I remember talking to a friend last year about his mouth pain. He had some canker sores in his mouth that wouldn't go away for like months. He was just a miserable mess. I remember feeling really bad for him. Mouth pain is not pleasant. You can't really stay at home because you can still function, walk around, do your job, but it's just a constant pain that there. You just have to wait for it to heal.
I got my wisdom teeth out exactly this day last week. And I am still in agonizing pain. It's a combination of the tenderness of a bruise, constant cold sensitivity on my bottom teeth, lip numbness, throbbing sinus pain, fear of bad breath, constant headache near my left temple, and the worst is the pain of not being able to eat what I desire.
Right now, I would like to chow down on a big juicy burger with two beef patties and two melted slices of cheese, dripping with ketchup and mustard. Or, how about some nice hot and spicy beef jerky to chew on. Or even a Fuji apple to chomp on. I can only open my mouth halfway still.
I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining. I know there's nothing I can do. Last night, it hurt so much that tears started squeezing out. My husband was very supportive of my pain. I'm wary of taking too many pain killers. Alleve does the trick, but I'm just afraid of getting too dependent on drugs or overdosing. By the way, it's so weird how pain medication works. It blocks the pain receptors in your brain?? So the actual "pain" is still there, but you just can't feel it? Isn't it interesting that we can control how much pain we feel. What a concept. Anyways, back to my non-complaining. So I'm trying hard to act normal, but everyone around me is affected by it. My students are all concerned about me, some more than others. One student wrote a note to me in cursive today (major accomplishment, since we're learning cursive right now). It read:
Dear Mrs. Chai,
I hope you feel better!!!!
I mist you on the first day of summer vakation
How sweet! It was actually supposed to be "first day
back from winter vacation", but I got the point. I
was absent on Monday, the first day back, which is
pretty major because teachers are usually discouraged
to miss a day that is adjacent to a vacation or
holiday. And, the kids get disappointed when their
regular teacher is not there to greet them after a
long break. I felt bad, but my pain felt worse.
I've had many conversations with people about their own experiences with wisdom teeth. It seems like people generally went through the same kinds of pain that I am going through. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one who has to go through this. I mean, it's a common experience. A rite of passage, if you will. But it also makes me feel like a wuss. If others went through it and made it, I can too, so stop your whinin'! But I can't help it. It hurts. Waaaa!
It's definitely made me appreciate certain things in life. Like the ability to eat. And it's also made me aware of others who suffer with constant pain. Pain builds character.