Surgery

On Thursday May 24th I had my wisdom teeth removed. I had never been under general anesthesia before. I don’t even remember feeling drowsy before surgery. I was awake and talking then I was dreaming. I don’t remember the exact contents of the dreams but they were pleasant. The nurse tapped my ankle, "Wake up. Your surgery’s over." I could’ve used another couple hours of sleep. I was put in a wheelchair and rolled to the car. I was coughing. I tried to get up but the nurse was worried I would fall. I got in the car.

My grandmother handed me a pen and paper to write on, since talking would be so uncomfortable. I wrote to her that before the surgery the dentist had asked if I had gotten into medical school and I said, "I graduated." "Medical school?" "Yes" "You are a doctor!" and how funny I thought it was. I found it more comfortable to use the pen and paper all the way up until Monday and was reluctant to give it up.

My grandfather stopped at the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions. The gauze in my mouth began to gag me. I removed it and put in another piece. I had a wrap with ice packs in it around my head that went under my chin.

My grandfather drove across the grass right in front of the door to let me out, which was nice but unnecessary really. I then slept some more.

I subsisted on ice cream, applesauce, yogurt, soup, and eventually scrambled eggs until the evening of the following Monday. I took penicillin 4 times a day for 7 days. I also took ibuprofen frequently and in fact am still taking it.

Love,

Julie