So, it finally became time to pull the problem tooth (#25) and get the bottom braces put on last week.
The week before that I had my monthly appointment for the top braces, on the 17th to be exact. So last month in April at the end of that appointment the dr says that next month we'll do the mold for your retainer for your top teeth. So I said to him, "So that sounds like we're getting close to do the bottom teeth. Should I make the appointment to get the tooth pulled the same day or what?" He says to me and I quote, "No, no, no, I'm not even ready to talk about that yet, don't do that yet!" I said, "ok, but when the time comes should I..." and he interrupts and says again that he's not ready to even talk about that yet don't do it. OOOOKKKK
So on the 17th they're fitting me for the retainer/bite plate and the assistant is saying how next Friday when you come back we'll have this ready for you and the top braces will come off and the bottom ones will go on. By the time she was done taking the mold out of my mouth so I could speak she was now talking to the doctor about something then his hands were in there doing the new wire and by the time all was said and done I completely forgot about what she had said.
So on my way into work I remembered she said the bottom ones would be put on so I called them up asking about the tooth, should it be pulled or what. He apologized and said he had forgotten all about it but even if I hadn't pulled it before hand the oral surgeon I'd be seeing is good enough that he'd be able to do it with them on. But of course pulling it before hand would be best. Ya think!?! So I asked him since my appointment with him isn't until the middle of the afternoon should I do it the same day so that way I can take the whole day off and get it done all at once. He said no, because if I do it the same day it'd still be bloody and the blood would get in the way of what he's doing. I should do it at least a day if not more ahead to give it a bit of time to heal over.
So my appointment for the tooth pulling was on the 23rd at 10:30. After the 40 or so minutes of letting the Novocain take affect it lasted all of 5 minutes to pull the damn thing. I did feel it when he had to push down on it to try to loosen it and he said I may hear cracking but not to worry it'll just be the tooth. Sure enough 3 cracks were heard but he got it out and then he said he could see the bit of real tooth that was still there with the fucked up root. Fucked up - my words not him. Heh That came right out, then all he had to do was stitch it up and I was out of there.
I fully expected to go into work that afternoon at 1:00. HDT kept telling me I shouldn't but I felt fine. Well sort of. I woke up with a headache and both my legs were aching as well and they didn't get any better for quite awhile.
When the dr was done he put a big piece of gauze on it and told me to bite down for 45 minutes. If after taking it off it was still bleeding put the new piece he gave me on it and bite down for 30 more minutes. Luckily I didn't have to do that. It was all to help the blood clot form. Because my mouth was slightly open and everything that had just been done was done I was salivating pretty heavily. So I was constantly swallowing. After being home for about 15 minutes my stomach started to get queasy from all the saliva with some blood mixed in that was going into it. Also Poydras started sniffing at me and at one point his nose was hitting my chin. I went to swipe him away telling him to stop and my hand brushed my chin and felt wetness. I had been drooling for who knows how long right down my chin and it also had been dripping and with all the numbness I didn't notice it. But you'd think HDT would've being right in front of me and all but NOOOO he didn't. My shirt had a big ole wet spot on it from the drool. Damn man.
So anyway, while we're sitting on the bed discussing what had happened, or sort of anyway, I couldn't really talk all that well what with the big ole piece of gauze and numbness, he's also looking at the paper they gave for what's to be done right after and up to a week. He reads where I was to take the first dose of antibiotics the night before. Of course I didn't because I didn't have the prescription. So he calls them up and they say I should've gotten three at the time of my consultation. Sure, yeah, but that was way back in December people. Thanks a lot for the reminder when I called to make the appointment a week ahead and their call to confirm it the day before. Hell, even at the appointment you'd think someone would have asked if I'd taken the pill the night before. So the lady tells HDT that they'll call one in for me and call him back when it's done.
After about 5 minutes I think I might know where they are if I hadn't thrown them away and sure enough I find them. He calls them back to let them know we're good. I ask him to fill them for me up the street at Walgreens so he could get back in time for me to go to work at 1:00. After another 10 minutes he FINALLY gets out of bed to go to the bathroom. While he's in there I say to him again to hurry up, don't take a shower, it's now 12:30 and I have to be leaving soon. While saying that I all of a sudden got a huge flair of pain in the right side on my brain. And it barely let up. So I said, ok, he's won I'm not going in.
