Post Oral Operation Visit AKA Knockin’ Boots With Dr. Dre

It was a little over one week ago that I had two wisdom teeth pulled from within my mouth and let me tell you, recovery time has been no picnic!

Before all the pain and suffering, I seemed to be okay, for the most part. It was the left side that was hurting the most; that was the side with the broken tooth, but little did I realize that I would be having two wisdom teeth being pulled out from both sides of my mouth.

The amazing part was that I wasn’t as nervous this time as I have been in the past with other operations. The night before the operation I was instructed not to eat or drink any liquids eight hours before the scheduled surgery which I followed diligently.

My younger brother Benjy took the day off of work for me, which I still believe was a true act of kindness; in fact my brother Benjy is always like this, very kind-hearted and loving. He picked me up at my apartment and drove me to the surgeon’s office. Once I got there, I signed in and just talked with him, read some magazines and poked fun at the celebrity magazines.

I had to wait unusually long as I found out that my surgeon was running about 20 minutes late, so I was fine with that; besides I wasn’t exactly going anywhere for the next 24 hours anyway.

At last my name was called. I walked up to the counter, signed in and the nurses there began going over procedures. While I was there, one of the nurses there, kind of cute, I might add…I’ll call her “Dre” as in “Dr. Dre” for short, happened to like my hat that I was wearing and told me that she wanted it. I was of course wearing my fish hat.

I told Dr. Dre I was once offered $500 for it (see Wednesday, April 20, 2005 blog of New York Tales>Post Trip Talk-Act 3>What Kind Of Meat Is That? for further explanation) and if she wanted it, she’d have to fork over $500 for it as well. That’s when Dr. Dre proposed marriage to me and told me that she was having our baby! All this just for my fish hat! The other nurses in the office were barreling over with laughter, as soon Dr. Dre’s face turned beet red. She seemed a bit obsessed with my hat.

By the time I was ready to sit back down, Dr. Dre began speaking to me again and we had a little conversation. I told Dr. Dre & the other nurses that I act, write poetry, sing, tap-dance, compose songs and throat-sing, which I gave a little demonstration. They seemed elated, if not bewildered or perhaps it was amusement. I wasn’t sure which.

At last it was time to go into the office. The surgeon had arrived and he proceeded to tell me what I was getting done and told me how I was to be knocked out. After signing a release form, I watched the surgeon prep a syringe with what seemed like a six-inch long needle and filled it full of knock-out juice.

Moments earlier I had my right arm prepped and wiped off for preparation of the IV general anesthesia that was about to shot into me, while meanwhile, with my left hand I gripped tightly the hand of a nurse as I felt the prick of the needle into my arm.

I asked the surgeon how could he be sure that the anesthesia would work, to which he responded, “When you stop talking.” And so I did. I awoke about an hour and a half later, to which I found myself biting down on a bloodied gauze pad in my mouth near the area of the pulled wisdom tooth on the right side.

The surgeon gave me specific instructions to follow, a prescription and off I went with Benjy to my local pharmacy and waited for the prescription to be filled. I was to report back in a week to see what my results would be.

After getting a giant burrito and realizing I’d have to use a fork & a knife to cut it and chew my food slowly, Benjy drove me back to my apartment, where I fell asleep almost immediately. Later, when I awoke, I had some dinner and called some friends. The anesthesia had nearly worn off by then, so I decided to go back to sleep.

The following day I took it easy, just resting and not driving all that much. I met someone later in the day and did the laundry, but that was the extent of my activity for the day.

When I returned to work on Monday, I had to proceed a little slower than usual because the pain and soreness of my mouth was prevalent. As the days passed, it seemed to get better. Oddly enough, the left side of my mouth healed faster than the right side.

I’ve also had to switch my diet, eating only foods like oatmeal, tea, Jell-O, pudding and mashed potatoes, a very bland diet indeed. And even some of my co-workers made fun of me because I had my teeth pulled, including one whom I now found out will be having two of her teeth pulled. Wow! Talk about karma!

But today I just returned from the oral surgeon and he said I should be healed up soon and that’s what I like to hear. As for the other nurses who were kind to me while I was in their presence, I say a great BIG heartfelt “Thanks”.

As for my good friend “Dr. Dre,” listen baby; I love you…we can knock boots anytime you like, but remember; I wear the hat!