My first operation, my first surgery. To many it wasn't painful, it wasn't a big event, but if it's a first for me, its gotta be huge :P Contains some pictures.
Made my way down this morning, was super hungry because you can't eat or drink anything six hours before the surgery (to prevent puking I suppose) and was met with great service. Was ushered into the room, staff was polite all the way, helpful, being like little mums taking great care of you. They actually made me feel more at ease.
**GRUESOME-ish pictures ahead! And unglam ones.
The first nurse took my temperature, took my weight (I gained weight omg I hope I lose weight from this), gave me some forms to sign, etc. Then another doctor brought me to a room with the x-ray of my teeth and reminded me of the procedures and what was to happen.
So I was a little nervous. Or quite a lot.
The Doctor warned me that, due to my lower teeth being near the nerves, I might experience numbness in my jaw, chin and tongue. He also warned me that, because I was removing the top teeth too, that I might get a sinus infection and that there might be a hole which would cause water to go to my nose.
He also told me that a tube was to be inserted through my nose into my throat. Which might lead to a sore throat (and phlegm). This tube goes down my throat into the main airway so that I can inhale the anesthesia. Normally it's via mouth but because it's a dental surgery so it's placed through my nose.
Wouldn't that scare you more? But Doctors have to tell you all the risks that came with the operation, of course.
I didn't know that nail polish wasn't allowed, so when the nurse saw my painted nails she made me remove the index finger of both hands hahah. Woops, my bad! I don't think they actually had the retail nail polish remover, but probably the equivalent in solution form :O It didn't stink too much.
When I went in, the surgeon asked some basic questions, and I commented that I was really cold (slightly shivering) and when she took my hand to find my vein, she agreed.
"All your nerves are constricted!"
I did some hand exercises, she tapped my hand a few times, but nope, my nerves had dug themselves in real deep. But I think the surgeon sorta saw it? So she poked in. Yes it hurts but it wasn't THAT bad. (If you can survive brazilian/bikini waxing, this isn't so bad, seriously). The IV Drip didn't run. And there was a slight sensation where my butt felt pins and needles. Nurse said it might be because of the hot air.
After one nurse blew some hot air onto hands and I felt SLIGHTLY warmer, the surgeon tried again. This time it worked! Woopie.
Surgeon asked me why there was a cut on my hand. I forgot why but now I remember! I scraped it against a locker -_-
By then, another nurse had clipped my index finger to for blood oxygen saturation measurement (it shoots out a light which measures the wavelength that shows how much oxygen there is in the blood) and there were some sticky circular things stuck on my chest to measure my heartbeat.
That same nurse asked me to inhale some oxygen gas through a transparent, triangle shaped mask. I obliged. Think it was three seconds later and I fell asleep.
Woke up because someone shook me awake (I'm a light sleeper) and told me that the surgery was over. I gestured to the nurse to ask her what had happened, and she told me that I was in the recovery room where they will observe me for thirty minutes before sending me out. My face felt numb but my nose and throat felt raw. I remembered how a tube was through my nose so I didn't dare touch my face in case the tube was still on. It wasn't.
I was super sleepy, but the nurse kept shaking me a bit and telling me to stay awake as she measured my vital stats. I looked at my right hand, looked around the room, looked at the clock, tried to open my eyes, and somehow it worked. I was also SUPER cold. Like shivering even more, and the nurse had to bring me the hot air thing again.
Guess everything was fine so the nurse wheeled me (still on the bed) to the main visiting room. I was really drowsy but happy that it was over and that I felt no crazy pain. And that korilakkuma was with me (Yes I brought my bear, It makes a great bolster too)
As you can see, my cheeks are slighly swollen/puffy!
An hour or so later, the nurse asked me to have some water, and swallowing was so hard. Then the numbness started to wear off so the nurse got me the painkiller tablets (x2) for me to swallow. It was tough. Firstly, my lips were numb so I didn't even know if the water or how much water was in my mouth. Secondly, I couldn't swallow really well. Thirdly, my throat was numb so I didn't even know if the pill went down. I had to try a few times, open my mouth so that the nurse could look in to see if it went down (it didn't until like five tries later) and there was once I actually GAGGED.
I think there was too much water in my mouth for me to swallow. So my body just did a gag reflex and churned out the water. So after the water dried up, I realised there was some blood in it (from the colour) and I felt really bad for whoever had to clean up after me.
