...THE OTHER SIDE

I was up about four o'clock Tuesday morning so I was ablr to that day's and today's posts before my 7:30 appontment.

I survived, went home, and slept for 19 hours.

The oral surgeon first gave me some laughing gas...or at least he said he did.  This was supposedly to relax me before he gave me the sedation.  I was relaxed anyway and what he gave me did not make any difference.  I've had nitrous oxide before and this was not like anything I had ever been given before;  either they gave me a very light dose or they forgot to turn it on.          

Then came the sedation and I was knock out...for a while.  The sedation wore off about half-way through.  It must have worked while they were removing my upper teeth, but I was conscious when they were working on my lower teeth.  It hurt.  They had wisely strapped down my arms so It would not be flaying during the procedure.  This prevented me from doing the First Pensacola Dentist Toss,  Don't get me wrong.  I'm sure that some of the sedation was still working, but I was aware and feeling pain.  One tooth was stubborn and they had to work extra long to get it out -- [cue tugging and pulling and yanking and groaning and cutting and drilling and novacaine].

My knees were wobbly and I was unsteady as they brought me to recovery which meant sit and wait until  the oral surgean came to check on me.  Then out the door to a waiting car with Kitty driving.

And it was over.  I was bruised and battered and could not speak properly:

KITTY:  How are you feeling?

ME:  um,hdgbmrojcbweliufhm gkndndgkhjf  qqwnjgd.

KITTY:  ?

Home and right to bed.  I have never felt so physically drained.  My beautiful ,bride went above and beyond the call of duty, waking me up every two hours for one pill or another (antibiotic, pain), give me a new ice pack, and to be sure that I rinsed with salt water.  She is a trooper and I'm afraid she got no sleep last night.

They said I should recover in 24 hours, but then people say a lot of things.  I now have chipmonk cheeks.  My mouth and lower jaw are darkly bruised.  My gums are raw, my mouth is full of blood, and for some reason I have developed post nasal drip which makes me feel like I'm suffocating.  My speech is still incoherent.

But I survived.  Also, I have decided that my wife was right -- I am a wimp.

It all just goes to show that whatever doesn't kill you is still pretty unpleasant.

I'm not sure if I'll be postng tomorrow b ecause now all I really want to do is go back to sleep.