I Survived!

The surgery went well... they even let me keep my teeth!

Here's the run-down for others considering (or avoiding) getting their wisdom teeth out: I took some Valium about an hour before my appointment, it made me sleepy and not nervous, which was nice. (I would highly recommend going this route.) When I arrived at the dentist's office, they gave me an IV and just enough anesthesia to barely sedate me, so I was sort of in and out during the whole thing. There was no pain at all, and I didn't see a single scary tool (was afraid I'd see giant bloody pliers or something!)... just felt some very light tugging. It's weird that teeth can just be pulled out, I've always thought of them as being so nicely attached to me. I felt them pull two teeth out and then they said, "ok, you're all done." And I said, "what about the other two?" And they said, "We already got those, you slept right through it." (Wow! Modern medicine RULES!) Then they had me take a little 20-30 minute nap to let the anesthesia wear off a bit. Then they put me in Kyle's car and I was off. Piece of cake!

My mouth is still numb, so there's still no pain, but it's supposed to wear off around noon or so, so we'll see how happy campery I am then.

For now I'm mostly just thinking, "Whew, thank goodness it's over!"

Thanks for all the good thoughts and sweet words, everyone. They really helped.

********

Chipmunk Watch 2008:


Day 1 - immediately after surgery

Pre-Wedding Diet... Or Something

With the wedding day approaching at what appears to be the speed of light, I've decided to take DRASTIC measures... I'm going on a diet. (Gasp.)

Anyone who knows me knows I don't *do* the whole diet thing. (Thank goodness I love vegetables... because if I had to eat them solely because some *diet* said I had to, they would NEVER get eaten. Sometimes I'm kind of a rebel.)

Anyway, to ensure success, I'm implementing some special diet tools. You know, like telling my friends about it so they can cheer me on, and posting my goal weight on the fridge, oh and having four teeth pulled so I can't eat anything. You know, the usual stuff. I'm gonna be SO SKINNY. Woo-hoo!!

...

Ok, so maybe I'm NOT having my teeth pulled in order to lose weight. Maybe there is no diet. Maybe I'm just finally having my wisdom teeth taken out (tomorrow!!!) and I'm TERRIFIED about it and I'm trying to convince myself that it'll be awesome instead of horrifying because I'll no doubt be all svelte and stuff after living on soup for a week and who cares! about the blood and the pain and the swelling and the gauze and the GIANT HOLES IN MY MOUTH! You know, kinda how you convince yourself that having the flu rocks because at least you fit into your skinny jeans for a few days afterwards?

Getting teeth pulled rocks too, right?

My dentist gave me a Valium to take right before the surgery... I think I might just take it now.

Totally Nomal

This just in... I am officially TOTALLY NORMAL!!*

*...at least when it comes to the cells on my cervix. I went in today for my Colposcopy exam and, after some poking and prodding, got a clean bill of health from my doctor. She didn't even have to biopsy anything. Hooray! Thanks everyone for the prayers, the support, and the well wishes. Warm fuzzies to you all.

Abnormal

Sometimes I just want to fast forward. See how it all ends. Does she get the boy? Does she have children? Do they live happily ever after in a big house on a quiet street with good schools? Do her and her siblings stay close? Does everyone live to be 103? Does she have more good times than bad? Does it all work out?

For crying out loud I *need* to know so I can stop worrying.

I know that life is about the journey and that, really, the journey is already whizzing by at an all too alarming speed. I should want everything to slow down just a bit, so I have more time to enjoy it all. Smell the roses, if you will. But I don’t. I find myself trying to hurry life along so I can see how it all turns out. I feel like I’m watching a movie in real time when, really, I’d like to get to all the good stuff in the next 2 hours or so. It’s a very difficult way to live your life – trust me.

I got a call from my doctor today – abnormal pap. (If you’re a boy, and you’re reading this, pretend I just started talking about shoe shopping… feel free to zone out at any time.)

“Slightly abnormal squeamish (???) cells of indeterminate significance.” (Or something to that effect.)

Don’t you just hate it when the floor falls right out from underneath you?

It’s not the first abnormal pap I’ve ever had. They biopsied my cervix a few years back and everything was honky-dory. Whew. But I honestly never thought I’d have to go through it again.

:(

I hate this feeling. I hate being scared. I hate not knowing. I hate feeling like I’m walking blindly into my future, just sorta watching it unfold as it comes at me. I want to read the last page, know that the heroine makes it out unscathed, and then go back and enjoy the story without having to worry.

Although, I suppose the flip-side is reading the last page, discovering that the heroine dies on Tuesday in a fiery auto accident, and then throwing the book away because I hate sad endings.

Ugh. Life is hard.