I'm about to go get my wisdom teeth out

[xiphias]

Lis: You should blog something wise!
Ian: Why?
Lis: So you can compare before and after!
Ian: I thought it was so that, in the unlikely event that I die under the general anesthesia, my final post won't be my parents talking about octopuses taking over the world.
Lis: I thought you WANTED to be remembered for that.

Yep, so I'm off to the oral surgeon to get my wisdom teeth removed. I suppose there IS a non-zero chance that I'll die from this, but given that Dr. D'Eamero has taken the wisdom teeth out of, I think, THOUSANDS of people (including my sister and several of my cousins), under general and with no significant complications, I'm not THAT worried.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

i'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow... i'm going to die. i can feel it. i am writing my will right now... my dear friend eleanor gets my comfy bed. my last words... im nervous. im afraid of dying. why am i doing this for four teeth? can't i live with them? how many people have died from this? i am going to die. im really scared. i just thought i should let you all know.. anthesia is going to kill me

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, as you can see, I survived just fine, as did my sister (sproutandtad, up above).

It is EXTREMELY rare for someone to die under general. I mean, twenty years ago, it was very safe. Now, it's literally orders of magnitude safer.

I think we're down to the one-in-a-million level, now, at least under first-world medical conditions. Or darned close to it.

It does knock you for a loop the next day or two -- spend the next couple days just resting as best as you can. Your body will need the time and energy to heal.

But, while there IS a non-zero chance of death, it is, I suspect, not worth worrying about.

That said, writing out your will isn't a bad idea -- life itself is risky. But tomorrow isn't going to be significantly riskier than today, or yesterday, or the day after tomorrow.