I finally had my wisdom teeth removed. I knew I had wisdom teeth, and I knew I should probably get them out. All my brothers went on missions, which required them to have their wisdom teeth taken out, but I didn't serve a mission or have anything that forced me to have them out. I wasn't really having any pain, and my mom didn't have to have hers out (because she had 4 other teeth pulled, I just learned) so I thought I would be spared from it. Buuuuut.... I did have some pain sometimes but it would go away. Anyways I (mostly Chance) felt like it was time to get them out, especially since we have insurance right now.
Let me just preface with this: I've always been scared to get my wisdom teeth out. I've never had any kind of surgery before so it was definitely scary, however I knew I was probably over-reacting and everything was going to be fine. So Chance got me an appointment on Nov 11 for an evaluation and scheduled my surgery for the next day.
I went in for my appointment, and like I said, I was clearly scared. Like I didn't really try to hide it (but deep down I was like, it's going to be fine). The office was small, and dark, and no one else was there. I filled out my paper work and they called me back. I went and got a panoramic X-ray and the conversation goes:
Nurse: Okay, you have two bottom wisdom teeth, and one on top
Me: Okay...
Nurse: Too bad it's not too top ones...
Me: *in my head* well that makes feel better
Then we go back into the room and my dad and I have to watch this super outdated movie about wisdom teeth extraction. It was horribly made to say the least.
The nurse comes back in and we talk about the movie for a sec and then she starts talking about the sedation and stuff and the conversation goes:
Nurse: We do have an option to be partially sedated, or you can be fully sedated, do you know what you prefer?
Me: Definitely fully sedated
Nurse: Yeah.... if I had your wisdom teeth I would want to be asleep too.
Me: *in my head* wow, really? Did she really just say that?
Then she sends the doctor in. He's nice and all, but he was definitely a "business" personality. He covered all of his bases and everything and that's fine. Then we start talking about my teeth and basically he tells me what's normal and then says "But let's talk about you" and proceeds to tell me how "not normal" I am. He goes on about "your have a small thin jaw bone that could possibly break during surgery" and "this top one's roots could have grown into your sinuses and leave a hole there that we could repair, but you wouldn't be able to blow your nose or sneeze for about 2 months" and "your teeth are really close to these nerves, possibly right on top of them, and you could potentially go numb forever, I suggest we just take out one side first, and if you get your feeling back, we will do the other side" (so TWO surgeries). Obviously he's the doctor so I'm like yeah okay I guess lets do that....
THEN the receptionist comes in to talk about my insurance and stuff, and tells me when she called for a benefits check they wouldn't tell her if they would cover the anesthesia. I distinctly remember her saying they didn't say they would cover it, but they didn't say they wouldn't, just that it had to be pre-authorized, like I knew what that meant. So I'm like okay let me think about it and I'll call you later.... At this point I'm WAY stressed because 1. Remember I was scared already, but I kept telling myself no it's going to be fine, oh and then I find out I'm totally not normal and 2. the bill (because of the whole insurance covering anesthesia thing) was a lot more than we anticipated. So I call Chance and explain everything to him. He calls the insurance to ask about the anesthesia and they are like "That's weird that the receptionist got that information, because we definitely cover it". So I call the receptionist back and I'm like "So we just called my insurance and they said that they will cover it" and she goes on about how they told her they would NOT so she was all hesitant to take the cost down because I would probably end up paying it all anyways. So in my head I'm like ummm you told me they didn't say yes but they didn't say no and that you didn't know, but now you're telling me they told you no?! And I'm just a stress case so I can't really think of what to say so I'm just like well let me call again and see what's going on, when really I think she should have just called my insurance again! SO I call Chance back and tell him what happened, then he tells me what to tell her but their office is closed. So I'm stressed about surgery and recovery, and I'm stressed about money.
Then it's Friday morning, the morning I'm supposed to go in for surgery. I didn't sleep well, I can't eat anything (because I'm not supposed to) and I'm just scared. My mom picks me up from the train and I tell her I guess I'm going to just do it and we'll see.
MOM TO THE RESCUE!!!! Mom calls this Biodentist who recommends this doctor who works for Wisdom Teeth Only, and she calls them, they do a benefits check over the phone, it's confirmed they accept my insurance for everything, and that I could still come in that day for an evaluation and if everything is good to go I can still have my surgery the next day. As scared as I was, I also wanted to get it over with. I already took the time off work and everything. So I called the place I was going to go originally and tell them I'm not coming in. And they are like "Oh... okay... is there anything we can do to help?" and I SHOULD have said "YEAH GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!" hahaha. But I just said "No, I'm just working other stuff out first." And she says "Well call us back when you want to proceed." And I should have said "yeah okay, never, thanks.". But I just said "Okay bye"...
