Friday at 9:30am, I went to Oral Surgery Specialists in Annapolis and got my three remaining wisdom teeth removed (one on bottom left, two on right). I remember getting prepped, which included a blood pressure cuff and lots of questions. The assistant was lining up a bunch of needles and reassured me that only one of them was going into my arm. She hung up an IV drip (I think that's what it's called) and I got stuck with the one needle (my surgeon did the sticking). The cool thing is that they just had to poke me once and then all the other needles could be injected into the drip and get into me that way. How nice. I remember the surgeon saying something like "this will make you relax" as he injected something into the drip and that's it - I don't remember anything before 3pm.
I don't remember anything really from this paragraph. It happens after 9:30 and before 3pm. My husband was my driver and he says that I instructed him on how to leave the parking garage (it has a tricky thing with ticketing) so apparently I was lucid. He took us to CVS to fill my prescriptions and he got me a bottle of water. I tried to drink it but my mouth and lips were totally numb so that didn't work well but I got a little liquid in. Oh, I couldn't have anything after midnight the night before the surgery, so Mark was pretty sure I was dehydrated (hence the water). It'd be nice if I could use a straw but that's bad (can dislodge the blood clots). I had applesauce for lunch and it's hard to eat when your lips are huge and numb. There are no pictures :) I had a pudding at some point, and I started taking my penicillin. I also changed my gauze at some point.
3pm: I can start remembering stuff, so that's an improvement. I had a pudding at some point, since I didn't have breakfast and only an applesauce for lunch. Feeling is returning in my mouth and upper lip, so that's helpful.
6pm: I eat pureed soup for dinner - acorn squash deliciousness. Feeling is back in my lips, so that's awesome. I also take some pain meds since feeling is coming back: ibuprofen and hydrocodone. After dinner, Mark leaves me chilling on the couch and heads to Awana.
8pm: I change my gauze and there's only a little blood on the left and a bit more blood on the right. My stomach starts not feeling well. I eat some jello because that's hospital food but my stomach is still not happy. I'm watching Supergirl on Netflix. I'm getting dizzy. I've been icing close to what they say, 30min on and then 30min off but it's not an exact science (also, I get distracted easily).
9pm: I (quite forcefully) vomit. It's quite red, possibly from the jello and squash soup and also possibly from the blood. Laid down afterwards and tried to not do anything.
12am: (midnight) Mark wakes me to get me to take my meds (just the ibuprofen and penicillin) - I throw up immediately afterwards. I was able to sleep the night fine (put a towel on the pillow to catch any blood and slept on my left side because that's comfy for me and I only lost one tooth on that side).
Meds: Penicillin: 1400,1800,0000; Hydrocodone: 1800; Ibuprofen: 1800, 0000
Saturday 6am: I feel fine (Mark has a conference to go to hence up so early on a Saturday). I taste a little blood in my mouth (I didn't sleep with gauze because I didn't want to choke). I take a shower but get very dizzy and dry heave. Tried to wash my hair but that was a bad plan. Sat down for a while and then felt better.
7am: Ate oatmeal (apple cinnamon but the apple chunks were a little hard to just swallow) and drank some tea (Earl Grey, hot). Tried to eat some blackberries but they were too big and solid. I put gauze back in because I didn't like the feel of the stitches (both bottom teeth holes have dissolve-able stitches). Bleeding is very minimal.
12pm: (noon) Reheated some soup (we made a big pot of it on Thursday). Left side hurts and is swollen - iced it. Chilled on couch for the rest of the day and watched Supergirl on Netflix. Sadly there's only one season so far.
9pm: I take a shower (Mark checked on me to make sure I wouldn't pass out) and notice two red itchy bumps on my stomach (about the size of bug bites). I think I might have had an allergic reaction to the hydrocodone and it might be a good thing that I only took one dose of it. I opened a new toothbrush and very softly brush my non-molars. It's hard to get the toothbrush in my mouth because my jaw does not want to open and it's quite sore in the back.
