A good laugh at my own expense (post-wisdom teeth photo)

So I got my impacted wisdom teeth surgically removed on Thursday. Considering I'm 31 and considered a high risk patient for this particular procedure due to my age, I was expecting the worst. So far so good though. No bad pain, just general achyness and a whole lot of swelling. Been falling asleep every few hours due to the meds, but the doc did a great job. He kept all the incisions on the outside of my jaw so I can eat without getting food in the holes or have my tongue irritate the stitches.

Anyways, I saw myself in the mirror last night and couldn't help but equate myself with the "once you see it..." meme for the 007 Goldeneye video game box. I thought my housemate was going to die laughing. I've got an injury on my lip from the surgery that makes my mouth look too long on one side.

The second photo is so that any single guys out there don't think I'm ugly as sin. o_o

Glad it's all over! And you probably think it looks weirder than it does, from here it just looks a little swollen. Hope you're all healed and grinning soon!

NOW I CAN NEVER UNSEE IT!

lol no. I'm sure your face feels real funky, but it honestly doesn't look that bad! Personally I was a chipmunk after mine got removed, so I can relate.
It's nice to see that you're in good spirits though, laughter is the best medicine after all! I'm so glad to hear that you're recovering well too! It sounds like everything's going smoothly, I'm sure you'll be back at 100% in no time! Grin symmetry and all!
Wishing you the best~

Don't feel bad. Katey-my kiddo-has such a small mouth that she has to have pedo films when they x-ray her mouth.

This is her normally-





This is post-op Day 1. She wouldn't let me take any pics when she started bruising. They needed bite-blocks to keep her drugged-out mouth open to work on her, and had to use the Stryker drill to expose the side-ways impacted teeth. And the assistant TRIED to set up her IV without giving her nitrous. BIG mistake. She's probably the most needle-phobic person I know, and she got a bit combative.






Her first words to me when I went to get her from the operatory to my car-

"I HATE YOU."

Oh-and she barfed into a grocery bag on our way home...on the Thruway-at 60 mph.

She tired to go back to school the next Monday, but without ice packs, she was in too much pain, and took the rest of the week off. The school got nasty about her bringing LorTab to school, too.

Yikes! My experience was nowhere near that bad. It's been two weeks now and I've pretty much resumed life as normal, except for the gaping holes in my mouth I'm being obsessive compulsive about cleaning out. By the end of the day my jaw is achy from exertion, but it's more of an annoyance than actual pain. Thankfully I'm allowed to work from home, so I ended up only missing 2 days of work following the surgery when I was too drugged to think clearly.

I was only nauseous for about a half hour after I woke from anesthesia. I'm not afraid of blood or needles or anything, so I didn't need any additional drugs to keep me comfortable. Maybe her nausea was due to the interaction of nitrous and the anesthesia?

I didn't even notice any bruising until a few days ago when my martial arts instructor wondered if somebody punched me in the face, lol! Always trust a fighter to point out the bruises.

Has she ever forgiven you for the photos? :-)

Originally Posted by snowgyre

Yikes! My experience was nowhere near that bad. It's been two weeks now and I've pretty much resumed life as normal, except for the gaping holes in my mouth I'm being obsessive compulsive about cleaning out. By the end of the day my jaw is achy from exertion, but it's more of an annoyance than actual pain. Thankfully I'm allowed to work from home, so I ended up only missing 2 days of work following the surgery when I was too drugged to think clearly.

Yeah-Kate developed a small abscess from not being able to rinse the food out of the socket, but with antibiotics and a curve-beaked syringe, she was able to rinse better and healed up nicely.

I was only nauseous for about a half hour after I woke from anesthesia. I'm not afraid of blood or needles or anything, so I didn't need any additional drugs to keep me comfortable. Maybe her nausea was due to the interaction of nitrous and the anesthesia?

Glad you didn't have the "yaks"!! Kate's barf-fest was more than likely the drug combo and some swallowed blood on her already nervous and empty stomach. You would have though they told her they were going to euthanize her. She was BIG TIME scared.

I didn't even notice any bruising until a few days ago when my martial arts instructor wondered if somebody punched me in the face, lol! Always trust a fighter to point out the bruises.

LOL-Kate had her extractions done on Friday morning, and when she went to school on Monday, everyone thought she had the crap beaten out of her over the weekend. Her JROTC instructor said he hoped "the other guy got it worse!"

Has she ever forgiven you for the photos? :-)

Yeah...we're all good.

I told her that at least she didn't go through the YEARS of pain I did by putting the surgery off. I'd be fine for months, and then POW!! The pain would be back for several weeks.

I had access to paregoric (camphorated tincture of OPIUM), and I'd take a tiny ball of cotton, soak it in the paregoric, and stick that into whatever "corner" of my mouth was killing me.

I'd lay on my bed for hours, pain-free and blissed out of my ever-loving mind!!

When I'd had enough of the pain, I had the surgery, and about 3 days of mind-blowing headaches from the paregoric withdrawal.

That's the closest I've ever come to having an addiction problem.