Before surgery: I was extremely nervous about pretty much everything. My body was shaking like crazy while I was waiting. The nurses must have thought it was because I was cold, not anxious, so they kept covering me in blankets. In particular, I was nervous about the IV but it was fine. I'd probably say a shot is worse than an IV for comparison. I have no idea when I was knocked out, all I remember is them saying they were putting some sort of medicine in the IV and after that, I have no memory.
After surgery: When I woke up the nurses were moving me to the recovery room. I didn't really say anything but I laughed a lot. They needed two nurses to move me as I didn't have much of a sense of balance. I felt like I waited for my mom to pick me up for a long time. I didn't really do much in that time but I kept looking at my heart monitor, probably out of curiosity. When my mom came she helped me walk out of the car. When we were in the elevator I was still kinda weird and I kept laughing. There was a cute guy in the elevator who probably thought I was acting really funny all drugged up since he kept smiling at me. After that, we went home.
1st day: To my surprise, I felt perfectly fine except for a little bit of cheek soreness. I had a great appetite and the strong medicine didn't even knock me out. I always took my medicine at the correct time and didn't feel any pain. I basically spent the whole day lying in bed, watching movies, and icing my face. I took my medicine right before I went to sleep and I slept great. Using a scale of 1-10 on how bad the day was with 1 being great and 10 being unbearable, I'd say it was a 2/10.
2nd day: My cheeks were still a little bit sore but more swollen than anything. I continued eating well but found myself to be more sleepy this day. I could feel stuff on each side of my cheeks which I assumed were the blood clots or just a side effect from the swelling so I left them alone. I also had to start rinsing my mouth with salt water which I did very gently. The first time I did the rinse I did it standing up in the bathroom but I got really dizzy so the next time I did it in bed into a bowl which worked way better. I continued with the same dose of pain medicine as the first day. The rating of my day was 4/10.
3rd day: I threw up the night before, most likely because of the medicine so I stopped taking it. The pain was basically gone anyway. My cheeks were still swollen and it was harder this day because my body didn't seem to want any food. My mouth wouldn't open very wide. The left side of my face was more swollen and had pain whereas the right side was only a little swollen and had no pain. I also had a lot of saliva and swallowing was a bit tough because of that. I continued with the rinses. The rating of my day was a 5/10.
4th day: The pain is gone! There is still slight discomfort and chewing still isn't possible but generally, it's just swollen cheeks that are the problem. I woke up super hungry but I'm completely sick of potatoes, applesauce, ice cream, and pudding. I'm starting to add more interesting foods in my diet such as canned oranges, kraft dinner, and cupcakes which is good since I'm getting more food into my body again. The annoying thing is it takes me a long time to eat since I can only somewhat chew with my front teeth. I've also been trying to walk around the house a little bit, my head is kinda loopy when I do but I don't feel faint so that's good. The salt water rinses are still annoying and gross but I do them. The rating of my day was a 3/10.
5th day: I'm almost a normal human again! I'm able to walk around just fine, no dizziness and no loopy head. The swelling is reduced, still there but less than it was yesterday. I noticed today I have a bruise on my face and one where I had my IV in but that's normal so I'm not worried. Since it's been a while now I think I'm free from the risk of dry sockets but I'm still being careful so I don't get an infection. The only issues I have now, besides the swollen cheeks, are that my mouth still doesn't open very wide and I'm a ridiculously slow eater. It took me almost two hours to eat a burger today, one the size of a burger in a McDonald's happy meal. However, since I can eat more foods now I'm happy, even if it takes me hours to consume them. I know this is gross but I also took my first shower since having the surgery. The rating of my day was a 2/10.
6th day: I'm basically the same as I was yesterday just slightly better. Nothing really changed. I should probably mention I'm not yet at the point where I will go anywhere near my incisions. I only eat with my front teeth and I haven't been brave enough to brush my molars at all. I'm planning to wait at least a week until I try getting near them. Also, I noticed today that when I was doing my salt water rinsing a piece of the stitches came out. I've been feeling loose stitches on the top right wound so I'm hoping it was that one that came out, I have dissolvable stitches so it's normal for them to start coming out now.
7th day: I hardly look swollen at all today. I still have bruising but I don't mind it. Basically, everything is normal now except I still have to watch my diet. My jaw has loosened up a bit so I'm able to eat faster now. Sadly I won't be able to have the things I love such as dragon fruit, popcorn, or cucumber rolls for a long time because they could get stuck in my sockets.
So that's the end of my wisdom teeth journey. I got all four teeth out at nineteen years old when the teeth roots weren't fully grown yet and before they broke through the gums. I think part of the reason it went so well is I got it done at the easiest possible time. Although it's scary when you hear you need surgery, it's best to just get it done before problems occur. Overall as long as you are careful and you take it easy, recovery won't be too bad.
