The worst of the discomfort from the wisdom teeth removal finally subsided Friday night and I haven’t had to take a Vicodin since then.  I’m still kind of sore, but it’s not too bad.  I’m glad it finally ended, because I was starting to worry that something was wrong (and I was also getting really tired of the constant pain).

This whole business with the wisdom teeth is starting to get really old.  Everyone I’d talked to about the operation has had a horror story to tell about one thing or another.  I originally thought that some of it was probably the usual embellishment that occurs when people relate their personal medical experiences.  But now I’m coming to appreciate the reality of it. 

Today will be one week since the procedure and I’m still experiencing quite a bit of discomfort.  In fact, I’ve experienced an interesting variety of pain over the past week: The deep throbber, which radiates out from the area where the teeth used to be and infuses the rest of my head.  The sharp shooter, which zaps you with a momentary blinding flash at unexpected times.  The burning-itching-sliced sensation which inhabits the area around the sutures and never quite seems to go away.  And last, but definitely not least, is the vice-grip headache that I had for several days, which brings me to the pillow.

For the first few days I was told to sleep in a somewhat upright position (to reduce swelling), which only made the headaches worse.  I’ve never been able to sleep on my back because I would get a nasty headache almost as soon as the back of my head hit the pillow.  Over the years I’d tried a number of things, such as different types of pillows, propping myself up, no pillow, etc, but none of them worked and I resigned myself to sleeping on my stomach.  But even with the painkillers I couldn’t stand the headaches anymore and tried to sleep on my stomach a couple of nights ago.  I managed to find a position that didn’t put pressure on the affected areas, but I ended up with swelling when I got up. 

I did some research yesterday and found that other people who got headaches from sleeping on their backs got relief from using theraputic neck support pillows.  The problem seems to be that improper neck support puts stress on the neck muscles, causing a tension headache (the symptoms of which matched what I’d always experienced).  I looked around and finally decided on the Tempur-Pedic Neck Pillow.  The downside is that it cost $125.  That gave me pause for a little while, but the need for a decent night’s sleep finally won out (although the idea of a $125 pillow might have kept me up…).

I wasn’t sure it would work, but I tried it last night.  Even though I had a little discomfort at first I didn’t get the usual headache.  I had a little bit of one when I first got up this morning, but it quickly went away.

The verdict so far, then, is that even though it seemed expensive it was definitely worth it.  It’s hard to put a price on getting a decent night’s sleep for a change.

On Saturday morning (after the local anesthetic faded during the night) I felt like my jaw had been taken apart and reassembled slightly out of line.  I also felt like an elephant had stepped on my head.  My cheeks started swelling up and finally peaked on Monday (which is what the post-op instruction sheet said would happen).  I looked like a chipmonk.  A rather grizzled chipmonk, since my jaw was so sore that I couldn’t even shave until today.

Because of some last-minute project stuff that came up last week I had to go back to work on Monday.  I know now that I was too optimistic about my ability to do so.  I lasted half-a-day before I had to take a Vicodin, which effectively ended my usefulness for work.  I spent the rest of the day staring at the ceiling in a stupor.  Today I had to make it to a 2:00pm meeting (mainly because I was supposed to be running it…), so I couldn’t take a Vicodin.  Tylenol manged to dull things enough to make it through the day, but it wasn’t very comfortable.  Annoyingly, after I went through all that we had to move the meeting to tomorrow because one of the major players couldn’t attend. 

I’m convinced that all this pushing myself to work is making the recovery take longer.  At a minimum I have to talk on conference calls, which makes my jaw hurt more.  Oh well, if this is all I have to complain about then I’m not so bad off.  I can only imagine what this baby and her parents are going through.

I went to the surgeon’s office this morning for removal of my impacted wisdom teeth.  They gave me an IV with some kind of sedative in it, so I wasn’t completely out, I just had the sensation that there was some kind of activity going on, but not what it was.  They also gave me a long-acting local anesthetic, so I’m still numb (my lower lip in particular, which makes drinking an adventure). 

However, the local is supposed to wear off in the next few hours, and I’m already starting to get the first distant early warning inputs of coming pain.  They gave me a prescription for Vicodin.  I’ve had it before and I want to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.  Just one dose taken at night will leave me out of it well into the next day.  However, given the early warnings I’m getting, I just may give it a try.  But if I should post something incoherent and rambling (at least more so than usual), it’s probably just the Vicodin.

I grilled a great big steak this evening because tomorrow morning I go to the oral surgeon to have my wisdom teeth removed (all four).  I’m expecting it will be a while before I can comfortably tear into a steak again.  The wisdom teeth haven’t been causing any pain, but they’re at a rather jaunty angle on the X-Rays and the two on the bottom are impacting the teeth next to them.  However, the main impetus for getting them out now is that the dentist thought she saw signs of the beginning of a condition where they can damage the jawbone (there was some kind of dark spot on the X-Ray).

