Friday, January 15, 2010

Surgery

I had surgery to remove a massive wisdom tooth that had four roots and looked like the shape of an over sized ice cream cone. It would not budge and if I wasn't aware that I was of German descent I would have sworn I had stubborn Dutch teeth! Wait... I married a Dutchy, does that count?
I had only three wisdom teeth. Two top and one bottom. Looks like I gave my lack of one tooth to my sister as she had an extra tooth removed years ago :)
The other wisdom teeth seem fine upon Xray..thank the Gummy Mary!
Yeah.. I thought it would not be so easy to get out... four days post half its removal it is gawn!

Apart from that, I have worked a few afternoons, been hammered in Emergency, been ever busy on another surgical ward and then finished off yesterday afternoon on the Renal Ward. Each day taught me something new, and each day I get to meet amazing people... working with awesome people makes all the difference I have to add.
Tip of the week.. If you get bitten by something and it is not life threatening, please go to your GP to get it sorted..and if you had a temperature "yesterday"and you are okay today, please don't come to the emergency department...we have so much more severe cases to triage..thank you kindly :)

7 comments:

Mom said...

Glad the tooth is gone. Sounds like you still have plenty of wisdom.
Why are they called wisdom teeth?

Betty said...

Ouch! Ouch! I hope you didn't suffer very much. I can sympathize.

karisma said...

Oh hugs and smoochies, but oh how lovely the surgery is as opposed to having the dentist yank for an hour and then send you later. Next time, Im going straight to the surgeon! LOL

Hope you heal quickly xoxoxox

Anonymous said...

Busy time for you Cazzie. Emergency is cluttered with non emergency cases. The problem is that you have to take them all seriously, just in case.

Jayne said...

Hope the analgesia is working for you!
Can't wait for those super clinics to open up, take the weight off the A&E depts, get medical emergencies seen much faster.

Cazzie!!! said...

Mom, "They are called wise teeth because they usually come in when a person is between age 17 and 25 or older—old enough to have supposedly gained some wisdom." Thanks to wikipedia for that answer, hehe. I too am glad it is gone :)

Betty, thankyou. The suffering was during the four days between the tooth being half extricated and half left in there. I am sore, but I know there are people out there worse off than me right now, so I am trying not to whinge too much :)

Karisma, thanks for the huggs and smoochies. Yeah, the other half of the tooth was yanked for an hour, and then this half took about 40mins because she had to cut the bone inside the gum to get some leveridge .. sniff sniff.
I have been meditating to soothe the pain somewhat.

Andrew, yes, you are correct there. When I receive someone that has a seemingly small problem in comparison to others in my cubicles, I treat them the same as I would anyone else. I know that a seemingly small problem to me, may be a huge thing to that patient. The only thing is, that when we are on b ypass and it is during day time hours, it would be much easier for the person to go to their GP. If they then see fit for the person to come to us then that sure is valid.
It is funny, some people come in, they have had angina and we treat them apprpriately so, according to angina care pathway, and then they sometimes say to me "Oh, I feel so silly taking up the hospital's time and a bed". I have to say to them that they are here for a very valid reason and you know, I reassure them that I hear what they are saying but that this admission sure is valid.

Jayne, ohh, thanks hon. It is taking the edge off of the pain. The swelling does not help I do not think. I am taking analgesia TDS now, I am trying not to take too much paracetamol. Well, codeine too.
Yes, those super clinics will be great. We have a Primary Health Care Centre near us. It is where I went when I had to seek second opinion on this tooth matter on Tuesday. The Dentist was there, there was also the Xray, a Physio and of course a Treatment room and Doctors Clinic. They were very helpful. I will be visiting them with a nice card this week of thanks.

Middle Child said...

I admit I am not a happy camper when i go to the dentist - I am 100% Irish (as far as one can know) descent - so re tooth roots - all the dentists comment on how long the roots of my teeth are and its always hell having an extraction.

Hope it all feels better now

We need doctors surgeries which open on the weekend - here in Port Macquarie sometimes you wait over a fortnight to see the GP... but there is one place in town you can go and sit in line to be seen - I would do that rather than go to any hospital...

It must be hard when you see people with non emergencies coming in...knowing how busy it is