I have decided that when the cell phone plan that we have is up that Austin and I will be changing from Verizon to T-Mobile. Not because we are unhappy with Verizon but because I MUST have a G1 Phone! My friend Ana has one and it is awesome! Plus it would cut down on the things I have to carry (which would make my physical therapist happy). Also, I have trouble remembering things (Wonderful Fibro Fog) and this would give me ready access to my Google Calendar. It would also give me access to the Google Maps and GPS (I get lost A LOT!). I would be totaly connected to the world at all times! I would be able to check my email all the time. I am pretty excited about this!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wisdom of the teeth
So, I am sure that some of you will remember that at the beginning of this month I had my wisdom teeth removed. I don't know if I told you all, but it didn't go well... at all!
I should probably start from the beginning so you can really understand.
I was very excited about my wisdom tooth removal because my teeth were really hurting me. I just knew that getting them out would be a breeze! (HA! So much for the power of positive thought!) I went to a surgeon of my mother's suggestion because she works for a dentist and they work with this doctor often. All in all he is a good doctor. He is a very nice man. I just had a horrible experience because of things that were completely out of his control (my body's reactions).
I went in October 2nd to have my wisdom teeth removed. I was supposed to take the Halcon an hour in advance. I did... the Halcon was supposed to sedate me ...it did nothing. When I say it did nothing I mean I didn't even have a BAD reaction to it. I had absolutely no reaction. I wasn't sleepy. I wasn't woozy. I wasn't tipsy. Nothing.
So I get to the doctor's office and they ask me how I am feeling. I tell them about how I took BOTH pills (they gave me 2 just in case...) and I wasn't feeling anything. They tell me to give it some more time and while we waited a little longer for that we could go ahead and get me prepped. Meaning that they wanted to go ahead and give me the anesthetic shots in my mouth. If you have ever had your wisdom teeth removed (and you were awake for the beginning part of it...ya, I was awake the WHOLE time...) you know that these shots HURT ...A LOT! They give you 3 shots in each tooth area (that would be 12 shots total). Excruciating. Then they waited for that to numb my mouth.
Apparently (and they didn't really tell me this before they gave me the shots, they told me this right as they were giving me the shots... mostly they told me because of my reaction) the anesthetic makes your heart race. It made my heart race so fast, and the shot hurt so bad, that my entire body was trembling and I was sobbing... it was basically like I was having a panic attack the whole time. I felt like I had lost the ability to create a cohesive thought. They came back and asked me how I was feeling and I asked them to call my mom because I was scared. ....They told me no.... I asked my mom about this later (since she works for a dentist) and she said that a lot of dentists prefer not to have a parent in the room because it causes the child to freak out even more. For me that would not have been the case. Basically it took me the entire surgery to calm myself down. (In the end the only reason I calmed down is because they were done) So after I ask them to call my mom they decided that they should get to work and get it over with (the sooner started, the sooner finished!)
Well, the first tooth came out alright (the top right). He had to re-shoot the anesthetic in that one because I could feel pain. The second tooth is where the next set of problems started (the bottom right). First, this tooth was so gnarled that he had to cut it into tiny pieces to be able to get it out. He had to re-shoot the anesthetic because I started to feel pain. Then he gets to the bottom of it and realizes that the root has grown AROUND the bone! The X-rays showed little to no sign of that fact (they can be very misleading). So he had to peel my tooth off of my bone! (It took a long time and lots of sawing...it felt like FOREVER for me) Finally he gets that tooth out. Then the third tooth (upper left) comes out as easy as the other top tooth. (this was the only tooth he didn't have to redo the anesthetic on) When he gets to the final tooth he has the same problems as the other bottom tooth. (and has to redo the anesthetic) At this point I am still crying and he keeps telling me "Breath Angie, your doing great, just breath." In my head I was screaming "I AM NOT DOING GREAT!!!"
