Another Surgery: My Wisdom Teeth

I finally got my wisdom teeth out.

Literally, I have dreaded this day for years---actually about 10 years to be more accurate.

I don't like surgery, and I have heard so many horror stories about wisdom teeth that I would almost rather have another knee surgery before I would like to have my wisdom teeth out. I've had my tonsils out, too, and that was horrible. I really was praying I never had to get my wisdom teeth out. Emily didn't have wisdom teeth, and I was hoping I got those genes, but I didn't.

Anyways, some things came up, and I needed to get my wisdom teeth out. Dang it.

I decided to wait until the end of the semester before getting them out. Sure enough, right after the semester ended, I headed home. I arrived in Idaho around 10:00, and my surgery was scheduled the next morning. 

I have also heard SO MANY STORIES of people saying crazy things when they wake up. I WAS SO PUMPED FOR THIS, almost as pumped as Sarah was. Sarah even took school off, and I taught her how to film movies with my camera so that we wouldn't miss any part of me being crazy. I wanted to see it all.

We arrived at the doctor's office, and since I was in Provo until then, I had my consultation at this time, too. The doctor read to me all of the risks with surgery, and I had to sign a waiver. He also asked if I tanned easily. I told him that I did, and he reassured me that people who tan easily don't swell as much. I wasn't really worried about the swelling, anyways.

I was all ready to go!

They took me back into the operating room not too long after that. They started hooking me up to all the machines. They put the three sticky pads on my chest to monitor my heart and breathing, the clamp thing on my finger, and the blood pressure cuff on my left arm. The nurse turned on the machine, and the beeping started, as well as the consistent checking of my blood pressure. 

It was the most eery feeling. It was so weird to be back in that situation. It was an instant flashback to being in the hospital waking up from surgery. I can't even put into words how weird that felt. I almost had a panic attack. I just wanted the beeping to stop. I just tried to calm myself down. My heart was racing, and I literally thought I was going to die. My mind has been conditioned to pair those sounds and feelings to bad memories.

After waiting about ten minutes, the doctor came in, and it was time for the surgery! The nurse reassured me that I wouldn't feel the IV. She said they had some numbing spray that would make it so I couldn't feel it at all. I though, "Oh sure. That's what they all say, but I can always feel it". The doctor did spray something on my arm that made it feel really cold. I barely felt the IV being put in. However, this time I could actually feel the medication being put into my bloodstream. It stung. I had never felt that sting before. They tied my arms down, and started pulling my head back when the nurse told the other nurse to stop because I was still awake. Hahaha! I am really good at fighting off the medication, so I finally decided I should go to sleep now, so I closed my eyes.

Next thing I knew, the nurses were moving my arms a little bit trying to wake me up. My mouth was full of gauze, and the gauze was pushing on the spot I had just had surgery on. It was hurting, and I wanted them out. I asked the nurse if I was bleeding a lot. She said no, so I asked her if I could take out my gauze. She told me that I could. My entire mouth was numb. I HATE THAT FEELING. I couldn't talk very well, but I could talk.

They handed me my wisdom teeth because I had asked to keep them. I know you have all been wanting to see them! I am only holding two because they had to break the other two.

  

  

Now, I know everyone was dying to watch the video of me being crazy. I mean, I was dying to see it, too! But, I wasn't ever crazy. I know, I know. It is such a let down. The one time in my life it was okay to be crazy, and I wasn't crazy!

The nurse asked me if I was ready to go, and I told her that I was. She helped me up and helped me out to my car. Sarah was very anxious to see what I was going to say. Once she realized that I really was aware of my surroundings and not going crazy, she was so mad. Sarah just looked at me and said, "Can you please just act crazy?!?"

My Mom took me to Carl's Jr. (aka MY FAVORITE PLACE. Carl's will cater my wedding) to get a Sea Salt Caramel Milkshake. I was getting really frustrated because I couldn't taste it, nor could I even tell if I was getting it in my mouth! So, I gave up, put it down, and went to sleep. I conked out.

Instead of an embarrassing video, Sarah got this embarrassing photo. You're welcome.

Anyways, by the time I woke up, my tongue had regained feeling, so I finished my milkshake. It was delicious. We pulled in, and sure my mouth hurt, but I was fine! I hopped out of the car and asked Sarah to take a picture of me so I can see my cheeks! My mom said that the nurse had said I would feel loopy and fall over, so Sarah was suppose to help me. I told my mom I was fine, and she said the nurse had also warned her that is what I would say. People. I really was fine. I wasn't going to fall over! I walked around, sat at the kitchen table, edited some photos, and even finished Sarah's milkshake!

       

Now, I opted to not take any pain medication. The side effects I get from having pain medication are far worse than just dealing with the pain. When I tried telling my doctor I didn't want them, he said he had only had one patient ever say that to him, and they ended up passing out. Obviously, I hadn't been his patient before. Whenever someone brings up pain medication, I almost start bawling because I remember how horrendous and excruciating it was last time, and I don't ever want to go through that again. I have the same response to that as I do to the machines in the operating room. I would probably fight someone who tried to get me to take the pain medication. I am not even kidding. My doctor insisted that my mom fill the prescription, so she did. My Mom even offered it to me a few times. NO, people. I AM NOT TAKING IT. 

