Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Dentist and Rice/Beans

On the 12th I had a bottom wisdom tooth pulled with not much swelling and not much pain after the first few hours. Yesterday I had a top wisdom tooth pulled on the other side. Maybe it was because of how much numbing stuff they gave me but it was numb for over 12 hours. They were doing a couple fillings on that side so the dentist gave me shots on the top and bottom. But the drilling still hurt so he gave me more. Then just before pulling the tooth (after the fillings were done) he gave me more around the tooth itself. The tooth came out extremely easy with just the usual pulling and pushing feeling then a spike of pain as the tooth broke free completely and came out.

The pain didn't ease to much from the lortab he prescribed. So when it came time to take my third dose I switched to ibuprofen hoping to battle the swelling because by then I swear it looked and felt like I had had a mini breast implant in my cheek. I read online that in top wisdom teeth that swelling is normal up to 4 days so I wasn't worried. It also said to use cold the first day and heat from then on.

I used a gel cold pack yesterday but I hate heating those things up so I decided not to use it. The site suggested using a wet wash cloth heated in the microwave but I decided that would loose heat to quickly, although I did hole one to my cheek while in the shower this morning and kept having to hold it in the shower spray over and over as the cloth went from hot to warm to cold.

So we're finally tot he rice and beans part. Obviously most of you know but there are some who don't so heres the info.

If you fill a cloth (I use socks) with dry rice or beans and heat it in the microwave for a minute or so it'll keep it's heat for a long time and you can use that. It's flexible because of the many grains or beans so you can use it anywhere. It's in a cloth so it shouldn't burn the skin, but if you think it's to hot wrap a thin cloth around it once or twice until it's hot but not burning, then just take off layers as it cools. You can reheat it as many times or as often as you need. To close the open end you can tie a knot if you plan to leave the sock like that or if you just want it on occasion just use a safety pin, just be sure not to microwave the pin.

Back to the tooth, it was interesting making dinner because the lortab made me feel like vomiting so I could only stand for a short time before my gag reflex started triggering. If I laid down the feeling would easy and after a few minutes I could stand up again and do more.

My husband had requested spaghetti because he knew I wouldn't feel like making something that took time or energy, and since I wasn't planning on eating solids I was happy to let him decide. So something that should take 15 minutes ended up taking an hour, but I figured it would so I started with plenty time and finished just after he came in the door.

Like I said I wouldn't be eating solids because I didn't want to mess with the wound getting food particles in it or anything, but also my jaw hurt(s) to much to open it wide enough for a spoonful. So I drank apple juice for snack and chicken broth for dinner.

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