I think I've spoken to most of you who read this blog, but I thought I'd give a blog update anyway.
I survived! Just as you all knew I would. Many of my fears were not realized: I didn't die from the anesthesia, I didn't get nauseous from the pain meds, I haven't had any complications of any kind, actually. The only problems I've had to deal with have related to the pain meds: I started them too late the first day and had severe pain until they kicked in. My oral surgeon (I'll call him Dr. S) drove to my nearby pharmacy to deliver stronger drugs to me (the ones he was prescribing couldn't be turned in to the pharmacy over the phone--they were too intense (percocet)). But the vicodin kicked in and I'm fine. He still wanted me to try the percocet, so I wouldn't have to take so much vicodin, but the percocet made my breathing slow and I got VERY tired. Just too strong of a drug for me.
Anyway, I'm doing fine. I feel much better today. The swelling isn't getting worse, but isn't necessarily better, either. I don't think my husband and I anticipated how long of a recovery this would be, but we're figuring it out. I need to rest and do all the recovery stuff: rinsing my mouth out several times a day, gingerly brushing my (remaining) teeth, drinking everything I eat (instead of chewing), taking lots of naps, and constantly holding ice packs to my chipmunk cheeks until the swelling starts to go down, which should be today.
The fear that remains for me is dry sockets. They don't appear until several days after the surgery, and you can't tell who'll have them and who won't. Of course, to me, that means I'm a prime candidate. The good news about dry sockets is that the pain is treatable, according to my doctor, so if I feel my pain escalating, I just need to call him. So far, I'm doing well.
Thank you for your prayers.
