S
sailor
Junior member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2009
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- wine county, CA
Hi, board members! I know this is my first post, but even if you don't know me, you should know that you've helped me so much.
I've known that I should get my wisdom teeth removed since I got my braces off two years ago. My dentist said it wasn't imperative at the time -- I was only seventeen -- but by my visit last July, he started stressing the importance of it. We finally set a date for December 17, right after my finals.
It started to feel very REAL during Thanksgiving break. I'd never had a surgery before, and I'm extremely needle-phobic, so I was building it up to be this huge horrible thing in my head! In the two and a half weeks I had left at school before I returned home for the surgery, I cried nightly over it. My boyfriend, my housemates, and all of my friends would constantly tell me that it wasn't so bad. They'd try to comfort and reassure me, but nothing was taking.
The night before the extraction, I couldn't sleep at all! I was up until sunrise reading horror stories online -- it's not that I was consciously looking for them, but even when I googled ideas for food after wisdom teeth removal, all anyone wanted to talk about was the horrible experience they had. I was absolutely terrified.
Then, I found this forum!
I started by reading stories of people who were just as scared as I was to have their wisdom teeth removed, and I cried right along with them. But all of the replies were so sweet and encouraging, I soon found that I was crying from happiness. After reading many success stories telling me how relieved I'd be after the procedure, I finally managed to fall asleep.
So, here's my story!
My mom took me to the oral surgeon first thing in the morning, and I was running on only a couple hours of sleep. This is the surgeon who's done multiple procedures on my stepdad and stepsister, but I'd never met him. The sweetest nurse took me to get some x-rays done, considering my other ones were two years old. We found out that all four of my teeth were impacted -- a word which immediately struck fear in my heart, but the surgeon assured me that it was no big deal.
They left and said they'd come get me when the room was ready. My mom and I sat for ten minutes, and as each second ticked by, my anxiety increased. I was finding it hard to talk to her because I didn't want to break down crying -- I knew it'd be even harder to get me into the chair if I started freaking out now.
She got up to go to the restroom, and sure enough as soon as she left, the nurse came in to take me to the room. I was reluctant to go without my mom, who said she'd sit with me until I was put under, but I went anyway. (She did end up coming into the room, but I assured her I was fine. Had to put on that brave face!)
The nurse, surgeon and I were joking around -- I'm an improvisational comedian, and humor is definitely my defense mechanism of choice! I mentioned my terrible needle phobia, and my nurse was like, "Check this out!" She sprayed something on my hand that dried and numbed instantly, then asked if I'd like it if she put that on my arm before they inserted the IV. I told her, enthusiastically: YES!
I got nitrous oxide for the first time while they were prepping all the tools. It didn't have much of an effect on me -- I mostly continued joking around and asking questions about their kids, although eventually all of our voices did start to get echo-y. Apparently they inserted the IV, but I had no idea because of the nice numbing spray! The surgeon smiled and asked if I was ready. "Aye aye, captain," I said.
The next thing I knew, I woke up under a blanket in the recovery room. The sweet nurse was smiling at me. "Sorry, sleepyhead, but you've got to wake up now!" I laid there for a while more while she and my mom talked, but I couldn't tell you anything they said. My mom drove the car around to the special patient exit, and the nurse and surgeon helped me out. "It feels like I have dinosaur teeth," I managed to tell them as I got into the car. "You guys were awesome!" They laughed, which made me laugh even harder.
According to my mom, I spent most of the drive poking my numb lower lip and laughing hysterically. She gave me a notebook to write down my thoughts while she got my medicine, which ended up being fun to read later.
I got home, ate some pudding (which was fun with a numb mouth), immediately popped my pain pills and watched The Devil Wears Prada. My family was surprised at how perky and awake I was, though once I did eventually get a nap in, it was the best nap ever.
Recovery has been pretty smooth -- I'm not terribly swollen, though my cheekbones are bruised. I'm gumming food pretty well now, and the only real issue I've had is nausea from not having enough food in me when I took my Vicodin last night.
I just wanted to thank everyone for reassuring me that it would be okay, even if you weren't speaking to me directly, and even if I didn't believe it! Now I know the truth: this procedure is a piece of cake, especially when you have such an amazing community backing you up.
