5 Days Post-Op Report:
Hi all, thanks for all the responses and caring thoughts!
I've been popping Tylenol pills as though it were candy, but it seems like it takes the edge off better than anything else, short of the nasty oxy which I will never go near again. I had never had oxy before, so I do think it was probably an allergic reaction... it probably kicked in after I had accumulated a few days' worth of it in my system.
The pain seems to have plateaued... it's constantly very sore, but I think I am getting used to having it always there. I just tell myself that it beats hiccups & itching attacks
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Right now, I feel better than before. The hardest thing is eating and talking. I can't eat or drink anything cold without the exposure area hurting a great deal... must be the exposed roots/bone/new tooth that are so cold sensitive, as the pain of it travels up and through my skull and even makes my sinus cavity feel funny. I can actually kind of feel my pulse somewhere up, behind, and to the right of my nose... probably it's the swelling, but it's a strange sensation. As for talking, well, I never realized how many consonants require the tongue touching
exactly where my exposure site is
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Ih ashually I've bih 'alking like 'is, an' am ge'ng (n)o eh(n) of grief abou' ih. (Translation: In actuality, I've been talking like this, and am getting no end of grief about it). I could actually make a better effort of it, but I figure the less I stick my bacteria-ridden tongue in the newly-exposed "Dawghouse," the faster it will heal.
But, I think I need to just accept that my mouth will probably be constantly sore in some way or another for the next eight months, so, might as well get on with life! I would really like the Dawghouse to heal up enough that at least contact with foods and cold stuff doesn't hurt so much. Talking isn't as much a requirement, as I suppose I only have occasion to speak to one or two people per week between my outrageously unchecked work and social lives.
I'm going to try heading back to work tomorrow and see how long I last. With any luck, a bit of work will distract me from that crazy Dawg for awhile. Hardly a thing has been accomplished in my stead at work, so unless I get back and get stuff done, there will be widespread consequences!
Karen: I got some good rest and even some fresh air/sunshine today... I think that helps! Could use a bit more and wish I could relax a bit more tomorrow, but I think work needs me!
Flora: Very much hoping you're right about the colors... I'm going to post some pix below to see what other folks think too. I really want it to just be something normal for the process!
Sjsarre: Wow, I have not had my tonsils out, but I can imagine that is not a walk in the park either. I can't wait for my mouth to start looking a bit better, but I admit the colors do make me nervous. As for the med allergies... how strange that they can cause such itching!! No wonder medical science is such a hit or miss kind of thing, with every person's body its own unique system responding in its own way to everything.
Shawnie: I sure do hope my ortho knows what he is going to do. And I really have to cross my fingers that the random assistants who have to do it don't make it more painful than necessary, which, in the past, they have unfortunately excelled at (making it painful, that is). I go back to my ortho (I think) on May 1 or so. I will need to double check my appointment cards at the office tomorrow. But I know that it is quite soon that Dawg will be leashed into the fray. So they will attach the chain to elastic and the elastic to the archwire? Is that normally how it is done? I honestly don't know what comes next. I am so glad that all the tugging did not hurt for you
![ThumbsUp :thumbsup:](./images/smilies/thumbsup.gif)
I hope for the same!
Linda: I really cannot complain, because nothing in my memory can compete with my wisdom teeth extractions surgery of several years ago. This was happy-cotton-candy-tufted-teddy-bears compared to that!! I can't say this is much fun or that I enjoy looking like a freak of nature with teeth ripped out here and metal hanging there and glued there and there.... but I do know things can always be much worse. I'm a lucky girl! And no more surgeries to anticipate right now..... yay! As for the headstand tricks, I just had a feeling it would work. I thought about applying a bit of crushed aspirin topically, but decided that might lead to unpredictable results. Not that headstands don't, but hey, if one is going to experiment, one must err toward the dramatic. I think I might have even gotten some exercise out of it. You had your tonsils out as well as
sjsarre... eek, that does not sound fun at all. I am keeping an eye out for nastiness such as pus, and am hoping the brown and black is indeed just the cauterized tissue. I have been doing warm saltwater rinses several times a day (especially after eating or drinking anything other than water), and am hoping it does the job. Have wondered if puttering around with a mouthful of saltwater for an hour or more might lead to miraculous healing, but finally decided that would just be asking for trouble with family trying to make me laugh. Though, it is
their floors...
