Surgery 2

I have eaten about 10 gallons of ice cream in the last week. At least, that's what it seems like. Last Friday I had the second surgery of this long process to reinforce my mouth. Last fall was the lower right quadrant, and this time we did the lower left.

The surgery went as planned--4 hours in the dentist chair having my gums cut open and stitched back together. I won't bother you with the grisly details this time (you can check out the post from last time for that). Now that the periodontal department is on the 12th floor, the surgical room has a much better view. The chair was parallel to the window rather than facing it, but as I was looking toward the ceiling for the whole four hours, it hardly matters. There were fewer students watching the procedure this time, but the (rather good-looking) head resident did pop in toward the end when Dr. Griffin was stitching me up.

I got to listen to my iPod this time, which was a lovely distraction. The playlist started out with Jeremy Camp, the artist I always go to when what I really want is for someone to hold my hand.

The incision was larger this time, reaching past the center of the mouth to expose the bone added last time so the new graft could join it properly. Once he had exposed the graft he commented on how amazed he was at the three dimensional growth. Fatema took a picture of the comparison between the exposed root of the new site and the new, thicker bone of the previous site. It was a perfect before and after picture and could even end up in a published article someday. That would be pretty awesome.

Over the weekend my diet consisted almost entirely of ice cream, and I slept most of the day in a nest of cushions I built to keep my head elevated. Apparently it did the trick, because when I went for my one week check-up yesterday Fatema was amazed at how quickly my healing was progressing. The swelling is going down much more quickly than before, and the pain is fading as well. When the pain does flare up, usually just when it's time that I can take more pain meds, it doesn't stretch across the whole site, but centers itself around the pointed eye tooth, right in the corner. I realize that my mouth is actually round and doesn't have a corner, but mentally that's what it feels like.

I can eat any soft foods now, but ice cream is still a large part of my menu, since it requires little to no chewing and can therefore be eaten more quickly than anything more substantial or with actual nutrients. Eating is a difficult task now--it requires both hands and careful attention as I must choose only soft foods and cut everything into pieces rather than bite directly in. It takes longer than it should, and I can't do anything else. For instance, I had to stop twice while writing this post to eat some Ben & Jerry's Key Lime Pie ice cream. Oral surgery would be a great diet, except that it leaves me feeling hungry all the time, and the easiest things to eat are terribly unhealthy.

Still, it's good to know I'm making such good progress and will be back to myself again soon. And more importantly, it's good to know the first procedure was so successful, and that this whole painful process really is worthwhile.

-Kim