This post is completely about having my wisdom teeth pulled. So if you already know the story, feel free to skip it. Post containing all the new fun stuff is next.
So I had my wisdom teeth out. Yep, all gone. Nothing left but holes where teeth used to be. Oh yea, and a numb spot on my chin.
So after the surgery, it took a few days, but various things started to set in.
Dry socket #1. Left side, bottom. They packed it, and seriously, 10 minutes later the pain was COMPLETELY gone.
A small spot of numbness in my chin had started. Over the next week, it had spread to my bottom lip. All on the right side. This, I still have, but will cover in detail, several paragraphs down.
A few days later, dry socket #2. Right side, bottom.
The funny thing? I don't even smoke!!! And this condition is FAR more common in smokers, as well, they normally only get 1!!!
Absolutely the most blinding, horrible pain you can imagine in the right side of my face. It ran down from my temple through my ear(like having an ice pick shoved in to your ear in an effort to punch through to your brain), down the jaw line, the side of my neck, and across my shoulder. (*Let me just toss this in here, the pain has since subsided.*) After a few days of that, I was back in to the Dentist(not the surgeon). This is where they diagnosed dry socket #2.
They packed it with something a little different and I was off. 2.5 hours later, the pain was back. Friday night, and dental offices are now closed.) 4 days later, I was back in to see the Oral Surgeon, who put a different spin on things. So apparently I clench my teeth. Oh yay..... And in the process of healing from the surgery, I had clenched my teeth so much, I'd pulled the muscle that runs down the side of my face. Nothing that can be done, just wait it out. Muscle relaxants, and relax, relax, relax.
I slept maybe 6 hours over the next 3 days. Spent 6 of my 8 hours of sleep time each night, pacing across my living room. I am not kidding..... I have restless leg syndrome, so when it acts up, I have to move. HAVE TO. No choice. It's that, or I experience random twitching, and I don't want to keep Niceguy up all night with twitching or kicking. I hadn't had a flare up in months, so some recent addition had to cause this.
Now, the other problem.... I was already back to work. You see the issue? I'm a technical support phone agent. I will be talking all day. Moving muscles, and hating consumers. Yep, that's a great way to relax.
I stopped taking the muscle relaxants, and hey, whattyaknow?! I was able to sleep, and didn't have the need to move constantly! I paid attention to what I was doing with my mouth. Constantly checking things with my tongue? Stopped. Shifting my mouth around to check the numbness? Stopped. If I clenched in my sleep, I conditioned myself to wake up immediately and stop. The pain slowly started to subside. I'd get 4-6 hours in the morning, and then pain. Then up to 10 hours. Eventually, all day, except maybe a 20 minute spaz after eating.
3.5 weeks, and still not eating solid foods. I lost 17 lbs. 10 of which was in the first week. Not complaining, but the speed at which it was coming off was concerning. Anyways.... I have put some of it back on, so no worries here. *grumble*
The pain at this point is gone. I might feel a slight twinge every few days or so, and it's likely because I am just doing too much. I started eating solid foods again on Monday, because the muscle in my face(yes, the griefy-one mentioned above) was so tight, I couldn't open my mouth more than half an inch or so. So how to condition it? Chew. Chew chew chew. Sore, but good. I can almost open my mouth as far as I used to be able to. Which for some, I'm sure, is a bit of a disappointment. ;-)
The two holes on the top of my mouth are almost completely closed. YAY! The bottom two? Still pits, and angry pits at that. Too much, and I get sore, so I'm having to REALLY focus when I eat, and not over do it. I had a cheeseburger on Friday, and I cannot tell you just how amazing it was. I still find myself mashing and sucking on foods occasionally, so I really have to focus on chewing. Overall though, I think I'm doing very well.
Now, on to the numbness I mentioned. So my bottom wisdom teeth, really didn't want to come out. The surgeon said and I quote, "They came out as good as we could have expected them to, considering the proximity to the nerves." One tooth was on top of the nerve. Yes, touching it. The other, actually had it wrapped around it. While you try to figure that out, I'll continue.... I was warned of this before I went in, so like any idiot with the "Stuff like that will never happen to me" attitude, I blew it off. *sigh*
Left side, meh, it's healing. No pain, all is well. The right side? Nerve damage. So, think the right side of my face here, my chin and the bottom half of my bottom lip are numb. If I bite my lip, I can get very faint bits of pain. But I can slap my chin, and feel nothing. Over time, even the feeling of pushing on my face and the pressure of skin pulling from the surrounding areas started to fade. Surgeon says the area of no-feeling is about the size of a quarter.
The area still functions. I guess I should say that. I might dribble occasionally, but everything is still functional. There just isn't any feeling there. This brought about a whole slew of emotional moments. I won't go in to grave detail about what was running through my head, but let me just say, it wasn't good, and the emotional roller-coaster I've taken Niceguy on, can't have been fun for him either. I still occasionally burst into a random tear-fest, when no one is looking.... Trying to get through this....
Lately though, I've been getting these phantom itches. OMG, it itches so bad, but because there's no feeling there, I cannot scratch it. I just rub it lightly with the palm of my hand(to avoid over-scratching and possibly cutting or scratching myself raw) until it goes away. The last couple of days have brought burning sensations and feeling in the bottom half of my lip again. Albeit faint, it's still feeling.
I've had a checkup with the surgeon, and have another in a week or so. He said the itching is typically a sign of the nerve healing, but not to get my hopes up. Stuff like this can happen, and then it can fade out again. I have been told, that if I don't have feeling back soon, I need to start considering long-term. Am I willing to live with the loss of feeling? Or do I want the surgery that MAY correct it. Even with surgery, full repair is not a certainty. He noted, there are really only a couple of good surgeons on the west coast that do this surgery well, and once I hit three-months after the damage, the likelihood of full repair or recovery drops dramatically.
It's a very invasive surgery, that's the nice, un-detailed way of putting it. Also very likely that insurance may not cover it, or all of it. That basically means that however this turns out, I have to live with it.
So fingers crossed. I want to be able to feel again. I want to be able to completely feel a kiss. (That's a big one.) I want to not have to ask Niceguy constantly to stare at my chin while I eat to make sure I didn't dribble. Or not to have to damn near rub my chin raw with napkins to make sure I didn't spill. Or not to be completely paranoid when we go out to eat. And many many other things.
The surgeon actually made a comment about how so far, I have fallen in to the small percentage of people that experience ALL of these things..... Yay me.... Murphy's law right? If it can happen, it will.
So needless to say, when it comes to this surgery, it hasn't been the best experience, but it's getting better.
Alrighty, so now you know. Next post, much happier stuff.
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