Thanks for all your good wishes

[xiphias]

I'm home, and have been asleep all day. There's relatively little pain as long as I don't open my mouth or swallow. Eating is going to be fun, but Lis DID make me drink a yogurt drink before she left for work. That's the only thing I've had to eat or drink all day, and I probably SHOULD eat more, but I don't wanna.

My jaw is sore, but I have been managing to take my painkillers and penicillin on schedule, even though I'm really supposed to take them with food. However, I've had no nausea with them.

In any case, it WAS done under general anesthesia rather than heavy sedation. I was offered the choice of either, and I went for general, and I think it was probably the right choice for me.

I'm going to sleep for the rest of the evening, and tonight, and probably most of tomorrow. I'll probably be really hungry in the morning, and we've planned out things I can eat -- things like a room-temperature can of chicken broth, which sounds really gross under normal conditions, but sounds good to me.

Comments

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're doing okay. Thanks for letting us know.

[trcabbage.livejournal.com]

Sending compassion and healing wishes your way.

[aethelflaed2.livejournal.com]

I'm glad all went well. Heal quickly.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

Glad you came through well. Hope you feel better soon!

[bluepapercup]

Feel better soon!

When I got my teeth out I was in pain the first 48 hours, and then it faded to a dull ache. Ice is really good for keeping the swelling down, pack your face in cloths filled with ice!

Heal quickly, and be wise anyway!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Yup, that was advice the dentist gave, too. Ice packs are my friend.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Feel better.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

In my experience, painkillers /do/ tend to help more if you've eaten slightly more than that.

(Or drank, whatever.)

Anyway. Am glad you're OK, comparatively speaking.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're recovering so well, and hope you feel better soon. To my understanding, the pain after dental work mostly comes from swelling, so ice and anti-inflammatories can be very effective. (Sometimes more effective than narcotics.) If you ordinarily sleep flat, you may find it helpful to prop up your head, or the head of your bed, this week.

Reading about your experience and those of others, I wonder what makes a dentist use a particular type of anesthetic. I'd heard of people having general anesthesia for wisdom tooth extractions and root canals...none of the oral surgeons or dentists I saw ever offered me either sedation or general anesthesia. For a while I thought it was just a regional difference. Here in New England, there's some residual Puritan influence on the dental schools, so patients are just expected to deal with more pain than in New York or Virginia or wherever. But my theory breaks down considering that your oral surgeon is just as New England as any of mine.

Do I just look like a stoic or something?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, this fellow was recommended to me by my family, and is the fellow that my family generally uses. And, well, the Doctors Becker (Norman, David, and Todd) don't generally hold with stoicism. They believe that Novacaine was the greatest boon to dentistry in the 20th century, and that fear and pain are not actually desirable things in dentistry.

[gingicat]

BTW, I thought of you as I went through the Houston St subway station today. Note the octopus in the pictures at the link.