The nurse put a gauze in my mouth "to absorb the saliva" but of course it was to make my wound stop bleeding. When she took out the gauze an hour or so later, it was... gross.
The funniest thing was that, I felt like I needed to use the restroom, but I was wondering why because I hadn't drank any water! Then I found out that the IV drip is kinda liquid so I kinda had water. Just not through my mouth. I was still quite weak when I got out of the bed. The nurse asked me if I wanted one of those portable toilet chairs. I vehemently denied. I almost fell on the way to the toilet.
A while later I also realised that there was no tube on my face and that my right nostril had crumbly blood bits. Must've been from the tube, and my friend says it's probably traumatic because during insertion can have injury! >_>
Stayed in the bed for about an hour longer, couldn't sleep because other people were making a lot of noise, but after that, I had a bit more water, changed my gauze and headed back.
Notice the stuff next to my bed. Diluted Ribena that I couldn't drink properly, water used to take my meds, me looking awkward because I was trying to swallow -_- Oh and that white stuff? Filled with blood hahah.
Dad drove me home, my tongue was still numb, lips have some sensation, I'm not sure if they're numb because the anaesthesia hasn't worn off yet or it's because of the impact to the nerve.
I also inspected my teeth, which the doctors generously returned to me. The top two are perfectly intact, there was no drilling at all, but the bottom two were in pieces. And had bits of gum/meat stuck to them. The roots also looked mighty tough and strong so I hope the dentist didn't have too much of a struggle.
Luckily mine was the first wisdom teeth extraction for the day :X There were two kids before me and they were screaming and crying it was so annoying.
I didn't want to pay a large amount for my surgery, so I actually went to the polyclinic's dental to have them refer me to NDC, hence I paid a subsidized rate and used some Medisave to cover it. Something you might want to consider. It saved me about 2k SGD but mine was still above 1k btw.
Thank you everyone for your wishes and prayers and lovely comments Love you all and I know you're awesome! To those who read my tweets/status updates but didn't bother saying anything.. well, God Bless you. To those who were so cute and asked me where I was staying so they could visit, you guys are true friends :')
To a speedy recovery! :) If you're having your wisdom teeth operation soon, good luck! If you've already done it, salute!
I am damn hungry though.
Read about my previous wisdom teeth consultation, explain my choice (why 4 and not 2?) below!
FIRST (and earliest), SECOND, and THIRD.
So.. I finally manned up and made an appointment with NDC for my wisdom teeth consultation. My doctor was really nice and re-assuring and he explained the procedures to me in great detail, answered all my curious (possibly annoying) questions and my random attempts at jokes.
Me: "Will I lose some of my memory?"
Him: -_-;
Took an X-ray that revealed what I already knew (it was more for the doctor's analysis), my lower wisdom teeth were impacted, under the gum, and might potentially decay when food gets stuck, causing the tooth in front of it to decay as well.
My upper teeth, seemed normal.They were still hidden under the gum but also under a bone.
He listed several options for me.
1) General Anaesthesia, remove all 4 at once
2) Local Anaesthesia, to remove the teeth on the left side/right side (either, not both)
3) General Anaesthesia, to remove my bottom wisdom teeth
(note: General anaesthesia, you're put to sleep. Local anaesthesia, you're conscious all the way but the area will be numbed)
I asked if I could do General anaesthesia on the left side, then general again next time on the right, but he remarked that general anaesthesia has its risks and hence, shouldn't be done more than once.
I thought about it really carefully.
In my blog post here, I talked about how the dentist will cut open my gum, drill my tooth to bits, take out the tooth bits, and stitch it back.
I was right.
But did I really want to be awake when that happens?? I know, under Local anaesthesia you technically don't feel a thing, but you can SEE what happens. You can SEE the blood that's being removed from your mouth (you can probably estimate how much you're bleeding). I know girls bleed every month but I don't like the sight of blood at all.
Also, if the dentist (paranoia sets in) happens to raise his eyebrows during the surgery, exclaims "Oh golly, I've never seen THIS before!" or "Oh no I can't seem to remove this" etc, I would totally freak out.
