I Have Lost All My Wisdom.

Teeth, that is.

Well, not really.  A itty-bitty piece is left at the lower left side.

But for the most part, all four of them are out of my mouth.  In one go.  Yes.  Ouch.

I had them done on 16 August 2014.  I had my consultation two weeks prior and I could've done it the very next week but I had an event on the 8th and the 626 Night Market for August was the weekend after that and I always go on a Friday. Friday, the 15th, was the day before my surgery so I made that trip to the 626 Night Market count like nobody's business!

My usual dentist recommended Dr. E. Carmel Pradel for the procedure.  It's always a scary time going to a new doctor but I had the best experience at their office!  They made me feel so comfortable right away and they were attentive.  Very attentive because during my consult, we got to talking about music and what I liked listening to and stuff.  Their office was playing some very relaxing Evita songs and I happened to hum along.  I mentioned how much I love Les Miserables and that certainly lightened the mood.

Come surgery day.  I wasn't that scared, to be honest.  I wanted the pain to stop and to get those teeth out.  I followed all the pre-op rules that they gave me, the meds and fluids.  Being put under is a weird feeling.  And it was fast!  They had me on laughing gas and it felt like my fingers were tingling and ballooning.  It made the IV less painful.  Then they put some headphones on me.  The music playing was... you guessed it, Les Miserables.  But I didn't get to enjoy it much.  It was like, Do you hear the people sing... aaaand I was KO'd.

The next thing I remember was waking up with my mouth swollen as if I put a whole orange in my mouth.  The nurse said that she's going to put Vaseline on my lips but I was waiting for the sensation and it did not come.  I was that numb.  I wasn't woozy or sleepy.  I felt so well-rested... with a whole orange in my mouth.  And I looked like it too.  XD

Later on, I was told that I was out for almost 3 hours.  They had a harder time working on me because I have a smaller mouth than most and they had to stretch.  Good thing I have a whole slew of lip balms and creams to help the healing process along.  I don't think I've ever had softer lips in my life until now.

But it was a miserable first couple of days.  I was in tears as I got home, in bed and iced to my eyeballs.  Literally.  There was no comfortable position at all.  I had to knock myself out with strong pain meds just so I can stop crying and sleep.  And eating?  Oh boy, I couldn't even swallow. Hungry, bleeding, miserable.  That was me for two days after the procedure.

The next two days were marginally better.  There were times when the sore throat abated then I could consume something, mostly yogurt smoothies.  Even water hurt my throat.  And I couldn't sleep because of the pain.  Cleaning my mouth was so scary so as gross as it sounds, I left it alone for 3 whole days.  I did the whole salt water rinse but every time I spit, there's blood down the drain.

On the day that I was supposed to go to work, all the pain went away.  It's as if it knew.  I was swollen as a chipmunk and I couldn't talk properly.  Not to mention, I was on baby food diet.  Soups kept me alive that first week post-op.  Now, I'm starting to eat solids.  But the thing is... I still can't open my mouth big enough for a spoon and food to go in there.  I mean, I can open my lips big enough but my teeth can't open more than a finger.  It's painful and frustrating.  It hurts to eat. Eating becomes an exhausting activity.  :(

But at least, they're out. No more wisdom teeth.  And please, people, if you need to take yours out, do it before you're 25.  Don't wait until the pain of it pushing against your other teeth wakes you up at the middle of the night.

If you're expecting pictures, you're out of luck.  I didn't take a photo of my face during my chipmunk days and as for my teeth?  Well, I don't know.  They're in pieces because the dentist had to break some of them for easier extraction.  And they're still kind of bloody.  So no, no pictures either.

Right now, I'm feeling so much better.  I can drink with a straw again but I think I'll keep up the yogurt diet.  I'm obsessed with that strawberry banana yogurt smoothie drink.  ;-)  But I miss being able to chomp down in earnest.  To chew for a whole minute without worrying about stitches.  Just a few more weeks.  Just a few more weeks...