That�s the word to describe my experience at the oral surgeon today. My friends all told me how fine it went for them, and I was hopeful I�d be the same. I was ready for bruising, for some pain and swelling, but I was not ready for that proceedure at all.

They gave me laughing gas and oxygen to start. They said that was to relax me so I take to the sedation better. They said the sedation will put me to sleep and help me forget the event. Well, the gas was fun � didn�t mind that one bit. I was chatting away with the nurse, having a grand ol� time. Then they gave me the IV drugs to have me sleep. And sleep I did.

But, as the "horrible" word must imply, I woke up 10 minutes later. The freezing was wearing off because it hurt like a sonuvabitch. I said "ouch, ouch, ouch" the surgeon looked at me and said, "you�re awake� Umm� let�s get you some more freezing." So, they did. I watched the big-assed needle get poked in all four of my teeth again. Helped a bit, but still hurt. A few minutes later (I guess it at five) I started to cry. The Dr. stopped and said that I obviously needed a rest. They loosened the clamps used to keep my mouth open and he just wiped my tears away and talked about how things were going. Two of my teeth were what they expected � partially impacted � two others were completely impacted, which my x-ray didn�t show (I saw the x-rays, and agree that all the teeth looked the same). He also said a problem was that my mouth is small. I�ve always known that, as I have huge problems with thick burgers or sandwiches, and always use teaspoons instead of soup spoons � there is just not much room in there. So, the clamps were pulling hard on my face adding to the pain, and he couldn�t get at the teeth without difficulty.

So, I rested for a minute, then they got back at it. I kept saying (though with lots of difficulty) "I�m trying to be good, I�m sorry, I�m really trying." He was so nice, saying "I know, you are being good. I wish you didn�t have to be awake." They gave me more freezing. I still cried. They gave me another break and the nurse rubbed my back. I could feel, hear, and taste those teeth being removed. Four extra freezings, still felt it. I realize it would feel a lot worse without, but that was awful. I spent almost 2 hours after in recovery. My lips, cheeks, and tongue were uber swollen. I couldn�t tell if I swallowed my pills. There looks like I have two big burns with scratches on it going from my lower lip to the bottom of my chin where the clamps were. I have bruises (though not many yet) under my chin.

The Dr. came in to see me and he said, "I know I told you you may not bruise too much since you have darker hair (I told him my red hair is from a bottle), but I will be surprised if you don�t have two black eyes tomorrow. And, I know I told you you would probably be able to work on Monday, but you may want to reconsider that." I�m going back to see him next week, and I�m so doped up on Tylenol 3 with codeine. However, I�m up at 12 a.m. because it hurts to much to put my head down.

That just plain sucked. And yes, I�m whining, but I feel it�s justified. I look like I got hit in the face with a truck! Oh, and it's so painful that I can't even eat overcooked noodles -- I can't open my mouth wide enough for the fork, and even when I manage to get it in there, I can't chew. So, juice and icecream for me. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, but I want those darn noodles!

Thanks for listening