It’s interesting that when I tell people what I’m having done everyone seems to have a horror story about it.  I’ve been wondering what purpose they serve, but I guess they’re kind of like the appendix.  They’re some kind of genetic leftovers that sit there like a ticking bomb, waiting to cause trouble at the most inopportune moment.

Spring has started moving in here, and while most of the trees are still barren, lots of other things are starting to grow and flower.  While this is one of the advantages of this part of the country (it’s been near 70-degrees each day this week), it’s also a curse.  Spring is also allergy season in Texas and we’re already starting to get a dose of it.  While the Claritin keeps my head fairly clear and allows me to breathe, I still feel like I’ve been drained of energy.  I suppose my body is still trying to fight off the allergens, it’s just that the usual symptoms have been suppressed.

Anyhow, when I get this way I just don’t seem to be able to muster the wherewithal to post to this weblog, even though I see things that I want to write about.  Something about that blinking cursor just saps the thoughts right out of my head and I eventually give up in disgust and go do something else.

My sister is the manager for an apartment building in the Los Angeles area and Rob¹ works in a telesales center (incoming calls, they don’t do telemarking) for a technology company.  The company recently decided to close their local office and consolidate their sales centers.  The good news is that he was offered a job at another center, which is located in a town in the general vicnity of Denver².  They’ll finally be able to escape the socialist hellhole of Los Angeles.  I may fly out there on the 29th to help them move (i.e. drive their car for them so they don’t have to tow it and can get by with a smaller truck). 

My sister is very excited about the move because she’s gotten very tired of dealing with the people out there in LA.  She mentioned an incident from a couple of weeks ago that nearly made me fall out of my chair.  She was crossing the street near a McDonalds that is close to their apartment and this guy who was in his 20’s stopped in the middle of the street and just stared at my 10-year-old niece.  He tried to talk to her and my sister intervened by putting herself between them.  She said she was so shocked by it she never said anything to the guy and just kept walking.  But this wasn’t the only time things like this have happened.  If nothing else, she’s hoping that the per-capita level of pervs will be lower in Colorado.

I’m just glad they’re finally getting out.  I’ve had a feeling of dread for as long as she and the girls have been living in California.  I know that from my visits to both places, Colorado feels a lot more like home than California ever did.  This will also mean that it’ll be a little easier to visit.  According to Mapquest, the distance from my house to their new apartment is 705 miles, which is something I might be able to manage in one (long) day of driving.

¹ Rob and my sister have been together for nearly eight years now, but they’ve never gotten married.  Except for the ceremony and the piece of paper, they might as well be married, though.  It’s left me at a loss for exactly the right word to use.  Boyfriend just doesn’t cut it, and SO (Significant Other) just sounds weird. 

² Due to a situation with one of her ex’s, who is also a felon, I won’t give the actual town.  You never know if the bastard or one of his friends might be reading this, although it’s likely he’s still in jail somewhere.  That guy never met a cop who didn’t arrest him for something (mostly bad checks and back child support). 

Winter did indeed deploy the scorpion tail while I was up there in Minnesota last week, making my drive back to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport very “interesting” to say the least.  Most of the way had been plowed and traffic was moving along quite well.  However, in some of the smaller towns only one lane had been cleared and some of the intersections were troublesome.  It didn’t help that my rental car was a Ford Focus, though (unfortunately, I was stuck with it given that I’m required to take the lowest cost rental…).  I almost didn’t get out of the hotel parking lot, which hadn’t been plowed.

Otherwise the trip was quite good.  The people were pretty friendly (and the accent kind of grows on you).

On Sunday I will fly up to Minneapolis for a week-long business meeting (I won’t reveal the exact location, lest I give too many clues to the company I dare not name, but I won’t be in Minneapolis for the meeting itself).  As a Texan, I’m more comfortable when the temperature is above 80 degrees, so I was a bit worried about this trip.  It looks like the temperatures up there have moderated from their normal arctic levels, but still, this bit from today’s Bleat doesn’t alleviate my trepidation.

The streets are lined with filthy snowbanks. Winter is in retreat, but we know it deploys the scorpion tail in early March. This is the time of year that grinds your spirit down to pulp and dust.

Let’s hope the scorpion keeps his tail to himself until after my return flight next Friday is at 30,000 ft. and I’ve put on my headphones…

I’ve been suffering from short-timer syndrome for the past couple of days as my vacation has been edging closer.  At 3:30pm today I’m done until 12/31 (I ran out of vacation days or I’d have stayed off until 1/5).

I’ve got tickets to see Return of the King at 5:35 this evening.  I’m just hoping that my bladder holds out for the full 3 hours and 30 minutes.

* Thank Goodness It’s Friday Before Vacation