Oral Surgery

I am home from surgery and doing well. I received a phone call at about nine a.m. asking me to move my appointment from 2 p.m. to 11 a.m. due to the doctor being quite booked up. I jumped at going in early because that would mean I was recouping much faster at home. So I went in at 11 and it was quickly time for me to be in the dental chair. The dentist and I decided to go with a combo of Nitrous Oxide and Novocaine. So the assistant put me in the nose mask for the Laughing gas and I begin what I thought was steady breathing as she talk to me a bit about the post care and what I should expect. The doctor came in and asked how things were progressing but honestly I didn't feel any different. He looked at the machine regulating everything, turn the knob up on machines for flow and told me to take three really deep breaths. At the end of that I could feel a big difference. He told me I could say if it was too strong but I could also control it myself by focusing on the depth of my breath intake. He applied the Novocaine and want it to take effect. So he left for a few minutes which by that time seemed like an hour for me.

I was feeling like I had lifted out of my seat and was floating over the chair somewhere. I remember looking at the assistant who had stayed with me the whole time thinking, Man she has had to sit there and just watch to make sure I was doing alright this whole time, that would be a boring job from my perspective, then I thought maybe she is talking to me and I can't hear her for some reason. Then I kept thinking, "how can I remember what I am feeling so I can write it on my blog later today." Then I remember thinking about Pokemon...and feeling like I was spinning like a fighting Pokemon. I know my body was tingly and I was sleepy, and then she asked how I was doing and it was really loud and I said good.

The doctor came back in, I'm sure it had only been like 3-4 minutes. He asked how I was doing and I sort of replied and he said, "Yeah you look a little more spacey now" So He went in and tapped on the tooth again and I could barely feel it at all, he did add some more topical anesthetic and I was just trying very hard to concentrate on breathing because I didn't want the pain to start. Next thing I knew he said "and that's it." and I was like "really (well it was more like mumble mumble with gauze in mouth.)" and he was like "yeah." so I mumbled if the first surgery had been with you and went this well, you would have me as a patient for life." I think he understood me. So then the nose masked had oxygen in it and I was breathing that in deeply to flush out the laughing gas. Within five minutes I was up and moving out of the office and heading to the car to drive home with the gauze in my mouth where my tooth had been.

So I give this doctor an A + just for the surgery and the "bedside manner". I spent the rest of the day resting on the couch watching tv waiting for the numbness to fade because I was really hungry. I tried noodles and then laid down for a while. I know I napped around 4:30 p.m. because Jeremy woke me up when he came home. We made our way to the grocery store for some jello, pudding, and more soft foods so I can eat something. I am missing the meats that I like to eat.

Before we left we received a phone call from the doctor himself asking how I was doing. I said well and that I had eaten some food, he told me to call him if I needed anything. That was the icing on the cake for him in my good book.

So all is well I am doing mostly okay just taking some ibuprofen to help with the ache from the pulling of the tooth but that's it!

Oh and I also give laughing gas an A + for not feeling pain at all but F - for feeling crazy and can't imagine people taking this as a recreation drug.