wisdom comes at a painful cost

i had my first surgery today. my second wisdom tooth was growing, and it was causing me pain for several days now. it was so painful that last wednesday i went to my dentist, dra. grace, to have a checkup. she told me that there was an oricardial (not sure if i spelled it correctly) tissue that was on top of my erupting second tooth, and that it had to be removed. she said that the surgery will only take 30 minutes, but she recommends that it be done after office hours. i had it scheduled on saturday, since i had a ton of work to do, juggling 3 projects with a different project manager for each. yesterday, however, it was really painful even if i had already taken a pain reliever (mefenamic acid, 500mg), and i was having trouble concentrating because of it. i texted a.grace and asked if it was possible to have the surgery moved the earlier because i couldn't take it anymore.

i had my surgery around 12PM. she injected anesthesia into my gums, and let it settle for a while. i kinda like the feeling of anesthesia working -- my gums felt swollen and kinda numb (how can you feel your numb body part? :P ). it also prevented me from screaming out in pain when she did her stuff (i had my eyes closed the whole time, i didn't want to see what sharp thing she has on her hands 'coz i might faint :P ). my hands were also clutching the armrests hard, 'coz i was really, really scared (have i mentioned that i am deathly afraid of scalpels and other sharp objects?). there was just a sensation when she started cutting through the tissue. some minutes passed, however, and i started feeling pain already. ate grace was surprised that the anesthesia had worn off quickly. but the surgery was not finished yet, so she gave me another dose.

after more than thirty minutes of slicing and tugging and what-have-you, the surgery was finally over. she used a dressing that was like reverse bubblegum -- soft and pliable at first, but eventually hardened and covered the wound.

despite the pain and the stress, there were some things to be thankful for:

* doc gj (a. grace's husband) drove me home, door-to-door delivery. it was a good thing because 1) i couldn't speak (it was painful with the anesthesia wearing off, and i didn't want to spew blood all over my shirt) so i couldn't call a cab 2) free fare ;)
* rom was in the house when i came back, and he graciously bought my medicine for me.
* nez came home early and cooked my dinner for me (mushroom soup and soft fluffy scrambled eggs)

i hope i don't go through the same ordeal for my other wisdom teeth.

---

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
-- Lamentations 3:22-23