Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Ouch
Quite an experience today, I must say.
Not that anyone has a reason to care, but I went for my operation today. Round 1. Wisdom teeth extraction – they removed four of my wisdom teeth at one go. So yes, I’m bleeding like mad right now, and it’s rather unpleasant since I can taste only blood. Of course, it hurts, it’s thoroughly uncomfortable, but nothing I didn’t already expect.
Got up really early in the morning after a previous night of fasting. My day surgery was held in the morning at 8am. It was to be done under GA – General anesthetic, meaning that there’s an operation table involved and they put you to sleep for the duration of the op. It can be done under local anesthetic of course, but having heard about the sort of things that go on during the removal of a single wisdom tooth nearly scared the piss out of me as it were. Four would undoubtedly be a nightmare.
Anyway, it was – aside from the pain and suffering – interesting. Veterans of such operations or worse, bear with me. It was my first experience under GA. I wasn’t particularly worried at any time; in fact, on hindsight I was remarkably calm the whole morning. We hired the best specialist we could find, of course, considered to be the leading authority in his field, one of the big shot surgeons at the National Dental Centre, so I knew I was in good hands. The hospital gown felt very odd, and almost uncomfortably airy. The nurse sprayed some really horrid, bitter fluid through my nostrils and told me to swallow it through there. That was really awful, and it seemed to totally numb my throat down. I couldn’t even feel myself swallowing saliva. After a few minutes they ushered me into the operating theater.
They gave me a job (been getting a lot of those lately -_- ) and put this breathing thingie (for the lack of a better word) over my face. There were at least 5 or 6 people bustling around the room, including the unbelievably cheery surgeon. It was then when I began to feel odd. My last conscious thought was, ‘ooh, ooh, there it is! So that’s how it’s supposed to feel li…’ and the room faded away rapidly. Next thing I knew, I was on a drip and had two really bloody pieces of linen gauze in my mouth. Post anesthetic feels weird. It was like my entire lower body was numb – I took awhile to realize where I was, and I heard the nurse asking me some questions to which I vaguely mumbled affirmatives, hoping that they were the desired response. My throat felt like sandpaper, and I had to spit out quite a bit of phlegm, thickly laced with the dark crimson blood. I couldn’t really control my lower limbs properly yet, but the most unusual sensation was within my mouth itself – I couldn’t feel my lower jaw, and parts of my tongue. I was warned prior to the operation that there was a risk of this, particularly due to my lower left wisdom tooth, which, by virtue of it’s growth, was covered by an important nerve, and in order to extract it, would possibly undergo some damage, be it permanent or for a few weeks. I was really worried because I couldn’t feel anything. It’s back to normal now though, for which I am glad.
I got to keep my teeth too, and it really shocks me to think how they extracted four teeth as large, as fully developed as them – and of course, only moments later did I realize how gaping the wounds in my gums must have been. The lower left molar, which as I said was the most serious, had been shattered into four pieces. I shuddered and promised not to look into the mirror, or think about what the extraction must have been like. It helps, of course, that I can’t open my mouth more than a centimetre, and I have no desire to. I haven’t spoken a coherent word all day. My left wisdom tooth wound site hurts so much that I can barely feel the other three. Ick. And having nothing but the taste of blood all day is giving me a sore throat. I can’t swallow anything other than pure liquids – not even porridge. Argh.
Painkillers promptly knocked me out after I got home, which I was thankful for. Now I’m burning through my gauzes, just trying to prevent my mouth from being flooded with blood. Guess I’ll be sleeping over a towel the next few days. I have to go back next week to remove all the stitches. /groan.
Read finish Harry Potter. I’m not particularly a diehard fan of the series, but I’ve read it all anyway, like any decent human being who appreciates good imagination. It’s just one of the things you have to do. While the series has never struck me as one rich in uber-complex language or imagery, I appreciate the imagination that it evokes. I too, was once a child, and in many ways, still am. Only thing that bugs me is how obscenely wealthy she is, that’s all. I know other writers who seem to have done so much more research, and have a much more mature style of writing, and probably don’t even make as much as she does out of one day of sales of any one of her books. As a literature student I can’t help but feel some amount of injustice there. I guess it’s about being at the right place at the right time, and being able to appeal to a diverse crowd. It’s about the right formula.
I felt that the middle of the book got a little draggy and a tad repetitive, but the ending was pretty, well, controversial, I suppose. This book did feel a little more predictable than all the previous books in the series, though. Still, it didn’t have the same amount of angst and bitterness of the last book, which I appreciate. I really did not like that aspect. Anyway, I won’t go into spoilers, not like some people I know. /glares accusingly at Qingwei.
8 days MC minimum, at least. Worth it? Probably.
Paranoia out.