I've known that I should get my wisdom teeth removed since I got my braces off two years ago. My dentist said it wasn't imperative at the time -- I was only seventeen -- but by my visit last July, he started stressing the importance of it. We finally set a date for December 17, right after my finals.
It started to feel very REAL during Thanksgiving break. I'd never had a surgery before, and I'm extremely needle-phobic, so I was building it up to be this huge horrible thing in my head! In the two and a half weeks I had left at school before I returned home for the surgery, I cried nightly over it. My boyfriend, my housemates, and all of my friends would constantly tell me that it wasn't so bad. They'd try to comfort and reassure me, but nothing was taking.
The night before the extraction, I couldn't sleep at all! I was up until sunrise reading horror stories online -- it's not that I was consciously looking for them, but even when I googled ideas for food after wisdom teeth removal, all anyone wanted to talk about was the horrible experience they had. I was absolutely terrified.
Then, I found this forum!
I started by reading stories of people who were just as scared as I was to have their wisdom teeth removed, and I cried right along with them. But all of the replies were so sweet and encouraging, I soon found that I was crying from happiness. After reading many success stories telling me how relieved I'd be after the procedure, I finally managed to fall asleep.
So, here's my story!
My mom took me to the oral surgeon first thing in the morning, and I was running on only a couple hours of sleep. This is the surgeon who's done multiple procedures on my stepdad and stepsister, but I'd never met him. The sweetest nurse took me to get some x-rays done, considering my other ones were two years old. We found out that all four of my teeth were impacted -- a word which immediately struck fear in my heart, but the surgeon assured me that it was no big deal.
They left and said they'd come get me when the room was ready. My mom and I sat for ten minutes, and as each second ticked by, my anxiety increased. I was finding it hard to talk to her because I didn't want to break down crying -- I knew it'd be even harder to get me into the chair if I started freaking out now.
She got up to go to the restroom, and sure enough as soon as she left, the nurse came in to take me to the room. I was reluctant to go without my mom, who said she'd sit with me until I was put under, but I went anyway. (She did end up coming into the room, but I assured her I was fine. Had to put on that brave face!)
The nurse, surgeon and I were joking around -- I'm an improvisational comedian, and humor is definitely my defense mechanism of choice! I mentioned my terrible needle phobia, and my nurse was like, "Check this out!" She sprayed something on my hand that dried and numbed instantly, then asked if I'd like it if she put that on my arm before they inserted the IV. I told her, enthusiastically: YES!
I got nitrous oxide for the first time while they were prepping all the tools. It didn't have much of an effect on me -- I mostly continued joking around and asking questions about their kids, although eventually all of our voices did start to get echo-y. Apparently they inserted the IV, but I had no idea because of the nice numbing spray! The surgeon smiled and asked if I was ready. "Aye aye, captain," I said.
The next thing I knew, I woke up under a blanket in the recovery room. The sweet nurse was smiling at me. "Sorry, sleepyhead, but you've got to wake up now!" I laid there for a while more while she and my mom talked, but I couldn't tell you anything they said. My mom drove the car around to the special patient exit, and the nurse and surgeon helped me out. "It feels like I have dinosaur teeth," I managed to tell them as I got into the car. "You guys were awesome!" They laughed, which made me laugh even harder.
According to my mom, I spent most of the drive poking my numb lower lip and laughing hysterically. She gave me a notebook to write down my thoughts while she got my medicine, which ended up being fun to read later.
I got home, ate some pudding (which was fun with a numb mouth), immediately popped my pain pills and watched The Devil Wears Prada. My family was surprised at how perky and awake I was, though once I did eventually get a nap in, it was the best nap ever.
Recovery has been pretty smooth -- I'm not terribly swollen, though my cheekbones are bruised. I'm gumming food pretty well now, and the only real issue I've had is nausea from not having enough food in me when I took my Vicodin last night.
I just wanted to thank everyone for reassuring me that it would be okay, even if you weren't speaking to me directly, and even if I didn't believe it! Now I know the truth: this procedure is a piece of cake, especially when you have such an amazing community backing you up.