I never did take pain medication, nor did I faint.

We took photos of my cheeks for a couple days just to see the difference.

Day 1:




Day 2:





Day 3:




Day 4:

I would be lying if I said this surgery was easy or that it didn't hurt. This surgery was horrible. The recovery has been not fun, and it has been rather painful. 

I was on a liquid diet for a few days, just like everyone else. I wasn't very hungry anymore, so I didn't eat very much. I felt like crap, and my entire mouth hurt. My entire lower jaw and gums were numb, and my teeth were tingling incessantly. It hurt so bad! I would get shooting pains in my teeth that were excruciating, and there was nothing I could do about it. I would wake up each morning hoping and praying to feel some improvement, yet I wouldn't. Even waking up four days after surgery, I was feeling the same way I did when I woke up from the surgery except this time I could feel my tongue. I was becoming very distraught because I was sick of not being able to eat anything AND not seeing any improvements at all. Finally Sunday night I started to see improvements. They were small, but finally! I was feeling a little better. I started trying hard foods, and it took a while to chew something, and I couldn't ever taste anything, but at least I could eat.

I had my check-up Monday afternoon, and he said everything looked good, except it made him nervous that I still had no feeling in my chin or lower gums, and my teeth still tingled. Sure enough, I was that "1 in every 1000 or so cases". I had nerve damage. I can't feel my chin AT ALL, and my gums are completely numb still {even still today!} and my teeth tingle. It hurts so bad. Slowly, I am becoming use to the tingling and numbness, and maybe eventually I will become completely accustomed to it.

Last week, I was finally feeling pretty normal, and was even starting to eat all solid foods. Then, last Thursday, I had a turn for the worse. I was at work when I accepted a challenge to eat 13 bags of fruit snacks in 20 minutes or less. {I ate all 13 bags in 14 minutes and 1 second for everyone who was wondering.} While I was eating them, a fruit snack went to the back of my mouth and I bit down right when it was over the spot my wisdom teeth had been. It hurt really bad! As the day went on, it started hurting more and more and more, to the point where I didn't want to move my mouth. My gums swelled so much that they were swelling over my teeth, and I couldn't even close my mouth. It was hurting SO BAD! I went to a baseball game, out to dinner, and hot tubbing with my friend, Alissa. By the time I was getting into bed, the pain was excruciating. I looked in the mirror, and I had a giant blood blister right where my wisdom tooth had been.

Even though the quality is horrible, you can see the
maroon spot that was the blood blister.

Super gross photo, sorry, but you can see the blood blister in the back left right night to my cheek. It's just a maroon color.

I thought I had an infection and that I would be needing another surgery. I started bawling. At this point, I was so frustrated. I just wanted to be better. I was nearly four hours away from my doctor. Emily and Joe were gone, and Roger was a half hour away and nearly asleep. I felt so helpless. I was sick of having everything that could go wrong, go wrong. I just wanted something to be normal for me. For the first time, I wanted a surgery to go my way. I had been trying so hard to avoid an infection, and I had failed. I had been getting to bed pretty early, eating healthy, and still doing the mouthwash I was given.

I got a hold of my parents, who I am pretty sure were both asleep. My mom told me to go to sleep, and I would be fine. I climbed into bed with tears streaming down my face. I laid down on my pillow just praying that I didn't have an infection. Eventually, I fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning in the same position I had fallen asleep in. My cheek felt swollen and in pain, but my gums weren't as swollen. I got out of bed, checked it in the mirror, and right as I looked in the mirror, the blood blister bursted. It continued to bleed throughout the day, but so far, there is no infection.

WHAT A BLESSING!

I am not quite out of the woods yet, though. I still hurt a lot, and I am still on a soft foods/liquid diet. It bleeds every once in a while, and it swells, too. I look forward to the day that I am 100%, but I am not going to complain. I don't have an infection!

The healing process is taking longer than I wanted, and I am glad I don't ever have to do this again, but I am beyond thankful I don't have an infection. Let's just pray that I won't ever get an infection.

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That was originally the end of my blog post. I had finished writing it at work last Tuesday, May 12, 2014. I finished it while I was at work around 4:30. I was planning on coming home at 5 to upload the photos to the post and then publish it.

In fact, I was still relishing in the overwhelming sense I had of being blessed because I didn't have an infection. I had been so completely scared out of my mind when I had the first scare with the blood blister. I literally had no idea what I was going to do. I felt so stuck.

Little did I know that little experience really was a blessing in disguise. A spiritual fire drill of sorts.

Literally, I just cried reading through what I had written and ready to post just a few days ago. I really had no idea.

I arrived back at my apartment around 5:15 Tuesday and made a little dinner. I had a photo class that night at 6:30, so I was brushing my teeth as I got ready for it. As I was brushing, I hit the back of my mouth, right where the blood blister had been. I was afraid I had reopened the wound and that it would start bleeding again. I opened my mouth and looked at it in the mirror, and I didn't see blood, but it looked like it might start bleeding. I pinched my cheek to see if blood would come out. Just as I did that, a ton of puss came out instead of blood.

