What a Relief!

Well, my dental surgery #1 is over and I survived.  Even though I'm looking like old Marley the Ghost in this post-operative picture (and no, that isn't a flokati rug on my lap; it's Fresca the Wonder Dog), I feel pretty darn good.

Yesterday came way too early when I got up at 6 a.m. to take the Valium pill that the oral surgeon had prescribed to calm me down prior to the surgery.  Oh, he had also given me one to take the evening before.  Wouldn't you know, it got stuck in my throat so its effects were VERY slow in taking over.  Since my throat opening is so tiny, I often have that happen where a pill will get stuck in my windpipe and usually I just eat a small cube of bread or a cracker and that helps wash it down the rest of the way.  This time, I couldn't eat anything since I was having the surgery early the next morning so I was as stuck with the situation as the pill.

Anyway, back to the saga.  The morning of the surgery, the pill went down fine.  Hooray!  However, I had so much fear adrenalin pumping that I didn't really feel calm at all when we headed over to the surgical center.  I was NOT happy.

When the nurse called my name and we started down the hall, she asked me, "How are you doing today?"

I must have given her quite the look as I replied, "I'm terrified,"  because she said "Oooh, well let's see what we can do to help you feel better."

Pretty soon the doctor popped in along with the anesthesiologist, who looked like he had just graduated from high school.  The anesthesiologist quickly assessed the situation and, realizing that my fear of the IV insertion was the main problem, decided to put me under with the mask. Then he'd put in that IV without me having to even know what was happening.  I don't know what they gave me but he told me it would smell like markers and just to breathe in and out.  I remember asking him if I should breathe through my mouth or my nose and he said it didn't matter.  I took 2 or 3 breaths, he told me I was doing great, and then the nurse was asking me if I could stand up to transfer over to the little bed in the recovery area.  Now THAT'S how to have a tooth pulled.

I was in at 8 a.m. and out and home by 10:15.  Once home, I dutifully iced the area 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off until I went to bed.  This kept the swelling down so that I looked fairly normal by late afternoon (well, as normal as one can look without makeup and having ice-pack hair).  The Commander was a perfect nurse, taking the ice pack, bringing me a refreshed one, bringing me soda pop, and keeping track of my medicine schedule.

Speaking of meds, I've been following the schedule religiously.  I alternate Vicodin with Advil.  I restarted my antibiotic after getting some perogies down last night.  Today I'm trying to reintroduce my regular medications, being ever mindful that I don't want to get an upset stomach.

I can see that I DID have an IV but there is no pain at the site and almost no bruising.  Fantastic.  I also haven't seen any bruising on my face yet either.  Oh yes, after I was semi-coherent in the recovery room and getting my instructions from the nurse, I discovered that they didn't have to do the sinus lift.  That was good news because it meant there would be less swelling and/or bruising, amongst other things.

I've been keeping myself entertained with my iPhone, the iPad, and my Kindle and also watching lots of cable TV.  I watched several movies yesterday including one about the origins of the X-Men (I enjoyed it) and The Black Swan (I did NOT enjoy that movie).  I also started watching the episodes of Detroit 1-3-7.  It's been cancelled after one season but I'm really enjoying it.  My brother lives right outside of Detroit and I can recognize some of the landmarks.  Plus it stars one of my favorite actors, Michael Imperioli.

All in all, I had a lot of people praying for me and I think that really made a difference.  God is good!  I'm certainly not as anxious now about the second surgery but that won't be for another three months.  If any of you are facing oral surgery for implants and are like me (a big chicken), I can now tell you that it wasn't bad, especially being put to sleep before the IV.  Whew!  Now if you'll excuse me, this chicken is going to go roost in a recliner.