No more wisdom…teeth.
So you may be thinking, what’s been happening since the big trip to Poland? Apart from working my butt off to pay for upcoming trips that I already have deposits on, I did have to have a week off work to get my wisdom teeth out.
They’ve been bugging me for months, years even. Every few months my jaw, teeth and gums will be in constant pain for as long as it takes to go away and then come back again. I decided in December that I’d had enough, saw a dentist, she said they should come out. Got x-rays which showed I had one wisdom tooth digging into my cheek, the one that would hurt the most, and the opposite side’s tooth was pointing inwards, sitting on the tooth next to it. One look and the surgeon said they should come out. It had to be timed between Poland and Lija being available, and I had to have a pre-op before I went in.
On the day it wasn’t so bad. Lija came with me, the hospital’s pre-requisite of completing the surgery so I could get home safely, and I had to put a gown on the top half. When they pierced the canula through my hand it was like a really bad poison of pain spreading up my arm, so I concentrated on the nurse next to me, who put the oxygen over my face. I knew what was coming so I took one deep breath before she said ‘Take a few deep breaths of this clean Lambeth air’ and I had to let out a giggle. It only took two more breaths and I was out.
It was the first time I’d ever been under general anesthetic but I had the most amazing dream sleep ever! Even waking up wasn’t so bad. It was only 50 minutes, I knew because there was a clock on the opposite wall. They took the gauze out of my mouth when they saw I was awake, and said I could sleep more if I wanted, but I was more content to sit with my eyes wide open, watching everyone else. The nurse gave me my first cup of ribena, and went to get Lija. I got to dress and sit in the recovery room, and had another two cups of ribena before they let us go. I was high as a kite from the drugs, so I couldn’t feel a thing, and I was way to warped when the nurse was explaining the medication so Lija memorized that for me. I had no swelling, no blood, no problems.
We caught the bus back to Lijas, stopping off for some drinks and jelly and soup on the way at Tesco, and then I fell asleep on the couch for a few hours. I woke up to Martin making himself comfortable in the armchair and asked Lija to go through my meds because she had to work the next day. I had to take antibiotics so I wouldn’t get an infection, paracetamol for the pain, ibuprofen for the swelling and there was also codeine if the pain was very bad. I also had to swill with saltwater whenever I could.
Lija has nice white pillowcases, so I made one suggestion of a towel to cover it before going to sleep, and quite rightly as I tend to drool if I fall asleep with my mouth open. I knew this was inevitable tonight of all nights, as the pain made it unbearable to bite together. Needless to say, I woke up with a wonky line of dried blood running down my chin which reminded me of Dracula. I went home the next afternoon. I didn’t have any major problems although when I walked the nerve endings gave me the biggest pounding in my head so I hibernated in my room for the whole weekend, and began to go a little crazy from all the mousse, jelly, yoghurt, and soup I was consuming.
When Gary was stuck behind the bar craving fish and chips I offered to go get them so I could get some fresh air, and then he and Liam were picking the batter off the fish and the soft chips for me to eat – very sweet of them! Paul even commented that they’ve never seen me around the hostel so much. But that’s all changed this week, I got back into some long shifts, a bit of residential care, waking nights, hospital shifts, all sorts of things. And it seems it won’t stop anytime soon as Lija’s leaving for Australia on Wednesday, so I’ll do as much as I can. When she gets back at the end of March, I’m heading off to Prussia Cove again to volunteer for the International Musicians Seminars. Watch out Cornwall, here I come…
Tags: Travel
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