He finally gets completely finished and my mom, sister, and their boss (the pediatric dentist) walk into the room. The first thing all 3 of them ask me is "You ok?" If I could have screamed I would have. At that point all I could get out was a sullen "NO!" My mom told me later that she could tell I had been crying the whole time. I had also, apparently, already started to swell a lot.
One would think that would be the end of the story. Not so...
So it had been decided that I would go home with my mom so she could take care of me (Austin had to work the next day and she didn't, plus I was already going to be right there with her). My mom takes me to her house. I had to take the painkiller on the way home (2 of them) which was not really surprising. I took the painkiller religiously that day (and the following days). At about 2am my mom said that I needed to try and get some nutrients in my system (I had not eaten since 10am on the 2nd, and now we are slowly crawling into the 3rd). She made me a slimfast. I don't know if it was from the stress of the surgery or the drugs in my system (probably the drugs), but the slimfast made me feel immediately ill. I stopped drinking it and my mom put cold rags on my back, neck, and head. That made me feel a little better. Then I went back to sleep.
After I woke up the next morning (Sometime around 10am) I moved into the living room. Mom decided to try getting me to consume nutrients again. So she made another slimfast. I took 2 sips and didn't even make it to the bathroom... I threw up on the carpet on the way there. This is when things really started to go wrong behind the scenes. Apparently, when you throw up and you have an open wound in your mouth, you get an infection (sometimes... I am that lucky sometimes!). That night I swelled up so bad that my father actually said something to my mom about it. (which is saying something!) I also started bruising the next day.
So I wake up on Saturday (the 4th) and my face is huge, bruised and I can't open my mouth wide enough to put a spoon into it (it was that swollen the day of my surgery, but I didn't notice because I was so drugged and coming down off of the emotion strain of the surgery). Austin had to buy me baby spoons so I could actually eat!! By Sunday I was only a little better. Some of my swelling had gone down, but not much. Monday saw a little more swelling reduction, but not too much. Tuesday I had Austin take me back to the doctor. I felt like something was wrong. My swelling was still huge and my bruises were huge too. My mouth tasted horrible (like pus or something) and I was still having to take the pain killer religiously. The doctor said it looked ok, but he gave me an antibiotic just in case. I started taking a pain killer AND an antibiotic. Due to my swelling and my bruising I didn't go into work at all the week after my surgery.
The picture that I posted with this is actually of what I looked like on the Wednesday after my surgery (6 days later!)
I had a follow up 2 weeks after my surgery and I still couldn't open my mouth all the way and the bottom right side still hurt really badly. I had also started to notice that I had these hard knots in my jaw/cheek area just in front of the wisdom tooth area (not actually on my wisdom tooth area) Now, I should mention that my bottom right has been my trouble spot. At this point my other 3 spots are feeling pretty ok. The upper right is sore, but that could be from the lower swelling. The doctor told me to keep taking the antibiotic and he wanted to see me in 4 weeks (2-4 weeks sooner than he normally does). That appointment is supposed to be on November 13th.
Having said all that... I am still swollen in my lower right side. I have actually been able to open
my mouth "most" of the way, but not completely. I was looking at it yesterday and it looks like the bottom right side has not closed. I don't know if its because of when I threw up or if it is because of the infection I got... Not sure. It looks like I have a hole in my mouth. It still hurts and is still swollen... 28 days later...
I called the doctor today and they want me to come in tomorrow... We will see what he says then!!
I should probably start from the beginning so you can really understand.
I was very excited about my wisdom tooth removal because my teeth were really hurting me. I just knew that getting them out would be a breeze! (HA! So much for the power of positive thought!) I went to a surgeon of my mother's suggestion because she works for a dentist and they work with this doctor often. All in all he is a good doctor. He is a very nice man. I just had a horrible experience because of things that were completely out of his control (my body's reactions).
I went in October 2nd to have my wisdom teeth removed. I was supposed to take the Halcon an hour in advance. I did... the Halcon was supposed to sedate me ...it did nothing. When I say it did nothing I mean I didn't even have a BAD reaction to it. I had absolutely no reaction. I wasn't sleepy. I wasn't woozy. I wasn't tipsy. Nothing.
