I’d made this far in life without ever needing to get stitches, so I was pretty bummed to hear that getting my wisdom teeth out would result in some.
Feeling my dentist sew up my gums was definitely one of the weirdest parts of the whole process. I could feel the cold needle inside my mouth, but nothing else. It probably wasn’t quite as disturbing as the numerous crunching sounds that emerged over the hour I spent in the chair as they drilled, cut, and yanked at my stubborn teeth.
As he promised, there was no pain during the extraction. Hallelujah! I closed my eyes and tried to play relaxing songs in my mind. They rubbed on a numbing gel, waited for it to kick in, then I felt the prick of the injection as they gave me my anaesthetic (which was slightly painful, but once that was done I was totally oblivious).
There WAS a lot of pressure and tugging, and strain in keeping my yob stretched open for all that time (I have a small mouth and I could tell it made his job difficult). It was also very hard to resist the urge to swallow, and I kept swallowing every few minutes – I just couldn’t help myself. I know the chemicals they use are safe, but I am totally grossed out to think about how much of my own blood I probably swallowed.
Because there was a TON of blood. I bled for hours after and went through all the gauze they gave me. Even weirder, I bled a bit out another (female) body part for a few days afterward – am wondering if it was the drugs I was taking afterwards. The antibiotics didn’t taste bad going, but the codeine was foul. The afterpain wasn’t as bad as I’d worried … Maybe I was lucky, but I really can’t stress how much less worse it was than I’d feared it would be. The way it seemed to go was that I’d have a couple of really good days, then the pain would flare up a little, then leave me alone for another couple of days.
No, the hardest part was the eating restrictions. I was basically hungry all week because I could only eat soft foods and couldn’t really chew. I burn through food fast and have a large appetite, so this was TOTALLY UNCOOL.
It’s one week on, and I’ve heard that some people are in pain for a full month after – but I just had my stitches taken out, and today’s the first day I didn’t take any painkillers at all. So fingers crossed that won’t be me!
This week’s links
Perplexing, infuriating and unforgettable – Adventurous Kate recounts her time in Brunei
I love every single sentence in this post about work and fulfilment. Go and read it immediately
Meanwhile, the comments on this one aboutpassion and long term relationships are fascinating (better than the post)
Stefanie reminds us that making progress is always a slow slog
Leslie on why having goals can hurt you
Over at Budget and the Beach, the cost of living in paradise (aka Hawaii)
I couldn’t agree more with Figuring Money Out – put yourself first, because no one else will
Here is an interesting discussion about crafting your career narrative (the subject of an upcoming post here…)
Savings means nothing – it’s investing that matters, says Afford Anything
As Cash Cow Couple point out, you can determine how much value you place on something by how much time you allocate toward it
And I was in the latest carnival of personal finance discussing the business of car sales
