I had before the teeth were taken out—this is why they came out in the first place—but whereas before it was tooth-against-tooth and I could stick a fingernail in there and scrape out the debris, now it’s tooth-against-squishy-hole, providing many more places for scraps to hide.

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The bleeding has all but stopped, but the pain is actually worse today than it was yesterday. It’s still manageable with a combination of Advil and Tylenol; I hope it eases up from here on out. My top teeth are fine, but every tooth in my jaw hurts, as though I’d just gotten a major adjustment to my braces. I guess everybody’s shifting around in there, which would also explain why my teeth don’t bite together the way they used to. Meh, no need to worry about that until I start chewing stuff again, which I think is still a few days away.

If time flies when you’re having fun, it craaaaawwwwwls when your face hurts. It’s only been 70-something hours since my teeth came out, but it feels like a week. Not that I’m having an awful time. I’m still at my parents’ house, so apart from the mysteriously slow internet connection, life’s pretty peachy. I’ll be glad to graduate to solid food, though. Today I moved on to cake and well-cooked beans, all mushed (not simultaneously) with my tongue against the roof of my mouth. Hawt.

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I slept right through the quadruple extraction, which ended up taking only thirty minutes. John came in and sat with me in the recovery room for twenty minutes, of which I remember about two. Apparently I was pretty goofy, which really makes me mad I forgot my video camera. I was totally planning to post a video like this one.

John says I lamented not bringing my camera several times, and I also repeatedly stuck my fingers up my nose while mumbling something incoherent through my gauze. He only later realized that I’d been trying to tell him I’d had a nasal cannula.

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I’m pleased to report that after five days of raising a fuss, my rogue wisdom tooth did finally settle its ass down, as I requested. While it was hurting, though, I called to move the surgery date up a bit, so they’re all coming out tomorrow. Huzzah!

Right now I don’t feel much anxiety. I’m trying not to get worked up about it, and so far that’s been pretty successful. No dizziness or nausea, at least, which is a relief. Last night I thought I felt the first wave of nausea coming on around bedtime, but after thinking a little more I realized it was probably that chai frappuccino and toffee bar I had for dinner instead.

I imagine I’ll post pictures of my chipmunk face in a few days, so look forward to those. So long, extra teeth!

Right after we got back from California I had a consultation appointment with an oral surgeon to see about getting my wisdom teeth out. Because my bottom teeth are growing in sideways and he’ll have to cut through a lot of bone, he advised me not to do it without sedation. Meh. I think I’m okay with the idea now, especially since he told me I wouldn’t have a tube down my throat and I’d only be under for 45 minutes.

I didn’t know if I’d be able to squeeze it in before the end of the summer, because I didn’t want to start law school as a chipmunk with the accompanying pain and oozing, but the insurance approval came through sooner than I expected, and I got on the schedule at the end of July.

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If you’ve been watching the news for the story of a horrific Amtrak derailment*, you can relax now. The Sunset Limited brought us home safe and sound at 5:20 this morning (ahead of schedule, for once!).

I’ve been essentially without internet for the last two weeks, so I’ll be catching up slowly. There’s too much for me to even begin to tell about the trip, at least before I unpack, but I will note that I just logged into my feed reader and found 593 posts waiting for me. I have yet to decide how many of these I’ll attempt to read.

I only got about fifty emails during that same time, only three-ish of which needed immediate attention, huzzah. I love how uncomplicated life is in the summer. If only I could be a student forever.

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* Does anyone else do this kind of thing when friends and family go on vacation? No? Just me?