So I get to the doctor's office and they ask me how I am feeling. I tell them about how I took BOTH pills (they gave me 2 just in case...) and I wasn't feeling anything. They tell me to give it some more time and while we waited a little longer for that we could go ahead and get me prepped. Meaning that they wanted to go ahead and give me the anesthetic shots in my mouth. If you have ever had your wisdom teeth removed (and you were awake for the beginning part of it...ya, I was awake the WHOLE time...) you know that these shots HURT ...A LOT! They give you 3 shots in each tooth area (that would be 12 shots total). Excruciating. Then they waited for that to numb my mouth.
Apparently (and they didn't really tell me this before they gave me the shots, they told me this right as they were giving me the shots... mostly they told me because of my reaction) the anesthetic makes your heart race. It made my heart race so fast, and the shot hurt so bad, that my entire body was trembling and I was sobbing... it was basically like I was having a panic attack the whole time. I felt like I had lost the ability to create a cohesive thought. They came back and asked me how I was feeling and I asked them to call my mom because I was scared. ....They told me no.... I asked my mom about this later (since she works for a dentist) and she said that a lot of dentists prefer not to have a parent in the room because it causes the child to freak out even more. For me that would not have been the case. Basically it took me the entire surgery to calm myself down. (In the end the only reason I calmed down is because they were done) So after I ask them to call my mom they decided that they should get to work and get it over with (the sooner started, the sooner finished!)
Well, the first tooth came out alright (the top right). He had to re-shoot the anesthetic in that one because I could feel pain. The second tooth is where the next set of problems started (the bottom right). First, this tooth was so gnarled that he had to cut it into tiny pieces to be able to get it out. He had to re-shoot the anesthetic because I started to feel pain. Then he gets to the bottom of it and realizes that the root has grown AROUND the bone! The X-rays showed little to no sign of that fact (they can be very misleading). So he had to peel my tooth off of my bone! (It took a long time and lots of sawing...it felt like FOREVER for me) Finally he gets that tooth out. Then the third tooth (upper left) comes out as easy as the other top tooth. (this was the only tooth he didn't have to redo the anesthetic on) When he gets to the final tooth he has the same problems as the other bottom tooth. (and has to redo the anesthetic) At this point I am still crying and he keeps telling me "Breath Angie, your doing great, just breath." In my head I was screaming "I AM NOT DOING GREAT!!!"
He finally gets completely finished and my mom, sister, and their boss (the pediatric dentist) walk into the room. The first thing all 3 of them ask me is "You ok?" If I could have screamed I would have. At that point all I could get out was a sullen "NO!" My mom told me later that she could tell I had been crying the whole time. I had also, apparently, already started to swell a lot.
One would think that would be the end of the story. Not so...
So it had been decided that I would go home with my mom so she could take care of me (Austin had to work the next day and she didn't, plus I was already going to be right there with her). My mom takes me to her house. I had to take the painkiller on the way home (2 of them) which was not really surprising. I took the painkiller religiously that day (and the following days). At about 2am my mom said that I needed to try and get some nutrients in my system (I had not eaten since 10am on the 2nd, and now we are slowly crawling into the 3rd). She made me a slimfast. I don't know if it was from the stress of the surgery or the drugs in my system (probably the drugs), but the slimfast made me feel immediately ill. I stopped drinking it and my mom put cold rags on my back, neck, and head. That made me feel a little better. Then I went back to sleep.
After I woke up the next morning (Sometime around 10am) I moved into the living room. Mom decided to try getting me to consume nutrients again. So she made another slimfast. I took 2 sips and didn't even make it to the bathroom... I threw up on the carpet on the way there. This is when things really started to go wrong behind the scenes. Apparently, when you throw up and you have an open wound in your mouth, you get an infection (sometimes... I am that lucky sometimes!). That night I swelled up so bad that my father actually said something to my mom about it. (which is saying something!) I also started bruising the next day.
