Bloody Friday

On Friday morning I went for my wisdom toot extraction surgery. 

On Monday, my parents made an appointment for me and we went to take an X-Ray at Alexandria Hospital. We consulted an oral surgeon and he said it's best to extract all 4 of my wisdom teeth in one shot, under General Anesthesia, because my mouth is quite small and the two upper wisdom teeth is very deep in.

Plus, the two upper wisdom teeth is very near the sinus, I saw the X-ray, it's like 1mm away from the sinus only!!! :(

So they told me it'll have a high chance of perforation, and if it doesn't heal properly, food will get stuck in the sinus cavity, WTH!?

And got about less than 1-5% of permanent nerve damage.

The whole week I was very nervous. My parent went with me for the surgery. And Sidney took half a day leave to go with us too. Luckily he stays in the next block, so he could hitch a ride with us.

When I went into the operating theatre at about 8.45am, it was quite cold. The nurses told me to remove my outer hospital gown (that's like a kimono) and I thought she meant remove everything. I was like, "HUH!?" But she explained properly and I took it off. When I lay down on the operation bed/table thing, the nurse said she needs me to partially take off my inner gown. -_-" 

Because they need to put some sticker with electrodes on it to measure my heart rate (ECG). 

Then the doctor in charge of GA inserted a tube into the vein in my hand for the saline solution, and after that they let me breathe some gas. 

He said its an oxygen mask, but after a while I smelt something funny in the mask. 

I was just about to ask them why is there a funny smell, and is that the gas that will KO me when I FELL ASLEEP!
Before that they were talking to me, asking where I'm studying and all that. I can't believe I got knocked out so easily and fast....

The next thing I remember is this nurse calling me, "Ms Tan, Ms Tan, wake up..."
Then I woke up and got like a little pain on the left side of my face. 

It's a weird feeling. Like you're freaking tired and really want to continue sleeping, but I didn't want to not listen to instructions. Plus, I was feeling very shocked. I remember panicking a bit and kept trying to get up.

Like one second ago, I was trying to stay awake and now I'm outside of the operating theatre?!

THEN I TELL YOU. 

I feel so embarrassed. Don't know why but I kept farting! And I cannot control it! 

SUPER EMBARRASSING. 

I kept saying sorry, but felt damn sleepy and groggy. And my mouth was so swollen and numb I couldn't even speak properly...

Anyway, after that they let me rinse my mouth every hour, but I had to stay for a while longer because everytime I stand up I had a weird rash on my chest area. 

But 5 minutes later it'll disappear! 

The nurses were very worried so they asked the doctor to come down to the Day Ward to take a look at me. I was asking them if it's because of the sticker and electrodes they pasted on my chest to measure my heart rate then the nurses dismissed it...

This is one of the things I study in Psych, about the patient and provider relationship. 

Meaning me = patient and provider = nurses and doctors. 

The nurses didn't credit my logical reasoning! 

I mean, what other reason could there be right?

I have no drug allergy...and if I were allergic to the GA gas, I would have worse symptoms, and I don't think it'd cause a rash there...

When the oral surgeon came down, then he agreed it's most probably because of the sticker with the gel....that my skin could be slightly sensitive to it.

It was slightly gross because my gums kept bleeding.

The worse thing is that when I'm sleeping it's still bleeding, when I'm eating, it bleeds even more and when I rinse my mouth, the water that I spit out is red...

I know this is normal but don't know.

Surprisingly, I didn't find it painful.

My left side of the face is very swollen and the right side of my mouth was still numb until this morning. I was starting to feel worried because they said after 8pm the numbness should be almost gone I was awake til' 2+am yesterday, and it was still quite numb! 

The doctor and nurses recommended me to eat ice cream because it's cooling and it'll decrease the swelling and constrict the blood vessels so it also decreases bleeding, and on my left side I can feel that the ice cream is cold, but I couldn't feel it on my right! 

I was really afraid that my nerve got damaged, but luckily, no! :

I must thank the doctors and nurses at Alexandria Hospital who did my surgery, they were really kind and helpful. 

The extremely happy attitude of my oral surgeon made me feel less nervous and I think he did a good job! Although I don't know why but my left side is so swollen.

I think it's because he sewed the gum to my cheek wall?

I really don't know why though.

So it kinda hurts when I smile/laugh or open my mouth wide.

Talking about that, I think because my mouth isn't very big and when I was asleep they used a clamp to pull my mouth open, especially on my left side that they sewed the gum to the cheek wall, there's like bruising and abrasion at the left corner of my mouth.

It's a bit gross because the skin is starting to peel off and there was like pus today... Eews.

When I compare my wisdom teeth to Sidney's normal molars, they're like half of his molars' size!

Kinda sad that I can't go out and that I have to stay home and eat soft food and be careful about my mouth and recuperate...

And it's weird that I can feel the stitches in my mouth. 

Plus, they sewed the cheek wall to the gum so it's sticking out. When I close my mouth I have to be careful not to bite down too hard on the cheek's flesh...

I'm very glad it's over though. And that it's a success.

I was very worried about undergoing GA because I MUST KNOW what doctors/nurses are doing to my body. 

For example, when the GA doctor was inserting a needle into the vein in my hand, I kept trying to sit up and watch, but they kept telling me to lie back.

Also, it's like what if I had anesthesia awareness right?

What if they think I'm KO-ed and they get like interns to watch me like a guinea pig or anyhow touch my boobies or rape me like in Kill Bill!?

Okay, that's just paranoia talking.

I feel very thankful to my parents. The total bill is about S$2003...I know they're very worried and I feel very bad for troubling them. 

Plus, I feel bad about Sidney wasting half a day's leave on this. 

I felt really happy when I saw him before and after the surgery though <3