Have you ever had surgery? What for?
Have I ever had surgery? This feels a lot like one of those questions you have to answer every time you go to the doctor. I swear that’s one of the triage questions they ask you every time. I always answer no. Although, what constitutes surgery? Being unconscious for a medical procedure where you are cut open? If that’s the case, then technically, yes, I’ve had surgery. I had my wisdom teeth removed.
This was before the “David after dentist” video went viral and everybody started posting videos of their loved ones after having their wisdom teeth out. I don’t think my video would have been worthy of millions of people viewing it and laughing at it. But I’m sure the dental associates (are they called nurses?) probably have some great stories to tell.
To be fair, I was pretty out of it and was concerned about one thing when I woke back up after they took my teeth out.
First though, when I was in the waiting room with my husband at the surgical clinic, I got called back and just went. I assumed it was just a quick thing where I would go back and have my blood pressure taken or something and then I would go back out to the waiting room. So, when they called my name, I just got up and went. I didn’t say good-bye to my husband and worst of all, I didn’t say “I love you.”
When I went back, it was go time. A few questions answered and then they were shooting me up with the good-night juice. I don’t know how long it took for them to get all four of my teeth out. At the consultation appointment before the procedure, the oral surgeon told me that because of the way the roots of my teeth were pointing—both pointing in towards each other—they were going to have to basically saw my teeth in half to pull them out. I guess if the roots were both pointing in the same direction, they could just slide them out.
However long it took, I woke up just as they were finishing. And my very first concern was that the nurse go and tell my husband that I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell him I loved him and please tell him I love him. I’m pretty sure she laughed when I said that. Or at the very least, I seem to recall she was smiling really big. I do remember that someone went and got him and she did tell him about my profession of love. I know he did laugh.
But other than that, it was a pretty tame day. We had to go to the pharmacy to pick up my fancy painkillers that sell for a high dollar on the street. At that point I was still biting down on the gauze in my mouth so Josh had to do all the talking at the pharmacy.
A few days of mushy food later and no drinking from a straw because they scared the daylights out of me with their warnings of dry socket and it being caused by drinking from a straw…and I was fine.
That was probably 10 years ago and my wisdom teeth still haven’t grown back. That was something else the internet told me could possibly happen. A word to the wise—don’t Google stuff related to a medical procedure you’re about to have. Just don’t.
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