Plus, why would I want to see someone inflicting harm on me??!?! Drilling into my teeth?!! The only time I said I will pay for someone to inflict pain on me is for hair waxing. That's it (for now).
I've never had any surgeries or operations so far so perhaps this aversion to pain is explainable?
The risk, though, no matter what type of anaesthesia I chose, was that my lower wisdom teeth were near my nerves. This meant that after the surgery, I might feel numbness in my chin or tongue. MIGHT, not definitely k. And, if I decided to remove my top wisdom teeth, which were kinda near the sinus (some air space), there are risks of infection etc.
And so I decided. I will leave my top teeth wherever they are. They seem happy that way. As for my LOWER teeth, to the left one that caused me great pain when I was in EUROPE, you deserve to get out of my life, and to my right one that is nearer to the nerves, well you will cause me future pain so you're gone too.
Surgery date has been booked for July, til then I'm going to try and forget about my surgery until the week before.
Wish me luck. I also hope I somehow get 'Get well soon!' cards and bouquets of flowers like what I see in dramas. #wishfulthinking
Just got back from Casio Sheen's photoshoot! Met Shine, Ai and Christine and made new friends! Will blog about it once I get the photoshoot pictures. Plus I got a brand new Casio Sheen watch!! I love it to bits. It's growing on me. Another leather strap to add to my collection!! But it's a completely different design. It's a chronograph!! *squeals* Okay more on the watch next time.
I also got a packet of the new Milo Easy Cool!! The one where you add iced water and drink milo immediately!! Don't need to add hot water before adding ice. Amazing. Can't wait to try it out. I'm a complete milo freak. Milo is to me, like how coffee is to some of you. Hahah.
This week I also went for Elizabeth Arden's Ceramide Launch! It was at a spa, freaking blew my mind. I think Elizabeth Arden really outdid themselves. :)
What a crazy week huh! But it's good, TGIF. And thank god for cabs!
Photo credits to Crystal. My camera died because I forgot to charge it -_-
Some photos from my friend's wedding. Yes I wore the same dress as the Nuffnang Birthday party, but this event was the first time I was wearing the dress! (Nuffnang was 2nd haha)
With everyone at our table! It was held at Orchard Hotel.
Super coincidental that us 3 girls wore dresses in the same shade -ish haha.
I like the whole purple hue!
Another shot of the ladies just for you! Hahah.
Congrats Joshua and Claire! (Yes the same name as me) I knew them before they got together and while they were together! University seems so long ago but great memories nonetheless!
Random Zipai shot. Sad that the stomach area is a bit poofy so I look like I have a tummy in some of the pics zzzz. I should throw the dress away but I like it so much!! Haiz.
Stay tuned :)
Oh, and I got off work on time today at 7pm. Gotta catch up on my dramas! Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Big Bang Theory, Gossip girl, 2 Broke girls and How I met your mother.
Dear blog,
Work is absolutely crazy. This week was just a mad rush. I didn't intend to forsake you! We have a deadline every 3 days. I don't know how I'm going to handle it, but all I know is that sleep is going to be a luxury.
Since last week, my throat has been giving me warning signs of an infection, so I had been taking really good care of it (liang teh, fish sliced soup, no fried heaty stuff) but I decided to be mischievous and have some steak and fries on Wednesday night while I was at The Prime Society. Oh and pasta and pizza on Tuesday at Bella Pizza. Guess I was asking for it. I lost my voice on Thursday.
Looks so delicious how to resist??
I didn't even take MC for throat infection, even though the doctor advised me to rest.
My antibiotics.
I also went for a dental check up this week. Turns out that my wisdom teeth are grown and the dentist advised me to go for a minor day surgery to remove them all. From talking with my friends, I already know what's going to happen, and I don't like the sign of it one bit. Under general anesthesia, the dentist will cut your gum open, drill the tooth into small bits, and remove all the small bits. Then sew the gum back together.
If that doesn't already sound daunting, I don't know what is. DRILLING?? Plus I have to get ALL 4 out at ONE GO. When I wake up and after the painkillers wear off, I think I will be too in pain to eat anything (how do you even get food in?!?! No matter where the spoon goes it's going to hit a corner of the mouth.
I've never had any serious injuries before so this will be the first time I'm going to be involved in an operation. But a friend reassured me...
"It's a phase of life."
So I guess I have to get through it.
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Wish me luck!
