I woke up this morning with a pretty sore mouth. You can probably figure out why by the title of this blog post, but since it's 7:15 in the morning on my spring break and I clearly have nothing better to do than tell all you lovely folks about it, I invite you to read about and enjoy my small adventure.
By the way, forgive me for any spelling or grammar errors. You have to remember that it is 7:15 in the morning and that I only got about 5 hours of sleep and I have vicodin in me (a known cause of spelling and grammar errors, as I'm sure you all know). I'll edit it when I'm finished so it shouldn't be too bad.
So, on the 27th of February, 2012, my first official day of spring break, I got up bright and early to go to the oral surgeon with my mom. When we got there, we said a little prayer in the parking lot, then went in and chilled in the waiting room for maybe ten minutes.
When the nurse took me into the surgery room, she talked to me about my schooling while all sorts of monitors were hooked up to me. She put a hair cap over my head. I wonder if she had ever touched dreads before. I found that amusing. The doctor came in and was talking to me too. I remember thinking I have to talk to these people and make sure they know I'm intelligent before they put me under and wake up mumbling incoherently. The nurse wanted me to look at her while he put a needle in my arm, which they were going to use to give me the anesthetic and whatever else they needed to inject into me. I would have been fine had I been looking at it though. It felt kind of like when I donate blood, except I'm betting the needle was smaller (I never saw it) and it hurt more. I grimaced but dealt with it. What are you gonna do? When it was all in and settled, the nurse said, "Good job. You made that look easy." Then they put a mask over my nose and said this is giving me oxygen. It felt really weird. Even though it wasn't over my mouth, I could breath this weird cold oxygen through it (my mouth). They said I was going to start to feel kind of woozy. I was like alright that's fine. At first I felt normal, then the ceiling started to spin. That was pretty much the last thing I remember.
About an hour and a half later, I woke up. I felt pretty awake at the time, and when I talked I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but looking back I don't remember much of it. The hair cap was gone. I had a bandaid on my arm where the needle was. There was a blanket on me. I was in a different room and my mom was there. I think there was an ice pack on my head. My mouth felt so full (from the swelling and gauze) but it was also really numb. My tongue felt like big intruder in my mouth, because my finger could feel it when I touched it, but my tongue couldn't feel my finger. I think it was in the car ride home when I kept sticking my finger in my mouth because I felt like the gauze was blocking my airway and it was hard to breathe.
I also really had to go to the bathroom. They asked me as soon as I woke up if I had to go. I said sort of but I can wait. A few minutes later, I didn't feel like I could wait much longer, but I held it until I got home. I remember seeing the wheelchair outside the door and asking if it was for me (more than once) but I don't really remember riding in it out to the car. I remember vaguely thinking that I probably looked really terrible to anyone who could see me as I rode out, but tried to reassure myself that they could tell I had just had surgery and that I needn't feel self-conscious.
When I got home, Mom helped me go to the bathroom (she helped me sit and stand but I did the rest by myself). Then she wanted me to take a pill. I stood in the kitchen, put the pill in my mouth, and tried to take it with water, but all the water spilled out of my mouth onto the front of my shirt and the floor. I felt bad about the mess I made but I couldn't really help it. I tried again, this time more successfully. I'm not sure if I swallowed the pill on the first try (it felt lodged in my throat), but I probably did. It just felt weird. I lied down, texted my friend, and promptly fell asleep on the couch. I dreamed about eating crunchy foods. I went in and out of consciousness, always feeling totally mentally awake when I woke up, but really I wasn't very awake at all until late afternoon when my family started coming home. I barely remember mom changing my gauze pads. I don't think she changed them more than twice, though. I didn't bleed too long.
For dinner, I had jello, tapioca pudding, and cream of mushroom soup. I couldn't open my mouth very wide (I still can't). It was hard getting a spoon in and out of my mouth, but I was hungry.
I stayed awake for the rest of the evening. I started to feel pain but nothing too terrible. I woke up at 6:00 this morning in pain though, but like I said, I've taken a vicodin, so I'm doing a little better now..
I may update later, if anything interesting happens. I realize this post was somewhat boring, but you know. Most people go on a lot more little adventures than they do big ones. This is my little adventure. Now I think I'm going to try and lay down and take a morning nap :)
God bless.
You remember pretty accurately. I'll clear up a few things...No one was in the parking lot, so no one saw you. I only changed your gauze once. That wasn't oxygen they were giving you. It was nitrous oxide (laughing gas). About your jaw not opening. This is what it was like for me for months. I remember when I could open my mouth wide enough to bite a banana without splitting it into smaller sections. I was so excited! I said, "Watch, Don!" Then I took a bite of the banana. He couldn't understand why I was so excited, but to me that was a turning point in my healing.
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