wisdom teeth surgery

The past couple of day have been a bit crazy. I have been busy with work. Trying to clear up as much as I can before I am off work for a week. Yes, finally the time has arrived for me to get my wisdom teeth extracted. Mum emailed me on Tuesday, saying she is planning to fly over on Friday night to look after me following my wisdom teeth surgery. OMG. No Mum! I'll be fine! I'm a big girl now!

On Thursday afternoon, Little Miss-Whats-For-Lunch took me, by tram, to the hospital because I had no idea where it was. I was getting my surgery done at the Freemasons hospital in East Melbourne. She said to me "Jules, you know right, its expensive there. Its old, but expensive. Lots of rich people go to Freemasons". I said to her "Now you tell me!!" You could have said it earlier! But the nurse told me my hospital stay was fully covered by my private health insurance, so I had nothing to pay to the hospital. Phewww! I could have done it at Cabrini hospital, which is at Malvern, closer to home, but my surgeon was not working at Cabrini on August 21. So Freemasons it was.

I have had one wisdom tooth removed before back in 2006. It was done in Malaysia. Grumpy was not with me, but my dad was. I made sure he stayed by my side. My Malaysian dentist brought in some guy, who was a lecturer at University of Malaya. It was quite expensive for just that one tooth removed. I was awake the entire time, I knew they cracked the tooth into four pieces, and slowly removed each piece. During the extraction, I was numb, so I felt nothing. But when I got home, I can still remember that I was in excruciating pain that night. Being the 'smart Julee' that I was, I refused to eat any painkillers, which was panadol mainly I think. Mum and Dad nursed me throughout the rest of the week. I could not eat any delicious Malaysian food for the rest of the week, and then I was back in Melbourne already.

Fast forward a few years later, my Aussie dentist said the remaining three wisdom teeth are all impacted and I should get them removed. All my friends here said that their wisdom teeth does not hurt and so they do not need to get them out. But guess what? Mine is not causing me any grief either, the only reason I agreed to the extraction is because food can get stuck in between my molar and wisdom teeth, and if not cleaned properly, it could ruin my molars.

So I met my oral & maxillo facial surgeon back in June. He looks like Harry (Charlotte's husband) from SATC. Consultation was only about 15 minutes. He warned me the risks, all the worst case scenarios (ie permanent damage to nerves), and made me sign a paper to say that I am fully aware of the possible complications from surgery.

The night before surgery, my silly dog kept me up all night. I have no idea what was wrong with him, but he did not sleep, and he made sure I got no sleep at all either.

Finally Friday arrived. I woke up early and ate two slices of toast and a fruit for breakfast. After 7.30am, I had to start fasting. I could have fluids up til 10am. Water mainly. But that was it for the rest of the day. Grumpy drove me to the city. We parked the car at Crown casino. Then we trammed it to the city. Passed the car keys to Dopey's girlfriend, Grumpy went back to work, and I was to make the remainder journey to the hospital all by myself. Was I nervous? Hell yeah! I was terrified. I kept saying to Grumpy "What did I get myself into??!?"

I 'checked in' at 1pm. Met my surgeon Dr Harry-from-SATC, he did a good job at comforting a very nervous Julee. He said he will only need about 30 minutes to get all three wisdom teeth out. He kept saying its always easy when I'm asleep. I also met the second doctor, who was the anaesthetist, and he explained what he would be doing to get me to sleep. Both doctors reminded me to put ice packs on my cheeks post surgery, to help reduce swelling and even pain.

It was quite bizarre, I thought Dr-Harry-from-SATC was going to be treating me, and only me, but I was wrong. There were at least eight people, all due for surgery with him! I sat there thinking, wow, he is a rich man.

Here is a bad picture of me all dressed up in hospitalwear and a shower cap.

Finally at about 3.15pm, the nurse came to me and said "Right Julee, its your turn!" Whoopeeee! NOT!

As I walked in to the operating theatre, it was all very daunting. They covered me up with a warm blanket. And I saw both doctors there. I was already so sleepy by that time, I wanted to tell them I don't need general anaesthetic anymore because my dog kept me up all night. Everyone kept talking to me in the theatre, I was not sure if they were keen to know more about me, or merely trying to keep me distracted. The last I remembered was that they were all trying to pronounce my family name 'NG' haha.. one of the nurses was malaysian chinese too, so she was telling the rest that it was pronounced "urngg". The anaesthetist injected into my hand (above my elbow), and said I will be feeling very sleepy soon, he asked me if I thought it tasted like garlic at the back of my mouth, before I could answer.. *poof* I was off to sleep.. in a matter of seconds.

I heard noises about an hour later, and then I woke up. No pain. I could not close my mouth. My face wrapped with ice packs. Dr-Harry-from-SATC put heaps of local anaesthetic into my mouth, so I was quite numb in the mouth. After about 10 minutes from one area, I was wheeled to my own recovery bay. The nurses gave me lemonade and some water, making sure I finished both. Lemonade to get my sugar levels up. Then she rang Dopey, as he was the lucky person I nominated to pick me up from the hospital.

The nurses asked if I wanted some ice cream or some jelly to eat. I said no, I was fine as I was.

A while later, both doctors came by to speak to me. Dr-Harry-from-SATC said he was very happy with my procedure, and I should be all good. I wanted to ask him for my teeth, but I could hardly talk. He said the stitches would disappear and we will meet again in a month's time.

After an hour from recovery, the nurse removed the drips from my arm, and I got dressed. I could hear some of my neighbours complaining of nausea and dizziness. But I felt fine. I was fed about three tablets, painkillers I think, before going home. Dopey came, fashionably late of course, and I'm on my way home! Pitstop to the local chemist to get my prescription. My script consists of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory tablets and painkillers.

I get home by 7pm, and I rest on the sofa for the remainder of the night. Grumpy gets back from work, and made me dried oyster and dried scallop congee. He used an immersion blender to make the congee easier for me to swallow. It is very yummy. He is the best! I used a pack of frozen peas and place them against my cheeks. I also used a pack of frozen dahl (for my roti) as it helps. This ice pack idea is brilliant. Why didn't my Malaysian dentist mentioned this back then?

There is some bleeding, but nothing excessive. All good. I slept soundly, woke up at 8am this morning.

And here is me now.

No real swelling. Not in any pain. I feel fine. This time round, I feel a lot better compared to my previous Malaysian experience.