Not that anyone has a reason to care, but I went for my operation today. Round 1. Wisdom teeth extraction – they removed four of my wisdom teeth at one go. So yes, I’m bleeding like mad right now, and it’s rather unpleasant since I can taste only blood. Of course, it hurts, it’s thoroughly uncomfortable, but nothing I didn’t already expect.
Got up really early in the morning after a previous night of fasting. My day surgery was held in the morning at 8am. It was to be done under GA – General anesthetic, meaning that there’s an operation table involved and they put you to sleep for the duration of the op. It can be done under local anesthetic of course, but having heard about the sort of things that go on during the removal of a single wisdom tooth nearly scared the piss out of me as it were. Four would undoubtedly be a nightmare.
Anyway, it was – aside from the pain and suffering – interesting. Veterans of such operations or worse, bear with me. It was my first experience under GA. I wasn’t particularly worried at any time; in fact, on hindsight I was remarkably calm the whole morning. We hired the best specialist we could find, of course, considered to be the leading authority in his field, one of the big shot surgeons at the National Dental Centre, so I knew I was in good hands. The hospital gown felt very odd, and almost uncomfortably airy. The nurse sprayed some really horrid, bitter fluid through my nostrils and told me to swallow it through there. That was really awful, and it seemed to totally numb my throat down. I couldn’t even feel myself swallowing saliva. After a few minutes they ushered me into the operating theater.
They gave me a job (been getting a lot of those lately -_- ) and put this breathing thingie (for the lack of a better word) over my face. There were at least 5 or 6 people bustling around the room, including the unbelievably cheery surgeon. It was then when I began to feel odd. My last conscious thought was, ‘ooh, ooh, there it is! So that’s how it’s supposed to feel li…’ and the room faded away rapidly. Next thing I knew, I was on a drip and had two really bloody pieces of linen gauze in my mouth. Post anesthetic feels weird. It was like my entire lower body was numb – I took awhile to realize where I was, and I heard the nurse asking me some questions to which I vaguely mumbled affirmatives, hoping that they were the desired response. My throat felt like sandpaper, and I had to spit out quite a bit of phlegm, thickly laced with the dark crimson blood. I couldn’t really control my lower limbs properly yet, but the most unusual sensation was within my mouth itself – I couldn’t feel my lower jaw, and parts of my tongue. I was warned prior to the operation that there was a risk of this, particularly due to my lower left wisdom tooth, which, by virtue of it’s growth, was covered by an important nerve, and in order to extract it, would possibly undergo some damage, be it permanent or for a few weeks. I was really worried because I couldn’t feel anything. It’s back to normal now though, for which I am glad.
I got to keep my teeth too, and it really shocks me to think how they extracted four teeth as large, as fully developed as them – and of course, only moments later did I realize how gaping the wounds in my gums must have been. The lower left molar, which as I said was the most serious, had been shattered into four pieces. I shuddered and promised not to look into the mirror, or think about what the extraction must have been like. It helps, of course, that I can’t open my mouth more than a centimetre, and I have no desire to. I haven’t spoken a coherent word all day. My left wisdom tooth wound site hurts so much that I can barely feel the other three. Ick. And having nothing but the taste of blood all day is giving me a sore throat. I can’t swallow anything other than pure liquids – not even porridge. Argh.
Painkillers promptly knocked me out after I got home, which I was thankful for. Now I’m burning through my gauzes, just trying to prevent my mouth from being flooded with blood. Guess I’ll be sleeping over a towel the next few days. I have to go back next week to remove all the stitches. /groan.
Read finish Harry Potter. I’m not particularly a diehard fan of the series, but I’ve read it all anyway, like any decent human being who appreciates good imagination. It’s just one of the things you have to do. While the series has never struck me as one rich in uber-complex language or imagery, I appreciate the imagination that it evokes. I too, was once a child, and in many ways, still am. Only thing that bugs me is how obscenely wealthy she is, that’s all. I know other writers who seem to have done so much more research, and have a much more mature style of writing, and probably don’t even make as much as she does out of one day of sales of any one of her books. As a literature student I can’t help but feel some amount of injustice there. I guess it’s about being at the right place at the right time, and being able to appeal to a diverse crowd. It’s about the right formula.
I felt that the middle of the book got a little draggy and a tad repetitive, but the ending was pretty, well, controversial, I suppose. This book did feel a little more predictable than all the previous books in the series, though. Still, it didn’t have the same amount of angst and bitterness of the last book, which I appreciate. I really did not like that aspect. Anyway, I won’t go into spoilers, not like some people I know. /glares accusingly at Qingwei.
8 days MC minimum, at least. Worth it? Probably.
Paranoia out.
# posted by Paranoia Incarnate @ 5:49 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
After reading your excrutiating post, I've decided to remove my own wisdom teeth. I've hired a friend to punch me in the jaw until they fall out.
Post a Comment
<< Home