We go to this other place and let me tell you! The difference of this office and the one I went to before was NIGHT AND DAY. It's a big bright office, there are other people there, and the first nurse I see is someone I know! She is in my ward, and seriously just knowing someone there made me feel better. We chat for a minute and I tell her I have 3 wisdom teeth, two bottom 1 top and she goes "Oh good, the bottom is easier".... exactly opposite of what the other nurse said. Hahaha. I get my x-ray, and we wait to meet with the doctor. He comes in, pretty much tells me everything that the other doctor told me, except he had more explanations and less worries. He was friendly, confident, and though I knew all the little issues with my teeth, he just made me feel SO much better. He didn't even bring up having 2 surgeries to make sure I get my feeling back. So I went for it. I had my surgery the next day with this doctor.
My nerves were totally calm. I went back, they put in my IV, BAM ASLEEP, BAM AWAKE. I know they told me after the surgery they would wake me up and ask me a bunch of questions, but I don't remember that hahaha and I don't remember getting in the wheel chair or getting in the car. All I remember is randomly answering my mom's questions in the car on the way home. I didn't feel like super loopy, but I guess watching the videos I can see maybe I was a little bit. I wasn't youtube worthy and I didn't think I would be. In fact the first nurse was like "you'll probably just wake up crying" and I thought for sure I would just cry when I woke up. And quite the opposite, I like couldn't stop laughing haha. I felt great, really.
So my mommy took me home and took great care of me. Unfortunately I threw up 4 times, but after that I didn't get nauseous and I haven't had any pain at all really! I was just really bored and I want to eat solid foods.... and I'm SO GLAD I DON'T HAVE TO HAVE TWO SURGERIES! Seriously, what a joke!! Really, looking back to my first evaluation I just can't even believe it. They were really quite insensitive and really worried me a lot... I got my teeth out, in one surgery, no pain (my chin is actually still numb on one side... but I do think it's coming back already) but the biggest thing is that I wasn't so scared!!
I stayed on the couch, watched a lot of movies, ate a lot of ice cream. Which really isn't that great ESPECIALLY BECAUSE FREE BIRDS WAS REMOVED FROM NETFLIX!!! :( haha I was pretty bored, but I'm just glad it's OVER! And at least by Thanksgiving, I can eat normal again.
Let me just preface with this: I've always been scared to get my wisdom teeth out. I've never had any kind of surgery before so it was definitely scary, however I knew I was probably over-reacting and everything was going to be fine. So Chance got me an appointment on Nov 11 for an evaluation and scheduled my surgery for the next day.
I went in for my appointment, and like I said, I was clearly scared. Like I didn't really try to hide it (but deep down I was like, it's going to be fine). The office was small, and dark, and no one else was there. I filled out my paper work and they called me back. I went and got a panoramic X-ray and the conversation goes:
Nurse: Okay, you have two bottom wisdom teeth, and one on top
Me: Okay...
Nurse: Too bad it's not too top ones...
Me: *in my head* well that makes feel better
Then we go back into the room and my dad and I have to watch this super outdated movie about wisdom teeth extraction. It was horribly made to say the least.
The nurse comes back in and we talk about the movie for a sec and then she starts talking about the sedation and stuff and the conversation goes:
Nurse: We do have an option to be partially sedated, or you can be fully sedated, do you know what you prefer?
Me: Definitely fully sedated
Nurse: Yeah.... if I had your wisdom teeth I would want to be asleep too.
Me: *in my head* wow, really? Did she really just say that?
Then she sends the doctor in. He's nice and all, but he was definitely a "business" personality. He covered all of his bases and everything and that's fine. Then we start talking about my teeth and basically he tells me what's normal and then says "But let's talk about you" and proceeds to tell me how "not normal" I am. He goes on about "your have a small thin jaw bone that could possibly break during surgery" and "this top one's roots could have grown into your sinuses and leave a hole there that we could repair, but you wouldn't be able to blow your nose or sneeze for about 2 months" and "your teeth are really close to these nerves, possibly right on top of them, and you could potentially go numb forever, I suggest we just take out one side first, and if you get your feeling back, we will do the other side" (so TWO surgeries). Obviously he's the doctor so I'm like yeah okay I guess lets do that....
