I'll admit, it's been longer than I like since my last post.
LEGITIMATE EXCUSE WARNING!
I was down for about 1 week after getting my wisdom teeth removed.
At the ripe old age of 31 (okay, so practically 32...)
Ah, wisdom teeth. Has there ever been a more perfect example of an oxymoron? I mean, they're not very wise. They come in half way, or crooked, or pointing in the entirely wrong direction!
Enjoy some artist renditions from some of my favorite cartoonists:
My surgery was scheduled for a Monday morning (because, that totally makes sense.) At first, I had only requested 3 total days off of work, but upon reading up on how to prepare and what to expect, some rather gruesome horror stories made me push that to a full week. Now that it's over, I can say I'm glad I took the entire week!
The weekend prior was kind of like a "last hurrah!" for solid foods, right? Saturday was Halloween, so you know, pretty much all I ate was candy (and my fair share of booze...) Sunday was my absolute last-last Hurrah. That in mind, Dylan wanted to make us some really fancy Faux Pho (Faux because it wasn't super traditional, mostly a mish mash of things.) Funny part, soup is totally on the "Soft foods" list, but truth be told, enjoying something so savory was rather enjoyable because man alive did I have to keep it bland for a few days there. Now I'm getting ahead of myself!
Last Hurrah Meal!
We were STARVING going into this process, so we picked up some sushi as a sort of lunch/appetizer.
Hello beautiful. You, and your sticky, sticky rice! Your tiny little sesame seeds! mmmm. You're still off limits for me, and I miss you.
That gave Dylan plenty of time to perfect our Faux Pho broth
Equal parts stock, miso and magic.
Dylan had all of the noodles, eggs, veggies and further magic ready and waiting for us to be hungry for dinner:
The broth continued to simmer, and when we were ready to sit down and enjoy some Sunday Night TV with our dinner, it all came beautifully together!
Sherman knows a good thing when he smells it.
Sprinkled with seaweed and hoisin sauce.
From the bottom up:
Magical broth
Delicious Noodles
Basil
Cilantro
Green Onion
Speck (if you have not had this, stop everything and find some RIGHT NOW - you won't regret it)
Soft Boiled Egg
Some Leftover Broccoli (because, why not?)
Hoisin Sauce
Nori (seaweed.)
mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Welp. Now I'm hungry.
Man was that ever an excellent last hurrah.
Then - then it was time to prepare.
Hit up the grocery store for some soft necessities & hydration equipment:
Made mashed potatoes out of a giant sack like it was Thanksgiving
And prepped myself an upright bed conveniently adjacent to the television.
Coming out of the procedure was nothing doing, I was awake, then I wasn't. Then, when I was awake again, I had less teeth. I knew there was stuff shoved in my face, but I couldn't feel anything. I was a little dizzy, and the staff helped me to the car with Dylan. He told me I kept asking the same questions over and over, I don't remember that part. Nothing on video though, because my husband both loves me, and never thinks of those golden opportunities ;)
When the drugs that coincided with the anesthesia wore of I felt very, very sick. Then I tossed my cookies, panicked, and made Dylan call to see if I ruined my healing process (you're not supposed to spit!) After that, it was just a whole lotta rest. That plain applesauce kept me alive for the first probably 36 hours or so. I remember having plain broth for dinner, the next day I added a smashed avocado to the mix, and partook in some of those green beans. Wednesday I remember pretty well, it was the first time I felt really hungry (and that actually felt good.) I had a scrambled egg and it was amazing, and that night I was elated about having refried beans for dinner.
Here's what's hilarious, I don't even remember taking this photo, but it's perfect.
This picture, the haze it has, eating broth out of a mug, the multiple drinks and all of the pills in the background. Even the chapstick and the remote!
- This picture - perfectly embodies what recovery was like:
Contrary to the horror stories I had read, I was not a bloody swollen mess, nor was I in unimaginable pain. In fact, on a scale of 1 to 10, my pain levels never really maxed out at more than a 3.
The side effects I had, I was not prepared for - and they lasted for days.
Nausea & headaches
I am so glad I ended up taking the whole week off, because I really didn't feel human again until about Friday. Even then I had to take it easy.
Now here we are, just over 1 whole week later - and I'm doing alright. I didn't get dry socket, and I think I'm healing according to plan. My adjacent teeth seem sore, but that could easily be because things are already starting to shift. Also, my jaw is very, very angry and keeps popping & getting stuck. That too, however, I'm sure has been aggravated by the procedure, seeing as I was having problems with my jaw before getting my wisdom teeth removed. In fact, my jaw driving me nuts was really one the main catalysts for getting them out! (It'll be my next trip to the dentist, AFTER the holidays.) I've got this fancy little syringe to clean out my tooth holes with, and really all I keep thinking of is those old Ren &Stimpy stills of gums. (Okay I was going to post a photo of that but it's gross, google for yourselves.) Now, all that's left to do is keep healing and wait for Thanksgiving. Because by the end of the month, I will likely be able to eat normally again, and I will shove everything on that table into my gullet happily.
Thanksgiving will be the topic of my next post, in fact. Because The Boswell House will host Thanksgiving for some of the Boswells this year! I'm really looking forward to it (I've probably even mentioned that on the blog already ....) We have completed a lot of projects that I want to chronicle, and there's still a few more to complete. The thing I need to remember is to take freaking pictures!
See you guys next time!
