Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Dental Work Fallout

The pain was much, much, much worse than I anticipated. To top it all off, the pain meds, Norco, didn't even make a teeny little scratch in the pain. I took one before I left the dental office at 6pm because the novocaine was wearing off. By 7 o'clock, the pain was even worse. and I took another one. No relief. I just started weeping. It wasn't just an aching pain, it was a very sharp, icepick-to-the-roof-of-my-mouth pain. I'd had two Norco in two hours and was still in extreme pain. On a scale of 1-10, I would say a 9.

Then I remembered that I still had some liquid Vicodin left over from my DS surgery. I found it right away in my nightstand. There wasn't much in there. I took a tablespoon and sat back down on the couch and waited. Within 15 minutes the pain started ebbing and within the hour it was down from a 9 to about a 4, more like a punch in the face than an ice pick. *exhale*  And I had the new dentures in my mouth to keep the swelling down. I was spitting blood and I woke up with blood on my face and my pillowcase.

I woke up about 3 am to use the bathroom, then suddenly remembered where my phone charger was (my old purse--I changed to a different purse), and plugged it in. I'd been using R's, but he needed it more as he was driving to the coast to start his longshoreman job. (He texted about 5pm and said he was beat. I'm guessing he'll stay over. I don't know if there are more ships this week or not.)

So here's a sorta bad/dark photo of the teeth:


I'll get some better pics in the days to come.

Today I woke up about 10:30 am, and I was really hungry. I got up, went into the kitchen, made coffee, got the eggs out to make scrambled eggs, and I felt like I was going to faint. I went back into my office, fired up the laptop, and put my head down for a bit. I still felt dizzy and things looked "snowy." I went back to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, and thought I was going to faint both there and then over to the bathroom. I sat on the toilet with my head on my knees for a while. It did not abate. Back to the office, head on desk, drank some coffee. I figured if it was hypoglycemia, the carbs in the HWC in the coffee would help. But I wasn't feeling better. It could also be low blood pressure. I decided to come into the bedroom and lie down for a while. I woke up two hours later. I made the eggs with butter and grated cheese. I had problems with the cheese--too tough, but I ate the whole plate, and then went back to sleep until 4:30pm. I guess I needed it. I was pretty useless most of today.

The pain was much diminished, however, and I didn't need any pain meds until much later. I tried crushing up a Norco and having it with water. I think the pills are not in my GI tract long enough to get absorbed, hence the lack of pain relief. Malabsorption is a major component of the DS, and they were not getting absorbed. Crushing them helped quite a bit. It wasn't fabulous pain management, but it was better than the previous nothing I had been getting.

I rented a couple of movies to keep me entertained while I sat around and healed, Black or White with Kevin Costner. It was an interesting-enough family drama, but I would not say it was deep nor did it resonate in any kind of thoughtful way. It was a good try, but I've seen better films that addressed race in a much better way. Still, it helped keep my mind off my mouth. That was this afternoon.

Then I made some cream of chicken soup. I made it with half water half milk, lemon pepper on top, some salt, and parmesean. It really hit the spot. Then I watced Woman in Gold with Helen Mirren. It was about the repatriation of stolen art by the Nazi's in WWII from Jewish families. In this case, it was Gustav Klimt's famous "Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer," the aunt of the protagonist. Based on a true story, it was very good, excellent even.

For tomorrow I have Imitation Game. I rented it on a whim. It didn't interest me that much, but since I'm on a WWII kick, why not? Could be very good. It did get an Oscar nomination.

So that's where I am now. The pain is down, I took the dentures out--that was a little scary--the doctor said to keep them in all night last night to keep the swelling down, but after that to take them out at night to give the gums a chance to rest. I still have to brush my remaining teeth and get a soft brush with some denture cleaner/paste to clean the dentures. And be careful not to break them. Evidently they are breakable. Thuper.

And lastly? I'm down three more pounds. Yesterday was a very good food day. Protein Jell-O saved my butt and tasted good. I had it with whipped cream from the can.

I'm in bed, tired, but I did want to update regarding the toofies.

Cheers.

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad to hear that the pain on your teeth has lessened, and that you don't have to take any pain medicines anymore. I hope you'll have a fast recovery and I'm sure that you'll be able to feel more comfortable with your dentures as the days pass. Take care! :)

    Byron Kennedy @ A Plus Family Dentistry

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