Meds: Penicillin: 0700,1200,1900; Ibuprofen: 0700,1400,2100
Sunday: My surgeon warned me that the third day is the worst and he was very correct. I moped on the couch all day watching Gilmore Girls. My head and neck hurt, and I can feel the stitches on the right side and I really don't like it. I ate half a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, a small bowl of soup for lunch, and mashed potatoes for dinner. The potato was not creamy because we were out of milk, so I ate it by taking small chunks and smooshing it against the roof of my mouth, then swallowing.
Meds: Penicillin: 0800,1300,1900; Migraine meds: 0800, 0800
Monday: Head still hurts, so I don't go to work. I felt the stitches on both sides of my mouth with my tongue, and that was probably a bad plan. It felt all sore (possibly raw) afterwards. I tried to eat 5-grain oatmeal for breakfast (I asked Mark to get something without chunks and that's what he found) but the grains are too solid so I gave up and ate applesauce. I had soup for lunch and then a different soup for dinner (pumpkin). I ate the insides of bread pieces and that's the most solid food I've had (I gave the crusts to Mark). I ate some dark chocolate M&M's afterwards. I started feeling better around 2pm and I've been on the up and up since then.
Meds: Penicillin: 0900,1500,2300
Tuesday: Stitches are super annoying. Jaw is a little sore if I don't move it and very sore if I do. Smiling is ok but laughing is not. Controlled yawning is ok. My appetite was back when I woke up, so that's good! I haven't been hungry since Thursday. My left side is slightly visibly bruised while my right side is fine. I need to set a reminder to take my penicillin. I took some ibuprofen before heading to work just to head off any soreness. My stitches are super annoying (have I already said that? well it's still true). My teeth feel like they are not clean in the back because it's hard to brush my molars without hurting. I tried eating a real meal for dinner because we forgot to skip Blue Apron this week, and that was a bad plan. I tried to just eat it, but that was a no-go (chewing with only non-molars is hard). I put it in a blender, and that didn't seem to do anything. I put it in the food processor, and that turned it into a mashed potato-kale-egg-pepper mush that was ok. And then I had to use my water pick to dislodge food from my teeth holes. That was not pleasant. The stitches are still really annoying. The ones on the right are poking more than the ones on the left, which means the right side is healing faster. I really want my gums to heal so the stitches will fall out and be gone. The stitches on the right side are just poking me and kind of annoying but the stitches on the left side feel like they're pulling or pinching and that's annoying. I think I'll take some ibuprofen to calm it down. I still have two red marks on my stomach but they don't itch and hopefully will go away.
Meds: Penicillin: 0700,1600,2200; Ibuprofen: 0830,2200
Wednesday: I still can't rub in chap stick because the side-to-side motion hurts. I felt exhausted this morning (like my body is trying to rebuild my mouth or something). I used toothpaste for the first time since the surgery, and that was nice. In the evening I decided to mess with the surgery site on the right side and that was a bad plan. The stitches have a long tail (probably a fraction of an inch but it's annoying) and it keeps poking into the socket where the tooth used to be. I was trying to get the tail out of there and I irritated the area. It just hurts now. I should have just let it be.
Meds: Penicillin: 0800,1300,1900; Ibuprofen: 0830
Thursday: Right side still hurts when I wake up, but I was able to sleep fine. It stopped hurting a little after the ibuprofen kicked in. I can open my mouth more so that's really nice for stuff like eating. This evening I realized I have four ice packs for my face hugger sling thing (I thought I only had two and then I saw that I had three and then my husband was like no, you have four). Blood washes out of the face sling very easily - I threw it in the washer and it came out all nice and clean. Sadly all this means I iced my face tonight - the top socket was sore.
