June 2004 Archives

On painkillers and wearing a contraption called "Cool Jaw" that strapped ice packs to my mug.

Eight years ago I had my first appointment to get my wisdom teeth out. Didn't happen. Then, last year I had another appointment. Didn't happen. So when my 2004 appointment rolled around 2 weeks ago, I approached it with a zen-like calm, under the assumption that this surgery too, wouldn't happen. But woe is me, it did happen. Now I have four less teeth than the last time I updated, and a seriously disgusting hole in my mouth known as a "dry socket." I'm not going to go into details here, but it's freaking nasty and my mouth still hurts. I've had seven dentist appointments in the last two weeks, and as I type this I have a wad of gauze sticking out of a hole in my gaping maw.

On the bright side, however, I've decided that nitrous is the nectar of the gods. I'm now in the process of looking for a dentist that uses it for all his procedures, and when I find one, I'm going to stop brushing completely. I was awake for the surgery, but the fact that they were sawing open my gums, chipping my teeth into pieces and yanking them out really didn't bother me because I was listening to Skinny Puppy on my walkman and the grinding and sawing just seemed to blend in.

I'm on my way to New Jersey for a family reunion, but since I only update once a month nowadays, I guess you won't miss me. Don't worry, I'm bringing my painkillers.