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Part 75: Wisdom Teeth Part One

Wisdom Teeth Series
Part One: The Day of The Surgery

Just a few things you need to know before I get into the topic completely. I am an 18 year old girl getting all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I had been blessed with all four, but luckily, they were not impacted. This simply means that they were growing straight up and not to the side. Though my wisdom teeth had not started growing into my jaw yet, connecting to the nerves like all my other teeth, they had started to hurt me. So this surgery came at a perfect time before they started getting too bad.

The day of the surgery was the worst day by far, and it was mostly my own doing. My surgery was scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016. My nerves were killing me, as they had for the past week. It didn't help that I couldn't eat or drink ANYTHING for eight hours before the surgery. I was shaking, nauseous, on the verge of tears; it was that bad. I feel bad for my mom, who took me to the surgery and drove me home.

We got to the doctor's at 10 a.m. and had to fill out some paperwork. Just stuff about insurance and stuff. They asked me if I had eaten or drank anything since eight hours before; this is important because the anesthesia they give you can make you sick, and obviously they can't operate when you're throwing up. You're also not allowed to wear any jewelry (it messes with their monitors), nail polish (somehow, it blocks the finger-pulse monitor they put on your forefinger), and wear as little makeup as possible (because they're working on your face, it just gets in the way.)

One thing I can say is drink lots of water right before the time you're supposed to stop. This will help your blood vessels be enlarged, and it'll be easier for the nurse to find your vein when they put the IV in. It's less painful and just all around better.

I didn't have to wait long after filling out the paperwork. Around 10:15 a.m., I was called back and my mom had to stay in the waiting room. I wanted her to come back SO BADLY but no one is allowed backstage, if you will.

I had two very nice nurses who explained everything to me before doing it. Because I was freaking out, they gave me a little extra oxygen through a small tube that rested just in front of my nose; it was nothing to worry about, but they told me exactly what it was and what it was going to do before doing it, which was nice. Nothing is worse than some stranger doing things to you without explaining them first.

They also put a finger-pulse monitor on my finger. Don't worry, this doesn't pinch or anything. It just monitors your heart. They also took two little sticker-type things and placed them on my chest; they're to monitor your heart rate and breathing. They also placed one on my stomach. Don't worry; these don't hurt any either.

After this, they put a large rubber band around my right arm, just above my elbow. I know this is supposed to enlarge the veins in your arm so they're easier to stick, but it made it so I barely felt the needle at all. One of the nurses told me to talk to her while the other was putting the IV in, and after ten, terrifying seconds, it was over and I didn't feel it after that. They gave me some fluids through the IV to get me rehydrated.

Tell your nurses if you're scared of needles. Trust me, they get it all the time. Mine were very gentle and thoughtful of my fear, one even going out of her way to distract me and talk to me through the worst of it.

The Doctor came in and asked me how I was doing and all that. He was very friendly and joked around, asking me if I'd watched any YouTube videos on people coming out of anesthesia. I told him I had and we had a good laugh as he told me that there was one he watched of a girl going on and on about rainbow unicorns. I asked him what the silliest thing someone had done when coming out of it was, and he said that most of his patients were either really happy or really sad.