Tooth Extraction

I was talking with a coworker this morning who is considering having his wisdom teeth taken out. We've told him about our experiences, and he's a little apprehensive, not wanting it to be a horror story himself. Here's what happened to me:

I got all four of my wisdom teeth taken out at once. Before going to the oral surgeon's office, I ate some hot and spicy buffalo wings, since I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat them for awhile.

I didn't have insurance coverage (college boy supporting self fortunately had $ from co-op job and student loans), so I had to pay out of pocket. Fortunately, I had waited until all four of them had erupted. All the surgeon had to do was extract them; no cutting necessary. Only local anesthesia (novocaine?) on the jaw.

So there I was. Wide awake, yet feeling no pain... for now. The surgeon pulled three of them out. The last one was harder. I remember him yanking my jaw back and forth ("Gee, you're really making me work for this one!" said the man getting paid over $100 per tooth.). That hurt a little.

After it was all finished, I contacted my roommates, who picked me up. Eager to get home, I climbed in the back seat. Jorge, one of my roommates, wanted to check on his job application at University Hospital, so we stopped there. What was meant to be a very quick wait wound up lasting over a half hour.

By this time I was hurting big time, and very eager to get home and rest. So when that time finally arrived, I went upstairs and lay down in bed.

Some time later the phone rang. It was Lindsey Nelson, a friend from church who was in Medical School at UC (i.e., University of Cincinnati). "What's up?" he asked. "I'm in pain. I just had my wisdom teeth taken out." I muffled with my mouth full of cotton. "Would you like a shake?" he asked. "Sure." I replied.

I hung up and went back to sleep. Sometime later Lindsey shows up with a 32-oz homemade chocolate shake. Now, that was encouraging!