Relaxing couple of days?

Well yesterday and today have been great! I have taken off work to just RELAX at my parents house being pampered the whole time. Unfortunately it isn't as great as it sounds. The reason why I am missing work and living at my parents house is that I had two of my wisdom teeth removed. Now before you start thinking that I am a big baby and that getting your wisdom teeth out is not that bad, let me explain my story to you and you can decide for yourself.

Yesterday I traveled up to Salt Lake to participate in a clinical research study on the effects of a new drug. I was the test subject. After arriving at 6:00am, they had me urinate in a cup and preform other preliminary tests on me to make sure that I was fit for the surgery and for the study. Needless to say I was. A little while later the nurse came in and informed me that they could see the nerves next to my teeth, and that the surgeon would normally preform a few other tests on me to make sure that it was ok to operate but that they didn't have the proper equipment to test me. If during the surgery, one of the nerves were damaged then I would never be able to regain feeling in my lower lip. I was stuck deciding if I wanted to proceed with the surgery or quit. After talking with the surgeon, I decided that it was worth the risk (I didn't know what was going through my head at that time, I'm sure that is why they make us be there by 6 so we make rash decisions).

The surgery was simply horrifying. They kept me awake, only giving me local anesthesia and laughing gas, so I was able to see the dentist prying my teeth out, hear him drilling, feel the crunch of my tooth as he broke it apart, and see the bloody utensils of destruction going in and out of my mouth with pieces of tooth and matter. The good news is that I didn't feel a thing. At least not during the surgery.

After the surgery one of the nurses kindly put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me back to my bed where I awaited the pain. You see, I was supposed to wait till the drugs from the surgery wore off and start feeling pain before I could ask for the test drug. The wait was a long one. But finally to my relief, (or so I thought) i began to feel pain. I immediately asked for the drug and it was administered to me blind folded. As it was going down, I could tell that it tasted sweet. I wondered if they sugarcoated all the drugs to make them go down easier.

After a few minutes I imagined I felt some relief so I stopped the stop watch which was timing when the drug actually kicked in. However after about 10 minutes or so, I realized that my pain was actually getting worse. It got so bad that I actually had to stand up and pace around my little area in order to keep my mind off the pain. I figured that the drug was just taking a while to start working.

After about half an hour I realized that this pain wasn't normal. Every other one of the patients seemed to be just fine. The nurse kept offering things, and finally I accepted a sprite. Wow! that was awesome. It felt so nice going down, soothing the burning in my mouth. I kept sipping that sprite till it was gone, then I asked for another one. Having soothed my pain temporarily, I decided to lay down for a bit. Without realizing it I was whimpering like a baby. The pain seemed to be coming from under my toungue, the back of my throat and on my cheek and not from my gums. Because of this I thought the drug might be working. One of my glands was swollen, so I asked the nurse if this was normal. She said that each patent reacts differently. After complaining about the strange feeling in the back of my throat, the nurse realized that this probably wasn't normal so she went and got the doctor.

I explained to him that I was in pain, and he proceeded to examine me. He said that I was completely normal and that the pain was coming from the stitches in my mouth. After this, I tried to lay down and rest for a bit.

Trying to sleep, I overheard one of the nurses talking to her co-worker. "He isn't asking for the rescue medication. Would it be ok if I reminded him about it?" Her co-worker responded: "I think that would be ok, as long as you aren't offering it to him, remember, he HAS to ask for it."

I had totally forgotten about the rescue medication. Man was I an idiot. The nurse came over and reminded me that I could take it, and I graciously accepted. After about 5 min of taking the 3 ibuprofen tablets and the lortab the pain was gone. It was like night and day. I did not realize how much pain I was in until it was gone.

The rest of the day was a breeze. I enjoyed the Brazil vs Chile soccer match, and I was able to type up a bunch of addresses for Wedding announcements, and I was even feeling good enough to drive home by myself (Although they wouldn't allow me).

That was yesterday. Today however is not so great. Day 2 after surgery is definitely the worst. Even through the lortab and ibuprofen I can feel the pain. Oh well, I will survive. The only thing that has made this all worth it is the fact that I didn't pay for a cent of it. In fact, THEY paid me. I mean honestly, I would totally do this again. Who ever heard of getting paid to get your wisdom teeth out? Besides, what are the odds of getting the placebo TWO times in a row?