Last year I started on some much needed oral surgery due to erosion of the bone in my jaw. I had the lower right quadrant done last year. The lower left was done today so that at least half my mouth is okay before I move. Dr. Gold and her staff are great! They started with 600 mg ibuprofen to keep swelling down. Then Adela gave me a local anesthetic in my gums and cheek (to numb the nerve that supplies the area) and it felt pretty numb, but Dr. Gold came along and probed a couple places even deeper and I could feel a dull sensation so she added more. Everything was going fine until about 3/4 of the way through when I was able to feel some dull pain again, so they gave me more; they said my metabolism must be fast because it usually takes an hour before people start feeling pain again.
Apparently I have very deep pockets in 3 places but the rest was okay. Dr. Gold says usually its evenly eroded to a lesser degree all along the area. She first worked on removing calculus that had built up under the gum in the deep pockets, which took a while because there was one very stubborn spot where she had to use a laser drill to get the calculus off. Once that was done she started packing the area with bone graft material that will provide a substrate for my own bone to grow in to. Dr. Gold stitched me up and Susie put on a surgical dressing, which looks sort of like Silly Putty. I will be going to sleep after I post this; my plans for the next 24 hours are to sleep, getting up only to take pills. (The pain sets off my fibromyalgia which makes me fatigued. And for me more pain = more fatigue.)
I am taking an anti-inflammatory (600 mg ibuprofen) every 6 to 8 hours for the first 4 days. The last time I was able to handle the pain with only ibuprofen so I never used the prescription for the vicodin; I hope to do the same this time. I also have an antibiotic (100 mg doxycycline hyclate) for the next week. Here's what I get to eat for the next few days. Then I can slowly introduce chewier foods but have to stay away from nuts and popcorn and similar things for at least a month.
When I called Mom this morning, after she took her alendronate and gave Momo his pill, I helped her call Aunty Daisy. I had her get her cell phone, gave her the number to enter, then had her press send. As soon as it started ringing I said good bye and hung up. Later when I called to remind her to take her next set of pills, I asked about her call with Aunty Daisy. She said she had a good conversation, but could not remember what they talked about!
They told me to eat before I went in for the oral surgery, so Kai and I went to Boondocker's for a late lunch. This is a great little restaurant owned by our friends the Balas (who also go to Dr. Gold). I had my favorite, mango curry, but did the regular naan instead of my usual garlic naan since I was going to be sitting there with my mouth open for an hour or so! Kai had the kabob burger with double patties and onion rings with chai tea. Sorry, forgot to take photos. Boondocker's is one of the restaurants we support under The 3/50 Project. The premise is, "If half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate $42.6 billion in revenue." (US Labor Department 02/05/2009) They ask you to think about 3 independently owned businesses in your community that you would miss if they closed and buy something from them each month. We don't like to buy stuff but we like to eat good food, so we have a handful of locally owned places that we try to visit each month. There's even an iPhone app to help you locate local independently owned businesses. (Android app coming soon!)
BLOOD & GORE PHOTOS NEXT!!! You've been warned! Here they come! Here is the tool tray after the surgery.
And here's what the lower left quadrant of my mouth looks like.
I don't think it's that bloody or gory, just wanted the folks who don't like blood and gore to be warned so they could avoid it.
The dentist is my least favorite place to be, and I appreciated the blood and gore warning. I agree that the picture was not the bad but appreciated the warning nonetheless. I am hoping you recover quickly and are back to normal in no time. I did laugh a little at your passing on the garlic at lunch. Good call!
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