June 23, 2014

Little Manatee River SP

Wimauma, FL
This post was very difficult for me to write because it covers my dental surgery experience. The details of the ordeal are very personal so I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to share but after some soul-searching I decided to be very honest because even though I have elected to make my blog open to the public it is the journal of my (our) experiences including the good, the bad and the ugly.

So with much pride swallowing, here goes: I shared in an earlier post that I’ve been dealing with periodontal disease for over twenty-five years. There are several factors contributing to this disease. In my case one of the biggest was heavy smoking (despite quitting 17 years ago the damage had already been done) Hereditary factors, as well as a poor diet, also played a part. Once diagnosed, I had become vigilant going for cleanings every three to four months.
When I moved to Florida in 1999, I foolishly became lapse and did not seek out a new dentist. I thought I was doing okay until I began to have toothaches and finally in 2003 found a dentist that got me back on track by doing a deep cleaning followed by general cleanings every three to four months.
Three years ago I cracked a molar on a shell mixed in with crushed walnuts. It needed a crown. I opted not to have it fixed because I couldn’t justify spending $2,000 on one tooth! As a result I hadn’t had a good night sleep in three years because I wake up several times a night when my tongue scrapes against the sharp edge of the broken tooth.

I had kept up my cleaning regime until we went on the road in 2012. I kept putting off going to a dentist because I knew it was going to be such a hassle having to have X-rays and I feared I would be told I needed a deep cleaning because of my neglect.
Four weeks ago I saw an ad for Aspen Dental offering free exams and X-rays for new patients. I made appointments for both Monte and me.
Just prior to our appointment I used our waterpik and (GULP) felt my bridge (consisting of my four front teeth) loosen up.
I had a feeling that I had made the dental appointment just in time. My worst fears were realized when I was told that there was too much bone loss to either fix or give me a new bridge. Bottom line-all the top teeth needed to be extracted. The dentist found four teeth on the bottom that were still in good condition and would support a partial but all the rest needed to be extracted.
All this work came with a price tag of $8,000!

The Big Day: I woke up with such a feeling of dread. Was I doing the right thing? Should I have gotten a second opinion?

I was a bundle of nerves by the time we arrived for my 11AM appointment. After signing in I walked over to the single bathroom in the waiting room. Locked. I sat down and within a few seconds my name was called. I explained that I needed to use the restroom so they would have to wait.

When I was escorted to the surgery, Monte came with me to hold my hand. We met the surgeon and his assistant. Both seemed very nice as they explained the procedure and post-op instructions.

Monte wanted to stay with me but the surgeon said it was against policy so after a big kiss and hug he left the room.

The surgeon assured me I would not feel any pain during the extractions but may experience some discomfort when he injects the local anesthetics.

DISCOMFORT! His use of the word "discomfort" led me to believe that he has probably never experienced the injection first hand.

After several injections, the surgeon announced that he was going to now administer the worst three. WHAT!

I thought the first few shots were really bad until the third and final of the worst shots was administered. OMG- I felt it all the way up my nose, between my eyes and continuing on to my forehead. If I hadn’t been gripping the arm rest so tightly I think I would have jumped off the chair.

My heart began to race and I couldn’t swallow. I had never taken the simple ability of swallowing for granted before.

The surgeon placed the air suction straw in my hand and told me to put it in my mouth. I did and was amazed how it helped me to swallow. I was left alone with the lights dimmed down, the straw in my hand and some old sitcom playing on the TV. I took several deep breaths through my nose and exhaled through my mouth in an attempt to slow my heart rate down.

I gave myself a pep talk listing all the positives about the outcome. One of the biggest advantages was I hoped to be able to sleep better with the broken tooth gone.

When the surgeon and his assistant returned I was warned that I will probably feel some pressure. I did. But what disturbed me more than the pressure was the sound. Some of the teeth came out easily but there were quite a few that had to be rocked back and forth and only came out with extreme effort. I will never forget the sound made when the tooth finally came out. It gives me shivers now just writing about it.

I had momentary pain when the surgeon attempted to remove the bridge. I moaned so he gave me more anesthetics. To get a better grip the surgeon had to cover my nose causing me to gulp for air through my mouth. More anxiety. A couple of times, he had to place his hand over my sore cheek. (When we had gone boating on Friday I turned around to get a picture of Monte who was behind me. After snapping a few photos, I turned front just in time to run into a low hanging branch that hit me across my left eye and cheek leaving a scratch and developing into a lovely shade of black, blue and purple.)

After the last extraction, my brand new partial was placed on the bottom and a temporary denture on the top. Monte came in to see me. We were given prescriptions for penicillin, a pain medication and an oral rinse. Additionally I was given a package with sterile gauze to place on each side biting down to keep in place with instructions to change out every 20 minutes until the bleeding stops.

A mask was placed on my face to prevent blood dripping down on my clothes during the drive home. Monte wanted to take me straight home but I told him we should stop at Walmart to drop off the prescriptions to save a trip. I waited in the car. He returned in a few minutes to let me know the prescriptions would be ready in 20 minutes so we decided to wait. I didn’t have the prescription for the pain medication filled because it would have cost $150 and we already had some prescription strength Ibuprofen at home.

I’m not going to down play the pain—it was very intense. And there were plenty of tears while I was sitting in the parking lot at Walmart.

The first thing I did when we got home was take the meds and change out the gauze. I spent the next 6 hours changing gauze and using an ice pack on and off in twenty minute intervals.

Around 6PM I noticed I had a ping pong ball sized lump on the right side of my neck. It was very tender to the touch and painful to swallow. When Monte called the dentist’s office he got a recording stating he should call back during business hours. I remembered that there was an emergency number on my post op sheet. When Monte called the number listed the recorded message said the number was no longer in use! Just wonderful!

By the time I was ready to go to bed the bleeding had finally subsided but the nasty metallic taste of blood remained. My post-op instructions prevented me from rinsing. YUCK!

As I drifted off to sleep I hoped that tomorrow would be a better day because today had SUCKED and had been one of the worst days of my life.