THEN the receptionist comes in to talk about my insurance and stuff, and tells me when she called for a benefits check they wouldn't tell her if they would cover the anesthesia. I distinctly remember her saying they didn't say they would cover it, but they didn't say they wouldn't, just that it had to be pre-authorized, like I knew what that meant. So I'm like okay let me think about it and I'll call you later.... At this point I'm WAY stressed because 1. Remember I was scared already, but I kept telling myself no it's going to be fine, oh and then I find out I'm totally not normal and 2. the bill (because of the whole insurance covering anesthesia thing) was a lot more than we anticipated. So I call Chance and explain everything to him. He calls the insurance to ask about the anesthesia and they are like "That's weird that the receptionist got that information, because we definitely cover it". So I call the receptionist back and I'm like "So we just called my insurance and they said that they will cover it" and she goes on about how they told her they would NOT so she was all hesitant to take the cost down because I would probably end up paying it all anyways. So in my head I'm like ummm you told me they didn't say yes but they didn't say no and that you didn't know, but now you're telling me they told you no?! And I'm just a stress case so I can't really think of what to say so I'm just like well let me call again and see what's going on, when really I think she should have just called my insurance again! SO I call Chance back and tell him what happened, then he tells me what to tell her but their office is closed. So I'm stressed about surgery and recovery, and I'm stressed about money.
Then it's Friday morning, the morning I'm supposed to go in for surgery. I didn't sleep well, I can't eat anything (because I'm not supposed to) and I'm just scared. My mom picks me up from the train and I tell her I guess I'm going to just do it and we'll see.
MOM TO THE RESCUE!!!! Mom calls this Biodentist who recommends this doctor who works for Wisdom Teeth Only, and she calls them, they do a benefits check over the phone, it's confirmed they accept my insurance for everything, and that I could still come in that day for an evaluation and if everything is good to go I can still have my surgery the next day. As scared as I was, I also wanted to get it over with. I already took the time off work and everything. So I called the place I was going to go originally and tell them I'm not coming in. And they are like "Oh... okay... is there anything we can do to help?" and I SHOULD have said "YEAH GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!" hahaha. But I just said "No, I'm just working other stuff out first." And she says "Well call us back when you want to proceed." And I should have said "yeah okay, never, thanks.". But I just said "Okay bye"...
We go to this other place and let me tell you! The difference of this office and the one I went to before was NIGHT AND DAY. It's a big bright office, there are other people there, and the first nurse I see is someone I know! She is in my ward, and seriously just knowing someone there made me feel better. We chat for a minute and I tell her I have 3 wisdom teeth, two bottom 1 top and she goes "Oh good, the bottom is easier".... exactly opposite of what the other nurse said. Hahaha. I get my x-ray, and we wait to meet with the doctor. He comes in, pretty much tells me everything that the other doctor told me, except he had more explanations and less worries. He was friendly, confident, and though I knew all the little issues with my teeth, he just made me feel SO much better. He didn't even bring up having 2 surgeries to make sure I get my feeling back. So I went for it. I had my surgery the next day with this doctor.
My nerves were totally calm. I went back, they put in my IV, BAM ASLEEP, BAM AWAKE. I know they told me after the surgery they would wake me up and ask me a bunch of questions, but I don't remember that hahaha and I don't remember getting in the wheel chair or getting in the car. All I remember is randomly answering my mom's questions in the car on the way home. I didn't feel like super loopy, but I guess watching the videos I can see maybe I was a little bit. I wasn't youtube worthy and I didn't think I would be. In fact the first nurse was like "you'll probably just wake up crying" and I thought for sure I would just cry when I woke up. And quite the opposite, I like couldn't stop laughing haha. I felt great, really.
So my mommy took me home and took great care of me. Unfortunately I threw up 4 times, but after that I didn't get nauseous and I haven't had any pain at all really! I was just really bored and I want to eat solid foods.... and I'm SO GLAD I DON'T HAVE TO HAVE TWO SURGERIES! Seriously, what a joke!! Really, looking back to my first evaluation I just can't even believe it. They were really quite insensitive and really worried me a lot... I got my teeth out, in one surgery, no pain (my chin is actually still numb on one side... but I do think it's coming back already) but the biggest thing is that I wasn't so scared!!
I stayed on the couch, watched a lot of movies, ate a lot of ice cream. Which really isn't that great ESPECIALLY BECAUSE FREE BIRDS WAS REMOVED FROM NETFLIX!!! :( haha I was pretty bored, but I'm just glad it's OVER! And at least by Thanksgiving, I can eat normal again.
OH YEAH HAHAHA I had to take a pregnancy test before my surgery. Because I'm not on birth control or using any contraception (never have been!), so I couldn't say FOR SURE that I wasn't pregnant. Anways. But I'd never taken a pregnancy test before, so this was kinda funny.
And don't I just look so lovely? #reallife right?