Meds: Penicillin: 0800, 1400, done! Ibuprofen: 0900
Friday: One week since surgery! Messed with the right bottom site again (I know, bad plan). I cannot get the tails of the stitch out of the socket but I didn't try too hard (see previous bad plans). I called my surgeon and asked about it and the assistant said that the stitches can fall out or be absorbed in - either way is fine. So that's good. I didn't take any pain meds this morning and when I got to work I was a bit sore but stubborn so I actually went the whole day without pain meds. My molars on the right side feel odd because I think I've clenched my teeth too much (in an effort to keep my tongue away from the stitches). And tonight I was able to open my mouth wide enough to easily brush the tops of my molars! That was good. Except I slipped and kinda rammed my toothbrush into the surgery site right behind my molar. Ow. The stitch on the right side is getting absorbed - I can feel the knot but the tails are gone. The stitch on the left side is getting to be annoying, so that's progress? It feels gross, but it's a stitch inside my mouth so that's probably normal. As for food, I had cream of wheat, soup from last night, then mashed potatoes because I didn't want the same soup that I had for lunch (need some variety). I put coconut milk in the potatoes and added some thyme and they were good. And I finished the day with a smoothie - berries and non-dairy yogurt that we froze.
Meds: NONE!
Saturday: Ate scrambled eggs and tomato for breakfast (i.e. not cream of wheat, which has been my breakfast for the last week). It took a while but was tasty. Went back to soup for lunch and dinner. Chewing stuff tends to push food remnants into the socket on my right side and then I have to flush it out afterwards and that's annoying. I use a water pick - Monoject.
Sunday: Went back to cream of wheat for breakfast because it's quick to eat. Had the chicken noodle soup from Panera for lunch and ate most of it - I got tired of chewing (and I don't like celery) so I gave the last bit (which was mostly chicken and celery) to my husband. I was able to eat potato chips and that made me happy - just had to eat slowly and be careful not to jab the surgery sites with a sharp edge. Also snacked on dark chocolate M&Ms because I like them.
Monday: Cream of wheat again but it's pretty tasty, then sweet potato soup for lunch and acorn squash soup for dinner. I have pretty good range of motion with my jaw but if I chew food (like bread) then it tends to get stuck in my right socket. The left socket filled in and there's not a hole there but the right side left a hole. Odd. And then, when I sat on the couch this evening, I felt something in my right socket so I removed it and.... it was the stitch!!! The right stitch is out and that makes me happy. So the right side thinks it's healed and that's good.
Tuesday: Had my follow-up appointment and my surgeon is super punctual! The appointment was at 0800 and I was out of there at 0804. I got a Monoject (because the one I had was given to me by my sister who has a dental connection) and he said everything looks great! Tonight I went all out and had CFA because I really wanted it- waffle fries, chicken nuggets, and a soda with a straw! It was great and I was fine. I can chew on my right side and then I need to flush it out with the water pick afterwards.
Wednesday: Eating cream of wheat for breakfast and I feel something in my mouth that's not food.... the left stitch is out!!! I'm stitch free and I feel like I can actually move my mouth/jaw without pinching/pulling! It's amazing!!! Let's calculate - surgery was on the 30th and today is the 12th so stitches lasted 10 and 12 days. I think that's on the longer side, but hey it's over with so that's great. I do need to use the water pick to flush out the sockets, so I put it in a sandwich bag and just keep it in my purse. There's a single-person restroom at my work (in a different area than the regular restroom) so I just go over there to flush food out of my jaw when needed. I'm eating all the normal foods now and it's great :)
I will try to update again once I stop needing the water pick after nearly every meal.
2/27/17 - I forgot to update after I stopped using the water pick! Have no fear, it did not take this long to stop using it. I carried it with me and used it after most meals for at least a month, possibly a little longer. Once the sockets fill in (there is still a dent for me but not anything food can get stuck in) then it's just normal eating and hygiene!
Recipes:
Butternut Squash with Roasted Garlic Soup
Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Potato Soup - this one is really good.
Coconut Acorn Squash and Carrot Soup from BH&G (sadly behind a pay wall online but I got it from the magazine) - made this one twice because it's so good. Really just acorn squash is good - I would eat it mashed with some butter for a quick dinner.
Pumpkin Soup that uses pureed pumpkin so it's super easy to make.