So I wake up on Saturday (the 4th) and my face is huge, bruised and I can't open my mouth wide enough to put a spoon into it (it was that swollen the day of my surgery, but I didn't notice because I was so drugged and coming down off of the emotion strain of the surgery). Austin had to buy me baby spoons so I could actually eat!! By Sunday I was only a little better. Some of my swelling had gone down, but not much. Monday saw a little more swelling reduction, but not too much. Tuesday I had Austin take me back to the doctor. I felt like something was wrong. My swelling was still huge and my bruises were huge too. My mouth tasted horrible (like pus or something) and I was still having to take the pain killer religiously. The doctor said it looked ok, but he gave me an antibiotic just in case. I started taking a pain killer AND an antibiotic. Due to my swelling and my bruising I didn't go into work at all the week after my surgery.
The picture that I posted with this is actually of what I looked like on the Wednesday after my surgery (6 days later!)
I had a follow up 2 weeks after my surgery and I still couldn't open my mouth all the way and the bottom right side still hurt really badly. I had also started to notice that I had these hard knots in my jaw/cheek area just in front of the wisdom tooth area (not actually on my wisdom tooth area) Now, I should mention that my bottom right has been my trouble spot. At this point my other 3 spots are feeling pretty ok. The upper right is sore, but that could be from the lower swelling. The doctor told me to keep taking the antibiotic and he wanted to see me in 4 weeks (2-4 weeks sooner than he normally does). That appointment is supposed to be on November 13th.
Having said all that... I am still swollen in my lower right side. I have actually been able to open
my mouth "most" of the way, but not completely. I was looking at it yesterday and it looks like the bottom right side has not closed. I don't know if its because of when I threw up or if it is because of the infection I got... Not sure. It looks like I have a hole in my mouth. It still hurts and is still swollen... 28 days later...
I called the doctor today and they want me to come in tomorrow... We will see what he says then!!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The joys of living in Houston…
7:10pm - So, I drive and I drive and the further I drive the worse the rain gets and the worse the streets get.
7:20pm-ish - I finally get to the area where Main is… for those of you who don’t know, Main floods… A LOT!
7:30pm-ish - So I get about 2 blocks from Main and the water is so high that I am actually looking for somewhere that I can get off the road (that isn’t currently flooded). The water is steadily rising and my car is getting dangerously close to the REALLY high water (remember that I drive a Honda Fit… the water was over my tires and splashing over my lights…)
7:40pm-ish - I was going to turn at Main, but it was flooded and I saw a CVS that was not completely flooded. By the time I get there the parking lot is very, very full. Fortunately I was able to find a parking spot close to the store. I called my DH and was freaking out and crying. He tells me that he is on his way (he drives a truck and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to leave the CVS in my car).
7:45pm-ish - So I finally calmed down enough to where I was only shaking a medium amount… I decide to get out of my car and, as I am walking up to the door of CVS, I see a girl from my class and we hang out at the CVS talking about how freaked out we were (LOL she was driving an SUV and she was freaked out too, so I don’t feel SO bad). We watch as people drive into the parking lot with their ruined cars (smoking, smelling, and no longer driving). People walking up to the CVS because their cars were flooded (one lady had to make a couple of trips back to her car because it was in SERIOUS bad shape and she had some electronics in it). Some people had to push their cars into the lot. We even watched one of those barrier barrels float by.
8:30pm-ish - Austin finally gets there (this drive would normally take about 1/2 an hour at the most… it took him about an hour-ish). He told us that he had seen some emergency vehicles having to pull people’s cars out of man holes that the cover had been pushed off of.
9:20pm-ish - I was finally able to leave the parking lot (Austin said it looked fairly safe and the flooding had mostly gone down).
10:10pm-ish - I finally got home. There was more flooding on the way home and lots of traffic because of people who had to abandon their cars and people who got in wrecks and people who had to pull over.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
