Skip to main content

Another Round of Wisdom Teeth

When Ben had all four wisdom teeth out in November, he couldn't understand why we had to take his wisdom teeth out. They weren't bothering him, and he saw no point in going through surgery and all the hassle of recovery and soft foods and no straws. So, I did some research and found out that it's better to have them removed when you are young even if they aren't causing problems, because the roots of the wisdom teeth keep growing and can wrap around your jaw. Removing them later in life can result in breaking the jaw, or even facial paralysis. It is a much riskier and more invasive process.

Kerry had two wisdom teeth removed on Friday. He had the two on the right removed when he was nineteen and for no particular reason, the two on the left have always remained where they are. Because I had done all my research about having wisdom teeth removed when you are, ahem, over twenty-nine, I was very nervous about this procedure. Not only is it scary, Kerry would be awake for the entire thing, where Ben was completely unconscious and had no memory of it. We even got some funny video of Ben while he was still loopy. Kerry wouldn't let me come take any video of him, so I'll just put a video of a random person after having her wisdom teeth out here because it's pretty funny:


Anyway, Kerry not only didn't have the luxury of being unconscious, he was nice and alert while they used a hammer and chisel to get the teeth out. Yes, yes, it was probably some sort of medical hammer and medical chisel, but come on. Imagine someone using a hammer and chisel on your teeth. Kerry said he felt like he had a concussion when it was done. The roots of his teeth had indeed wrapped around his jaw. They looked quite a bit like tusks, they were so long and curved.

I took Kerry to the pharmacy afterward to pick up a bag of drugs and he told me, "The doctor said I have to take seven to ten days of convalescent leave. I laughed and told him I can't do that! I'm going out to the field for a week on Monday!"

However, after a day of massive pain killers which made him nearly comatose, he began to see why he probably wouldn't be able to function in the field while he was taking them.

So he stopped taking the pain medication, and switched to just Motrin. And he went out in the field for a week.

So, sleep safe tonight folks. The US Army will not collapse and fall into anarchy. Kerry is on the job.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ben's Feet

Ben went camping with his youth group this weekend. He said it was the best weekend he's had since we've been in Hawaii, and possibly in his entire life. The one negative part was that he stepped on some coral out in the water and cut his feet up pretty good. He swears it was all dead coral - you shouldn't touch live coral, much less walk on it because it damages the coral. No one ever mentions that it also damages your feet. They just tell you not to damage the coral. Also, coral is a living organism . If you step on live coral and a tiny piece breaks off in the cut, it will continue to grow. Did you see the movie Alien ? If some creature incubates in Ben's feet, then breaks out and eats us all one night, I'm going to be quite miffed. (Make sure you read the inscription on his tee shirt in this picture. It's quite appropriate.)
Post a Comment
Read more

Mammogram

I'm having my annual mammogram today. I always hear about how painful they are, but honestly, I've never thought they are that bad. Not the most comfortable, but not painful either. Every time I have a mammogram, I'm reminded of this story. It won the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition and I still get a kick out of it every time I read it. So I'm posting it here today for your reading pleasure: Erma Bombeck Writing Competition 1st place in Humor Category Winner Leigh Anne Jasheway of Eugene, Oregon "The First Time's Always the Worst" The first mammogram is the worst. Especially when the machine catches on fire. That's what happened to me. The technician, Gail, positioned me exactly as she wanted me (think a really complicated game of Twister - right hand on the blue, left shoulder on the yellow, right breast as far away as humanly possible from the rest of your body). Then she clamped the machine down so tight, I think my breast actually turned inside o...
1 comment
Read more

Japanese Fishing Shrine

Here's an interesting little spot we stopped to see. I'd passed this many times before and had never stopped to see what it was. Since GG and Sherry were here, we decided to check it out. There is a shrine of some sort with a statue and a carved rock. There was no information on sight as to what it is that I could find. There were flowers, food and incense left around the base of the shrine. There was a ceramic statue and a rock with a figure carved into it. None of the food was old or rotting (although plenty of it had clearly been pecked by birds) and the flowers were all fresh which made me think it must be cleaned and cared for on a regular basis. After we got home, I did some research and found this article about it from the Hawaii Star Bulletin, our local newspaper (I have edited out some bits, but otherwise the article is unchanged): "Maintenance" of the monument has been assumed by a group of Vietnamese Buddhists - Shingon Shu Hawaii, the Buddhist temple th...
2 comments
Read more