I recently had my first physical exam in probably several decades. Now that we're finally back on regular dental checkups, my wife and I figured that we should probably get everything else taken care of as well. We also didn't have a general family doctor yet, so it was probably about time we found one. We ended finding a pretty nice private practice close by that got good reviews.
The visit mostly entailed some blood work and an EKG as well as a quick once over. The blood work looked good---my good HDL cholesterol is pretty high while my bad LDL cholesterol is pretty low. My blood pressure is a little low to normal and my heart was healthy on the EKG readout. All in all, it looks like I'm in good shape. I guess I must have good genes as I could probably eat a little better and exercise a little more. My wife also had no major problems. I have to admit, I was a little terrified about having to go through with a prostate exam, but I guess it wasn't necessary yet...but it's only a matter of time...
Otherwise, I'm no longer in pain after getting my wisdom teeth removed, so I'm not hopped up on Ibuprofen every day. Everything's not quite back to normal---I still have three big holes in the gums at back of my mouth that haven't closed up yet (although thankfully the stitches have finally dissolved---having them dangling around really bothered me). It feels a little surreal, but every night I have to take the a small dental brush and clean them out. It's actually a little morbidly fascinating how much food gets stuck in there that you have to pull out. At least I think it's food...
Showing posts with label Wisdom Teeth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wisdom Teeth. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wisdom Extracted
On top of taking care of our sick kitty over the past week, I also had three of my wisdom teeth taken out. Either alone would have been bad enough, but having to do both made things particularly overwhelming. I've known for years that my wisdom teeth needed to come out---as you can see in the picture, the bottom two were impacted and coming in sideways, while there was one on the top that was out, but crowding the rest of my teeth. I guess I wasn't wise enough to have a fourth. You can also forget all of those cavities that you see there...by the way, why do wisdom teeth come in sideways??? What purpose does that serve??? That seems like a pretty bad design...I don't see how anything good can come out of it...
Still, I tried to ignore the problem. After all, everyone was telling me horror stories about getting their wisdom teeth out. Some people ended up swollen and literally black and blue. Most people had to lie sick in bed for days if not weeks. One person had projectile vomit (which actually sounded kind of cool). Other people ended up permanently losing some of the nerve endings on their face! One of my coworkers even mentioned that they tried to put him under but he ended up staying awake during the whole ordeal---at one point the surgeon had his head in a headlock trying to wrench the tooth out. As much fun as that sounded, I decided to wait.
Sadly, about a month ago, the gum around one of my wisdom teeth got inflamed and infected and I could barely eat or even open my mouth. The wisdom teeth were starting to "erupt" and come out (I think they deliberately pick the most pleasant sounding names). So that's when I finally got pushed over the edge and scheduled a date with my oral surgeon. I eagerly opted for going under (I fear pain, but that will have to wait for another story...). I was shocked at how fast the procedure was. It lasted only half an hour and then I was done. Apparently, the surgeon does about 6-7 procedures a day. I had no idea there were that many people getting their wisdom teeth out. It sounds like a pretty lucrative business.
So far, luckily I've been one of the good cases. I didn't get black or blue or even that swollen. As far as I can tell, I can still feel most of my face. It was pretty painful for the first day or two, but then it wasn't too bad. The worst part was feeling weak from just eating a liquid diet for several days. But a week later, the stitches have dissolved and I can eat solid food again. I ate a hamburger as my first meal after days of soup and oatmeal and it was the most delicious thing that I've ever eaten. Overall, it wasn't that bad and I probably should have done it sooner. Oh well.
Still, I tried to ignore the problem. After all, everyone was telling me horror stories about getting their wisdom teeth out. Some people ended up swollen and literally black and blue. Most people had to lie sick in bed for days if not weeks. One person had projectile vomit (which actually sounded kind of cool). Other people ended up permanently losing some of the nerve endings on their face! One of my coworkers even mentioned that they tried to put him under but he ended up staying awake during the whole ordeal---at one point the surgeon had his head in a headlock trying to wrench the tooth out. As much fun as that sounded, I decided to wait.
Sadly, about a month ago, the gum around one of my wisdom teeth got inflamed and infected and I could barely eat or even open my mouth. The wisdom teeth were starting to "erupt" and come out (I think they deliberately pick the most pleasant sounding names). So that's when I finally got pushed over the edge and scheduled a date with my oral surgeon. I eagerly opted for going under (I fear pain, but that will have to wait for another story...). I was shocked at how fast the procedure was. It lasted only half an hour and then I was done. Apparently, the surgeon does about 6-7 procedures a day. I had no idea there were that many people getting their wisdom teeth out. It sounds like a pretty lucrative business.
So far, luckily I've been one of the good cases. I didn't get black or blue or even that swollen. As far as I can tell, I can still feel most of my face. It was pretty painful for the first day or two, but then it wasn't too bad. The worst part was feeling weak from just eating a liquid diet for several days. But a week later, the stitches have dissolved and I can eat solid food again. I ate a hamburger as my first meal after days of soup and oatmeal and it was the most delicious thing that I've ever eaten. Overall, it wasn't that bad and I probably should have done it sooner. Oh well.
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