Wisdom Teeth Check-In and a Winter Holiday

So dear darling Pat went in to get three of his wisdom teeth pulled on Tuesday. We were lucky to sneak in to the doctors early, Pat got his teeth pulled earlier, and I got to help him walk and get him all buckled and set in the car earlier than we had hoped. Score! AND we got home before the snow really started. The surgery went really well. Post surgery, the assistant came to bring me to Pat. I will never forget walking in to the small narrow room that was more of a closet than anything else. Pat was lying on a cot-like bed on one side, with stuffed cheeks and a vacant expression. When I asked him how he was, he grunted and made noise, and when I raised an eyebrow, he gave me a thumb's up, so I knew he was OK.

As we were leaving, Pat said we couldn't leave until we got the teeth. Yes, all the teeth that had been pulled! He was pretty insistent. But the doctor was no where to be found, and the receptionist area was empty, so I prevailed upon Pat that we should just go. I have to say I regret we didn't get the teeth, how big were they? I know one was broken in half . . . Imagine what we could tell our kids some day in the future . . . "Junior, a tooth THIS size is worth $5.  . . Yours? well . . . maybe it's worth 25 cents . . "

As we drove home, Pat told me through his expressionless bulging cheek face about the tooth extraction. As the doctor had started giving him anesthesia, he told Pat. "This is the appetizer . . ." "Hmmm." Pat said, "It is delicious". Then as Pat started feeling it and feeling better and better, Pat asked the doctor, "So is this the main course?" and the doctor said, "Not the main course yet, another appetizer" . . . "Mmmmm" said Pat.

Then, before he knew it, the top left wisdom tooth was pulled. But Pat wasn't sure if the bottom left one or the upper right tooth would be the next target. He felt it was Very Important to know. He tried and tried to ask the doctor. But his hands were occupied (BP cuff, O2 sat, IV attached to arms) so he couldn't use hand motions. His jaw was stretched open with a plastic thing, and his mouth was numb. So all that came out was inarticulate mumbo-jumbo. But the doctor very kindly said, "I'm sorry, I really have no idea what you are trying to say . . . But you may not remember this anyway".

Once we got home, we had a few hours before we felt like we were 'in the clear'. Pat's bottom left tooth was bleeding quite a bit, leaving a pool of blood in his mouth. His tongue and lip stayed numb for a very long time. And he couldn't swallow anything for a couple hours. This is NOT what I wanted to see. Nursing 101 and all the post-surgery precautions of gag reflex/swallowing came flooding back to me. We did a lot of blood control, and went through a lot of gauze and a lot of big clots but eventually everything evened out! AND feeling came back in his tongue, lips and cheeks. So no nerve damage, thank God!

And thanks to THIS miraculous fruit:

There has been little to no swelling!! Especially surprising after the doctors made a Very Big Deal about Pat's age, how his teeth have hardened, and wisdom teeth removal is a whole different ball game when you're 30 than when you're 20.

Day one:

Not too bad, right?!

Yesterday, I only took one picture and it turned out terribly. SO,

On day 3:

Not much swelling!! Yet another pineapple victory!!

And the best part about this whole thing is Pat has been staying home all week! It has been the best thing ever.