This was it. I had an infection.

I remained rather calm, and decided to take a video of it and send it to my mom so that she could just see that I really did have an infection this time.

She told me to call my doctor.

I called him and told him what was going on. He said, "Well, miss, when do you plan on coming back to Idaho?" I told him I wasn't planning on it for a long time, but if I needed to, I could come right then. He told me I needed to meet with an oral surgeon immediately.

My mom called him and worked everything out. She called me back to inform me that I would be heading home at 8 the next morning and going immediately to meet with my doctor.

I went to my photo class, came home and packed a bag, then just got into bed.

I didn't cry a single tear. I was calm and composed. Going though the "fire drill" already had prepared me for the real moment so that when it came, I would already know what to do. I wouldn't panic as much.

I headed back to Idaho right at 8 in the morning. I had quite the trip back, too, but I finally reached Blackfoot. I got into my Mom's car, and we drove straight to my doctor's office.

We arrived there, and I sat in the main office waiting for him to get back from lunch. They took me back into the check-up rooms, and he came in, asked a few questions, then he, too, squeezed me cheek. "Well, kiddo. This isn't looking very good." I started choking on the puss as it began to run down my throat. Yuck!

I had a staphylococcal enteritis infection

He had me spit in to a cup, then he told me I needed an x-ray to see if we could find why I was having this infection. He was baffled because I was doing everything right, yet I still had this dang infection.

We moved rooms so that we could see the x-ray. Sure enough, everything looked fine. I was thinking this was a good sign! Then he looked at me and said, "Well, we are going to have to go back in and clean it out."

That was what I was expecting to happen anyways, so I had already accepted I would be having another surgery. I just thought I would go home and come back the next day for the surgery. I had just eaten lunch, so they would have to wait to put me to sleep anyways.

What I wasn't prepared for was when we stood up and said, "Alright, come with me!" I wasn't coming for surgery the next day. I was having it right then. He also told me I would be kept awake.

THIS IS MY BIGGEST NIGHTMARE.

I didn't want to be awake. What if I felt it? I didn't want to hear and see everything! I just wanted to be asleep for it. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease. When he told me that, my heart sank. I had to look away so that no one would see the tears welling up in my eyes. This was by far the worst news so far. There was no fighting it. I was going to have to be brave and do this all over again.

 I followed him back to the operating room. Once again, I got all hooked up to the machines. The nurse and doctor kept telling me to relax because my heart was racing. No matter what they said or how much they tried to get my mind off of it, nothing worked. My hands were clenched around the arms of the chair so tightly. I couldn't feel my hands, and they weer completely white. My entire body was shaking.

The entire procedure was awful. Don't get me wrong, the doctor was awesome. He did a great job! But I was horrified. I heard all of the machines they used. I felt the pressure from everything. I saw the blood and puss being sucked through a tube out of my mouth. I felt the tugging of the stitches. I felt and saw it all! Except, I didn't feel the pain.

That is something I don't ever want to experience again.

When we were all finished, my heart rate immediately dropped from 112 to 91. Haha!

My doctor walked me straight out to my mom. I was still all numb, so I wasn't feeling to bad yet. I was still shaking from head to toe from being so nervous. I walked with my mom out to the car, and she needed to run some errands. About 30 minutes later, the numbing medication wore off, and the pain started coming. It was excruciating.

I needed to sit down.

The rest of the night was really difficult. I couldn't talk, I couldn't eat, and I even contemplated taking a pain pill because it was so bad. I climbed right into bed, and I didn't move very much. Brooke and Hannah were really good about keeping me company.

  



I hugged the girls goodnight, and they went to bed. I didn't get to see them very long before they headed off to school the next morning. At this point, I was expecting to see them when they got home from school.

When I woke up, I still wasn't feeling good, so I was just gonna stay in Blackfoot for a while. I knew I needed to get back as soon as I could because my job was starting to get hectic, and I needed to be there to help. {Yes, I got a new job, and I will blog about it very soon!}

After about an hour of being awake and walking around, I was feeling a thousand times better---enough to go home. I rode the shuttle home, so that's how I was getting back, too. We hurried and got my ticket to head back to Provo. I was leaving at noon to get back.

I wasn't able to say goodbye to anyone except my mom and my dad. On my ride back, my mom posted this photo on Facebook, along with this message: Alice, you better come back! Hannah went outside to cry after she learned you left while she was at school. Brooke is trying to console her... Not working!!!



 I made it back to Provo at 6. I ran a few quick errands, then got into bed. My doctor told me that I needed to get my rest or my infection would come back. I DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN! So, I have been going to bed really early.

The first night was really rough. I kept waking up coughing for some reason. I am not even sick!

But, I am now three days out of surgery, and I am feeling fantastic. I hurt a little bit, but I feel so much better.

I am ready to be done with this, but I will finish this experience when I have learned the lessons I need to learn from it.

That's the entire reason why we have trials---to learn, to grow, and to become better.

I just pray I am doing what I need to be doing to get to where I need to get.

But for now, no more infections and no more surgeries.