Without further ado, I shall introduce below my somewhat graphic photo of Dawg and his grand entrance into the world that is my mouth. I hope those of you who are reading this aren't too terribly grossed out. I know I am.
DAWN OF THE DAWG:
![Image](http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5622/smalldetailexposure2oo.jpg)
You can see the three upper extractions there as well as the exposure site (and an exposure site detail). I can't tell if the white is bone or tooth or infected tissue in the Dawghouse. But the black flecky stuff does make me nervous. What could it be? Also, you can see that my cool Dawg bling is tied by some mysterious black sinew-type substance to my wire. The upper right extractions aren't healing as fast as the others, at all, and one of them has stitches around it, I think. I'm sure some serious, sharp jabbing went on up in there. I think those are brown stitches in the roof of my mouth, too. Cool, I just noticed that!
Lower extractions:
![Image](http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/377/smallbottomextractions4gj.jpg)
These boys are hardly worth mentioning, they've healed up so nicely already, after just a few days. I'm sure the gaps will disappear soon. They don't even hurt, unless something touches the sockets. How do you like my yellow-brown bumper lig colors? Yeah, they have been stained with coffee and other colorful culinary delights on a daily basis for going on eight weeks now. They used to be clear, believe it or not, but for some reason they didn't change them at my last adjustment. Probably because I was making puddles on the floor with tears of agony from the debanding.... hmm... guess that makes sense then
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)
I really think they need to change them, since I would wager I need to brush behind there to prevent staining. Plus they look quite disgusting. Is it ridiculous to have 5 tooth gaps and still want pretty ligs?
Overall teeth photo:
![Image](http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/5020/smalloverall6hc.jpg)
This is my maw of metal and rocks right now. I'm hoping it gets better. I really am. I'm not going to be able to smile for at least the next year and feel good about it. Too bad, too, because my teeth actually looked straightish enough before the surgery that I was smiling widely like I've never done in my life before. Grr! The interesting thing about this photo, though, is that there is now about a millimeter of space between my upper centrals that opened just
since Wednesday's surgery. Talk about overcrowding!! They are absolutely popping apart now. Now if they can just behave properly once Dawg is wired up...
I honestly never thought I would ever do all of this. I think the surprising part is that when I'm not in great pain from one aspect of the process or another, I actually find it all quite fascinating and, at times, somewhat amusing. Can you imagine a conversation about the prospect of braces taking place a thousand years ago? I tend to imagine it would go rather like this:
Osric: I say, Sigbert, friend, thou hast a maw abrim with rocks as delicately and judiciously arranged as eggs in a pigeon's nest upturned by the hand of an angry mistress. Yours, no doubt.
Sigbert: Osric...
friend... thou dost flatter me so. One as myself might think thou hast been put to such compliments by mine own mistress. 'Twas God's good will that I be born with teeth so fine, striking, and of a hue much akin to that of any summer dandylion. Crooked or not,
friend, they are my lot!
Osric: No, seriously, mate, forget the fake medieval speech, your teeth are bloody crooked.
Sigbert: What do you care? Not a bloody thing can be done about it. Now I know the missus put you up to this.
Osric: I've a great idea... an absolutely fantastic thought. Brilliant, actually.
Sigbert: You thought flying trees would be a brilliant idea, too, but the dozen pigeons you tied to the oak in the town square thought otherwise, and no shortage of townspeople thought so, either.
Osric:
Metal, mate. We'll have the smith smack on a bit of metal here and there to your teeth, and then we'll have horsedrawn carts pull at the metal until your teeth line up. As long as it takes! I reckon it wouldn't take all that long. It's absolutely brilliant!
Sigbert: Are you positively off your rocker?
Osric: Oh, just you wait, this will be the fad of the future. Metalsmithing the mouth to aesthetic perfection... there is
gold to be made in this work! So what do you say, shall we try it out? The missus will love it.
Sigbert: You are a sick man, Osric. You are not right in the brain. Get away from me, and take your metal, horsecarts, and pigeons with you!
Okay, so it probably wouldn't have gone that way, but it's the best I can imagine it tonight. Apologies to all for all above strangeness and goriness depicted in words, images, imagination, or otherwise
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)