First surgery

Yesterday, 5th November 2007, was an unforgettable day in my life..I had my first ever surgery since I lived in the past 24 years. Ok..im not trying to make this too dramatic..but the entire procedure was really horrifying! It was only a minor dental surgery for which my left wisdom tooth was removed. The appointment with the dental surgeon was at 11:00am, someone was having a dental check when I arrived. Initially, the feeling was not like going for a surgery although I was fully aware that something had to be done to my teeth. My turn came and after a brief discussion with the doctor, he decided upon removing 2 of my lower wisdom teeth, having to operate one at a time, which means I have another visit to the clinic.. I started to feel the chill even though it wasn’t really cold...Nurses around started to lay all the surgical dental instruments on the tray beside where I was sitting..there were huge drillers, tweezers, tooth removal pliers and many other disturbing tools..my eyes enlarged! I have never felt scared going to a dentist but now I fully understand why kids are terrified to see a dentist. I now get the message of the typical joke I normally see on cartoons when it involves kids and dentists..

He then asked if I’ve had my meals, I did not and said “not yet”..and then the explanation comes..”If I proceed, u’ll feel tired and might faint”, hearing that, I was adviced and excused myself for a lunch. After lunch of a full plate of nasi kandar, I went to the clinic again and was called in after a while. Then the horrifying episode started, I was asked on which tooth to remove and decided upon the left..then, I was given 3 painkiller pills and 2 doses of local anaesthetic at the tongue, on the cheeks and around the wisdom tooth. The doctore told me that usually, he’d give 1 dose of anaesthetic to patients and I thought about myself.."Am I that strong?" .After abt 5 minutes, I started to feel numb around the areas…and there on..the operation follows. The doctor did what he was supposed to do..the noises of tooth drilling with all sorts of tooth extracting forcepts going in and coming out from my mouth left my entire body shivering! I was terrified..really..it wasn’t a pleasant experience at all..at that time, I regret not having someone close to hold my hands beside me. The 2 doses anaesthetic didn’t work quite well on me, although feeling numb, I could still feel the pain of removing the tooth. I heard the doctor saying “u have strong bone”..He was struggling to detach the left wisdom tooth and when it finally came out, he concluded that my wisdom tooth had 3 roots when others would usually have 2, which made it very difficult to remove..my o my…the surgery which started at 1:15pm went on for 45 minutes. I was advised to take medication every 6 hours, was told to come again the following week and did my payment..it costs me RM300(which I initially thought would only be RM30), a very big value that I had to sacrifice.

I started walking back at 2:05pm having to bear with my gums bleeding terribly. On my way back, I stopped by at the Visa center for a number of enquiries regarding my application form and went to Amcorp mall to buy a bottle of Listerine mouthwash before heading home. I reached home at 7pm. My gums had not stopped bleeding since the surgery..this made me feel even more tired and soon after I discovered that I was having fever..After shower I took a short rest before having a mug of milo and the painkiller pills..bcoz my mom didn’t cook, dad went out for dinner and bought me nasi bubur.. I was resting on my bed trying not to think much on the pain and bleeding gums when told to eat..I thought of eating later. At that time, I could feel my body aching due to the antibody combating the fever virus. An hour passed by and I started to doze off..thinking of removing my lense and taking wudhuk for Isya’ prayers, I rushed to the toilet..after a while looking at my swollen cheeks in the mirror, I felt a gush of dizziness..trying to keep balance, I hold on tight to the sink..but loose control and in a less than a minute..i was helplessly lying on the bathroom toilet..my brother and mom heard the sound of the sudden fall and started banging the bathroom doors calling for me..a few minutes later, i could finally move my hand and reached for the knobs..they came for my rescue..Thank god! Thanks to my family..I fully regained consciousness in about 10 minutes and took a short shower.Apart from a minor bruise on the elbow, I was ok..By the time I came out from the bathroom, I had my heated nasi bubur on my computer desk in my room..My brother can be really helpful at times..Thank you for heating me the nasi bubur..I had them finished in less than 10 minutes and continued my rest for the entire night..

Yesterday’s experience taught me 2 lessons :

1. Never go to a dentist alone! The psychological feeling is worse if gone by yourself.
2. Never starve yourself. I should never neglect the feeling of hunger or I shall experience the fainting episode again..this is the 4th time I fainted because of starvation..ain’t gonna go though it again..

Today, my left cheek is swollen more than an extra bloated ikan buntal. I look terrible! But I’m so thankful that my gums had stopped bleeding and am feeling less painful than yesterday..My next appointment will be sometime next week..this time, the doctor will remove the lower right wisdom tooth..thinking abt going through another dental surgery is enough to make me shiver! Hope that I’ll be better than the previous..