My thoughts

05/18/07

I went to the dentist today to get my last remaining wisdom teeth removed. I had to get my first teeth done last year. That was an emergency procedure because my bottom right one blew up and they had to remove it before the infection spread. That time they had to put me to sleep.

This time was different because I chose to have my two remaining teeth removed. I figured it is better to be safe than sorry, to get them removed before something happened to them. Considering my mouth was starting to get sore and my gums were starting to bleed, I think this was a wise decision.

I arrived on time and had to wait about 10 minutes until I was called. I amused myself by reading a couple of recent Sports Illustrated magazines. When they called me they sat me in a chair and left me waiting for a few more minutes. Then the surgeon came in and injected my gums with some sort of numbing solution. The injections themselves hurt. The last one in particular was painful. He said that would be the last pain I experienced. He was right.

After he injected me, he told me to shut my mouth and lie there for several minutes. Then he left. As I lay there my mouth and tongue went numb. I found myself drifting off as well. I remember hearing sounds throughout the building. I remember hearing a nurse telling a young woman who was before me time and time again to wake up. She must have told that young woman to wake up at least 10 times. I heard the nurse and the girl's parents discussing that she would need to be rolled out to her car in a wheel chair.

Anyway, the doctor came in again and with a nurse he got started. I was afraid that there still would be pain. There wasn't. He poked, prodded and pulled in my mouth for several minutes. Then the nurse told me it was all done. I was shocked.

Now I sit here writing this with my mouth full of blood, biting on a gauze to try and control the bleeding. They say I can eat soup and that I should eat something. Except how am I going to eat anything with my mouth full of blood? They also gave me pills for the pain and right now my mouth doesn't hurt that much. So far the biggest irritation except for the blood in my mouth was waiting for the pharmacist to get my insurance information.

We shall see how it pans out.