....I got to top off the birthday celebrations by getting my over 21 Driver's License and getting my wisdom teeth out today! (Ok, that last part really isn't celebratory, but you know...:-P) My Driver's License expired today, but i really wanted the horizontal one so I could very quickly prove I was over 21 (and just for the thrill of having a new looking license :-D). Luckily, it didn't take long because I had to go home to get a ride from my parents to surgery.

I was pretty nervous when I got to the dentist's office, so I put a Rosary around my neck so that Mary and Jesus would be with me (not like they wouldn't be there if I didn't put it on, but the reminder that they were there was extremely calming :-D). I walked in, waited awhile, and the dentist called me in. (As an aside, Dr. Ban is one of the best and nicest dentists I've ever seen. He actually explains things to you in terms non-medical folk would understand, answers your questions honestly, and makes sure you know what's going to happen every step of the way.)

When I sat down in the chair, I saw a little tray of things right above the chair. They all looked very sharp, and soon after I looked at them, I knew I shouldn't have, because I got a little more nervous again. Then, after a brief explanation of things, my parents left. Then the nurses put a blood pressure cuff on my left arm and put a heart monitor sensor on my finger. I knew the part I dreaded most was coming up soon, the anesthesia. (For some reason, the idea that I'd be knocked out for a period of time frightened me like you wouldn't believe.)

Suddenly, Dr. Ban put a very tight, very painful rubber band on my right arm and started asking me questions: "So, what's your major?"

"Industrial Engineering and Latin Language."

"That's interesting. My sons took Latin."

I recognized in the tone of his voice a sense of attempting to soothe someone's fears. Then I realized, I know what you're doing, I thought. You're trying to get me to forget the fact that you're putting an IV in my arm. Well, I'm going to play along, because I DON'T WANT to think about the IV going into my arm. But just so you know, you didn't fool me.

"Really? Where did they go?"

"North Allegheny."

"Oh! My cousins went there and took Latin. Rachel, Melissa, and Norman." (Feeling the needle in my skin. watching him prepare to hook it up to my IV. Freaking out inside, but I don't want the dentist to know that.)

"Rachel Gottron! Yes, my sons know her! She came here you know."

"Oh really?" (Watching the nurse reach over me and touch the IV cord, which is now attached to my needle. OK, PLEASE, make this quick. I'm not going to keep my cool for much longer.)

"Yeah. We know her very well. She got her wisdom teeth out here."

"Great!" I knew it was coming soon, so my nervousness mounted. I think my head turned to the side to try to take my mind off the now dripping IV bag.

.......then, I woke up with a bunch of gauze in my mouth and the doctor looking down at me. I was also vaguely aware of a lot of movement going on around me as the nurses took off my heart monitor, what was apparently a laughing gas line from my nose, and other random things that seem routine for post-op. A band-aid was now where my IV cord was, and my mouth felt really weird. I stared up at the ceiling and started to laugh. I don't know why. The ceiling was funny. I think it was the laughing gas, because there was clearly nothing funny about the ceiling. But I couldn't laugh much because I had so much gauze. So I turned my gaze towards my dad, who was now in the room again, hoping to take my mind off the funny ceiling. But then I saw two of him (I had some double vision). Seeing two of my dad was absolutely hilarious and made me laugh even more. I vaguely heard the doctor tell my parents (not me--he obviously knows by now that talking to the patients at this stage is worthless) the requirements for taking care of me the next few days. They helped me to the car, I laughed some more as I saw double the entire way home, and went home and sat on my couch. I greeted my brother coming home from high school (I high-fived him with my foot. I couldn't move my arms that far since the anesthesia made me feel physically weak.) I fell asleep soon after that.

SO. Now I'm still at home, and I have feeling back in my mouth. I haven't had any Vicodin yet, but I'm definitely having some before bed so I can sleep easily. :)

Here are a few things that have made me happy today, and today, because I am now limited in what I can eat and do for the next 24 hours, is one of the days where the smallest good things are absolutely enthralling.

My ice pack :). I think that's pretty self-explanatory.

JELL-O!!! One of the only desserts I'm allowed for the next 24 hours


EGG NOG!!! I saw this on the list of things I'm allowed to have before I went into the office. After I saw it, I HAD to have it, so I asked my parents for it. When I got home, my dad took a trip to Giant Eagle to get my prescription. I mumbled to my mom in my anesthetic stupor that I wanted egg nog. She said something about how it's not Christmas time yet, so it's probably not there. I disregarded this concern and repeated my request (apparently I'm stubborn when I'm half-conscious? lol), so she called my dad and told him to get egg nog for me. The next time I woke up, I saw eggnog in our fridge, so I drank it while talking (well, murmuring) to Charisse on Skype. Today must be about appreciating the simple things, because this eggnog has made me absolutely overjoyed. :)