Journal entry by Holly Behncke —
Well, it's been awhile since I posted. Since my last post, I have had those nasty wisdom teeth removed!
Post recovery went well initially, then around day three I began having excruciating pain. I started to take the pain medication I was prescribed and it didn't even touch the pain.
After three more sleepless days & nights of pain, I called my Oral Surgeon and made an appointment to come in. I am so glad I did! It turns out the pain was not a normal part of my recovery. That, I in fact had dry socket. Now, the term "dry socket" sounds fairly lame compared to what it feels like. Basically, the site where the tooth was removed did not clot over, leaving the bone and nerves exposed. So every time I swallowed, or breathed, or thought about breathing, my nerve endings would fire off all through my jaw, and throat, and face, well basically everywhere above my neck.
Immediate relief occurred once they packed it! That was a wonderful day! After a few visits for packing, I am now packing free with now more nerve pain, yay! I did experience some numbness on that side that lasted for about two weeks and seems to be going away now.
After the packings I was stopped taking the pain meds all together and boy did I feel yucky getting all of those opiods out of my system. I was green for a few days after.
About a week after that my jaw began to hurt. Not the nerve pain like before, but an intense soreness that eventually led to me not being able to open my mouth. Again, I waited to heal.
After a few more days I woke up with a huge hard bump on my jaw that lasted another 3 days before I called my Oral Surgeon again.
It ended up being a cyst and I am happy to say the antibiotics seemed to begin working right away!
So, while I am not fully recovered yet from the wisdom teeth removal, I am on my way!
On another note, it is a very strange experience to be the age I am and not have very many teeth in my lower mouth. I remind myself that this is a journey and that when I am all done, it will be so worth it.
Thank you everyone for your support through this journey.
Nest step is my crowns once I have healed enough.
Post recovery went well initially, then around day three I began having excruciating pain. I started to take the pain medication I was prescribed and it didn't even touch the pain.
After three more sleepless days & nights of pain, I called my Oral Surgeon and made an appointment to come in. I am so glad I did! It turns out the pain was not a normal part of my recovery. That, I in fact had dry socket. Now, the term "dry socket" sounds fairly lame compared to what it feels like. Basically, the site where the tooth was removed did not clot over, leaving the bone and nerves exposed. So every time I swallowed, or breathed, or thought about breathing, my nerve endings would fire off all through my jaw, and throat, and face, well basically everywhere above my neck.
Immediate relief occurred once they packed it! That was a wonderful day! After a few visits for packing, I am now packing free with now more nerve pain, yay! I did experience some numbness on that side that lasted for about two weeks and seems to be going away now.
After the packings I was stopped taking the pain meds all together and boy did I feel yucky getting all of those opiods out of my system. I was green for a few days after.
About a week after that my jaw began to hurt. Not the nerve pain like before, but an intense soreness that eventually led to me not being able to open my mouth. Again, I waited to heal.
After a few more days I woke up with a huge hard bump on my jaw that lasted another 3 days before I called my Oral Surgeon again.
It ended up being a cyst and I am happy to say the antibiotics seemed to begin working right away!
So, while I am not fully recovered yet from the wisdom teeth removal, I am on my way!
On another note, it is a very strange experience to be the age I am and not have very many teeth in my lower mouth. I remind myself that this is a journey and that when I am all done, it will be so worth it.
Thank you everyone for your support through this journey.
Nest step is my crowns once I have healed enough.
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