a few days ago, i went under the knife for the first time in all my 26 yrs of blissful existence on this earthly plane... i had 4 of my wisdom teeth surgically extracted after, i wanna say, like... 5-7 yrs of putting it off (LOL!) & now, on the fifth day of my Path 2 Recovery, i finally feel strong enough to Tell My Story. (if we're being serious though i have actually been DYING to recount this experience to the point where i actually contemplated taking this to r*ddit before i remembered my worth. phew. but do still feel free to AMA at the end of reading).
a little over a year ago, i went to the dentist for the first time since moving to the UK. i'm one of those girls who doesn't really go to the dentist all that often because i'm just not organized like that??? and there's also something so thrilling about ghosting the receptionist at the dentist's office when they call to schedule a bi-annual checkup. dentists are kinda the only medical professionals we're allowed to ghost in this economy you know like let me just have this one little thing GOD.
anyway, when i went to the dentist, they told me i needed to get my wisdom teeth removed bc they were impacted and also growing in horizontally. i had almost had the procedure back in canada years ago at the behest of a different dentist but didn't have the gumption/wherewithal and honestly, i know now that the advantages of having them extracted outweigh the disadvantages, but it seemed such a chore considering i hadn't even begun experiencing any pain or discomfort from them. somehow, the british dentist was more convincing (read: this procedure is, like, 80% cheaper in the UK lol) & i did kinda feel guilty for having put this off for so long, so i agreed to go along with it.
about 4 REFERRALS later, i finally received an admission letter (it took about 1.5 years to get here! luckily, i wasn't in any pain at all for the duration of my wait). originally, i was going to have my operation a few months after the first referral at a dental clinic, but the surgeon there said my mouth was too petite & demure etc., etc., so i would need to be anesthetized (and therefore in a hospital setting). the crazy thing is, bc she referred me to a hospital, it somehow meant the whole thing would be free? something to do with the whole "medical necessity" thing i think. i thought this was too good of a deal to turn down so i hopped onto another waiting list.
i lucked out and got a place at the last minute at the hospital that's only a 5 minute drive from where we live, so on the day of my surgery, we headed to the day surgery unit bright and early for my 7:30 admission. tom and i were ushered into a cozy little waiting room with about 6 other people and while i waited for my operation, nurses and other medical staff would occasionally pull me aside to take my blood pressure, measure my ankles for compression socks, and check over and over again whether i smoked/had any allergies/had someone to pick me up post-op/etc. oh, i also had to pee in a cup to prove i wasn't preggers!!!
about an hour and a half after my arrival, i said goodbye to an anxious-looking tom and was finally taken into the operating theatre. tbh, i LOVED the whole experience of wearing a hospital gown and having multiple people making a fuss out of me while i got prepped for surgery. the anesthetist (pictured below) was such a pro and put me right at ease despite my fear of needles and my general worries about the operation (honestly, if she's not earning at least 6 figures, i'm rioting). before i knew it, i was drifting off into a peaceful slumber...
to be continued