He called my boss to let her know and she laughed and told him she fully expected me to be calling in, said she thought I was wishful thinking it about coming in. By the time we got the prescriptions filled and I took the first 800mg Ibuprofen (rather than the hydrocodone they also gave) the Novocain was just starting to wear off. The pain pill took care of that right away but the leg pain took almost another two hours to go away and the migraine didn't go away until almost 5:00. Which by that time I was practically falling asleep. Don't know what wiped me out but man I could barely keep my eyes open. So yeah, it was a good thing I ended up staying home.
Friday morning I was all better though so I was able to go into work with no problems. Chatted with my boss for the first half hour or so and then as I'm leaving her office she tells me to take it easy. Just do easy work until I had to leave for the day. She's so damn awesome. I'm so grateful my last place of employment layed me off and I found this place.
So I'm sitting in the chair at 2:00 and the dr's other assistant is working that day and she's preparing my bottom teeth for the braces and she says how he'll show me the retainer/bite plate. So I ask her if the top ones are coming off then. And she acted surprised and said no they'll be staying on probably for the whole duration. There's a small chance he might decide to take them off early but doubtful. I'm getting the retainer/bite plate now because they still come down about halfway which means they could be hitting the bottom braces and he wants to make sure that doesn't happen. He tells me I'm to wear it all the time except for when I eat. Yeah, that doesn't really happen. I definitely do while I'm sleeping but only partly during the day. At rest my teeth don't even touch unless I'm actually biting down and really why would I do that unless I'm eating. So yeah, not too worried about wearing it during the day when I'm at work and talking on and off. But don't worry I do wear it periodically throughout the day.
Within two hours of the braces being on there was already a slight space between the teeth that are moving in to replace the gap and the other teeth on their other sides. Damn that's fast. He did say he wanted to accelerate the process too so instead of a monthly appointment I'll be going in every two weeks for an adjustment.
And I have to say that although there is some pain and discomfort it's nothing like the top teeth were which made me very surprised. I thought for sure with a tooth being pulled and the others moving in to take it's place there'd be all kinds of pain. Maybe that'll come but right now I'm not hating it. And I am very happy that it's all finally gonna be done and over with. I mean, don't get me wrong, eating still isn't pleasant but it's bearable. Although being that it has just been a week I still can't bite into things unless it's very soft.
And I wasn't allowed to spit or drink through a straw until today. Which made "spitting" out my toothpaste not very easy. I had to sort of just push it out. And we went to see three movies over the weekend and I had to keep taking the lid off our drink rather than using the straw which was a big pain in the ass. Every time I took a drink I was afraid I was going to spill either the drink all over me or my popcorn all over the floor from balancing on my legs. But neither happened and I was able to enjoy the movies.
We saw Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness and 42. Gotta say Star Trek in 3D on the IMAX was pretty damn awesome but between it and Iron Man I actually like Iron Man more. It had more "story" to it. Meaning there was more down time inbetween all the action. Don't get me wrong, I like action but I like story with my action. And 42, wow, what an awesome movie. And if even half of it was true, being based on a true story and all, I learned quite a bit. But I agree with HDT that even though I very much enjoyed the movie and I love me some Major League and A League of Their Own they still don't make me like baseball. I'm a Cubs fan that doesn't care for baseball. Heh
Media quotes of the day:
From Iron Man 3
So, uhh, who's home? - Tony Stark
Well, my mom already left to the diner, and dad went somewhere to get scratchers... I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago. - Harley Keener
Hmm... which happens, dads leave, no need to be a pussy about it, here's what I need... - Tony Stark
From Star Trek Into Darkenss
Are you drunk? - James T Kirk
What I do on my private time is my business, Jim. - Scotty
From 42
You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back? - Jackie Robinson
No. I want a player who's got the guts *not* to fight back. - Branch Rickey
You give me a uniform, you give me a number on my back, I'll give you the guts. - Jackie Robinson
