Well, here I am writing a log with four new holes just four days old in my mouth where my wisdoms used to be. It’s something different, I’ll say that much. Had the procedure done on wednesday; decided that I had enough money to get all four removed at once, so I did. The aching left wisdoms on monday helped in that decision.
Don’t remember much from the procedure; remember being beside-myself nervous before, and the slight freaking out when I first felt the sedative take hold, but after a few seconds I just didn’t care anymore. I vaguely remember at least two of the pulls. Vaguely remember the oral surgeon using a drill or something similar on a right wisdom, but I don’t know which. I remember stirring after a pull, grabbing my pen from my pocket and scribbling on my hand what i knew read “KEEP TEETH”, and I remember the doc and his assistant saying, “Woah, what’s he doin’? Heh.” and “It’s ok, Michael, just relax, we’re almost done.” I remember coming around after the procedure while the assistant was cramming more gauze into my new holes, and remember looking at my hand to verify that I wrote correctly only to discover I gained a new language resembling sanskrit during the procedure. My requesting effort was fruitless: the teeth had already been placed in the biohazard bin.
After filling my prescription for hydrocodone and (oddly) amitryptaline (an antidepressive drug sometimes used for pain), I went home, changed the gauze, took my drugs, and proceeded to crash out for the rest of the day and night, waking up to redose and change gauze. Around 8am the next morning I knew I wasn’t able to work that day, so I called in. Slept and lazed around. Attempted to eat some yogurt and drink a meal-substitute shake. Still weak, I got a call from work asking for help in setting up a job, so I volunteered to go in, helped set it up, then left and got some mashed potatoes and mac & cheese from KFC on my way home. Rented “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” and “Napoleon Dynamite” (why haven’t you watched these yet?). Watched “Harold and Kumar…”, laughed a lot, and went to bed.
Worked friday, still kinda weak and undernourished, and in pain but in decent spirits. Stayed home that night, watched “Napoleon Dynamite”, looked up historic photos of Austin roadways. That’s pretty much it.
Saturday started well, then continued into the foul. Dunno what happened, just got angry, depressed, mad at myself, etcetera. I had made plans to go to Eeyore’s Birthday and to my friends Ed and Mel’s baby shower, but both were scrapped. I just wasn’t worth a damn to myself or anyone on Saturday afternoon, so I did nothing. Sorry, guys. After some research it occurred to me that the small 3-pill prescription I had for amitryptaline (remember, it’s a psychiatry drug) could’ve been to blame.
With not much food and growing weaker by nightfall, I cleaned myself up, went out and had a decent meal, the first where I had actual hard food, then after the nourishment I felt fine enough to go to Spiderhouse for some tea and maybe some company. The chatter was light and I didn’t stay long, but it helped lift my mood. Went home and decided that the disarray on my desk and around my room just wouldn’t cut it, so I pulled out a sack and started sorting the bad piles into trash and good piles. Now that the desk is clean, the room is clean. Lit a votive lantern and nodded off to sleep.
Today, woke up at 9:30am to the pain in my upper teeth. The 6 fillings are still bothering me; I’m still living on tylenol. So it’s my alarm clock. After some breakfast (which required chewing), the pain numbed itself down and I was in better spirits. Chatted online, then got dressed, grabbed my bike, and rode off for the day to get some lunch and tea. Late afternoon I left the coffeeshop and rode to Cheapo’s, picked up the new Garbage album (which is good), and my bike and I caught the bus home where I still remain.
Tomorrow I return to work; so far, it’s shaping up to be an uneventful workweek. No dentist appointments. No having to cut out early. Hopefully my holes will grow closed soon; the clots are still there and it appears the gums are closing in underneath. Hopefully my molars will stop hurting soon as I get accustomed to eating harder, chewier food (believe me, if you don’t give your teeth a workout, they’ll let you down). Hopefully I can get my life back to normal soon. My biggest hope is that this season of dental despair is over.