Wisdom Teeth Suck! Surgery Happening Soon

**ZenOfAnger** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 2:25am

Hello everybody.

It's been a while since I last made a thread or posted, and I have decided it's about time to make a new post. Now I am going to share some news with everyone: On the 27th of January, I am going to undergo surgery to remove all 4 of my impacted wisdom teeth.

This may not seem like big news to some of you, because they're just teeth and a lot of people get them removed, but hear me out. I've got a story to tell about why this is big news for me.

For the past few years of my life, I have suffered from chronic migraine headaches which started around the middle of my 8th grade school year. The first few were real nasty; I had them when I woke up, got tunnel vision around an hour after school started, which was followed by vomiting and my mom picking me up and taking me home so I could recover after two or three days of rest. Now they did not happen too often, as I only seemed to get them in the fall and spring, but as my high school career began, they slowly got worse.

Freshmen year started out well. While there I met a few friends and started a relationship with a very lovely lady which lasted until the end of my junior year. Everything was fine for the first week or so, and then it happened. I woke up one day and had a headache so bad I seriously could not get out of bed! Unlike the ones before, I had no vomiting, but the degree of pain was about three times worse and I felt completely debilitated, where the ones before just made me feel somewhat woozy and unbalanced.

Since it was fall, I thought it was just due to that; my other migraines before were in the fall and spring so i thought this would be no different and by the end of October I would be fine throughout winter until April when I would have them again. I was wrong.

Now not only did they not go away, but I had them throughout the year! This seriously hurt my attendance and my grades for that matter, and the headaches ended up landing me in summer school for 2 of my classes. I have never been a bad student, and up until my freshmen year, I had always done well in each subject. With my attendance so low, however, it was a real bitch to keep up with subjects.

Since the migraines seemed to happen all the time, my mom took me to the doctor's during the winter to find out the problem. My doctor prescribed me some medicine, but to no effect. Afterward, we went back and he recommended us to see a specialist. He too prescribed medicine that did not work and I was still left miserable.

In sophomore year it was the same story, but at a different school, since I transferred to another that had less of a workload (my high school in freshmen year was very work- heavy compared to most schools in my district). The problem only got worse, as I missed more days and had summer school once again.

During that year I tried more medicines, all to no avail which really pissed me off. My mom was really pissed as well. With the more days I missed, the more and more my mom thought it to be psychological. During the winter of my sophomore year, I went to see a therapist. While there I did get emotional help to deal with some other issues, but it did not solve my migraines.

My mom tried again in March and signed me up for a group therapy session for teens. It turned out that I had no real psychological issues, regardless of the fact that the group was more designed for teen drug/alcohol addicts.

Fast forward up to May 2008.

After trying everything else under the sun (CAT scans, vitamins, codeine, etc.), My mom and I finally decided to try a chiropractor/acupuncturist. After some needle sessions, he asked for us to get an x-ray of my head and back to bring for him so he could asses whether I needed a realignment or not. After getting the x-rays, the chiropractor saw that some of my vertebrates were slightly unaligned, but discovered something none of us imagined. The x-ray of my head took in a profile angle revealed that my incoming wisdom teeth on the bottom were turned to the side!

Since he was no dentist, he told us we should one right away. A few weeks later, chance had it that my yearly cleaning was at hand. When we brought him the news and the x-ray he told us to immediately go to a dental specialist for a better x-ray. When we did so in August, an x-ray set at a different angle to show all of my teeth and not just a profile picture like the last one, revealed all 4 of them turned sideways.

The specialist explained that their turned position indicates that they were impacted. Also the x-ray revealed one of the teeth had a strange bubble looking object behind it. The specialist told us that this was most likely a cyst or abscess. After hearing the news we told him how I had had migraine issues since the 8th grade and how they greatly affected my life. He said that the wisdom teeth and the cyst could be the culprit to the migraine's being so severe, and that surgery could help to alleviate or even get rid of the pain.

The only bad news was that the operation would cost about $1400. My mom contacted our insurance provider and described the situation. Unfortunately our plan did not cover any of the cost, and when she tried to find out why she was told that the migraines were not a life threatening illness, so therefore the operation was not covered.
The operation was put off until further notice.

At the beginning of this year my mom was visited by her uncle, my great uncle, during the holiday break. After talking to him about our dilemma, he agreed to pay for it in full. The only catch being that I get my high school diploma/G.E.D. and continue to get college courses.

Due to the migraines, I had actually been un-enrolled from my school due to missing so many days in a row in sophomore year. It happened again in senior year and I finally had enough. I eventually had to drop school in October, because I cloud not attend on a regular basis. I am a pretty bright guy though, but I just can't keep up since I would miss 5 days or more in a row, no joke.

After the surgery, I plan to take up online course to finish my high school education through Mizzou. After that, I will get more hours at my work, since right now I work a hodge-podge schedule due the headaches, and will take up martial arts again at a different school since I can afford it due to my personal finance.

So you can now see why this operation is such a big deal to me. It is the only option I have left to turn to for a cure to my pain and debilitation. It just has to work out, because after all these years, it's the only logical reason to why they happen so often and so severe. I really hope it all works out, because I really want to return to a normal life, and also so I can return to the martial arts.

I never really told anyone here that I had them before, because I didn't want to seem like I was a sympathy-whore trying to get people to feel bad for me. But now that I have a date to the surgery and a real answer to getting rid of my pain, I felt it proper to tell you all, as I am somewhat phobic of being rendered unconscious and wanted to get some type of reassurance and words of encouragement from others.

Thank you all for hearing me out, and I hope to become a regular poster again soon.
Wish me the best of luck!

Sincerely,

ZenOfAnger, aka Ryan R.

**reindo** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 2:31am

I am sorry to hear what you have gone through Ryan, school-wise and pain too.
no worries you will be back healthy and will be able to kick ass in a week or so after the operation.
I too have a history with my teeth, one of them being very close to a nerve etc.. and it sucks balls.
Dont get phobic you will be fine...

**ZenOfAnger** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 2:46am

Thanks for your concern, reindo. I forgot to mention how it really messed up my sleeping habits. The headaches go into remission during the evening, and I find it hard to sleep at night, like right now.

I do hope I will be able to kick ass, but a week is not a reasonable goal. You see, I have done TKD for the past 7 years and I plan to take up judo/bjj after this whole mess is taken care of, so maybe in a year or two I can be a somewhat competent ass-kicker. =)

I still am really uncomfortable with the idea of being under the gas for a few hours, but I am going to have to face that fear if I ever want to get rid of the pain.

Thanks again,

ZoA.

**SoylentNinja** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 3:09am

Its ok to fear going under the gas. It is a very understandable reaction to getting rendered unconscious. But the anesthesiologists are generally very professional that will help you guide you through the process if you tell them about your condition.

Even though I do not know you well, I wish you luck on your road to health.

**ZenOfAnger** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 3:13am

Originally Posted by SoylentNinja

Its ok to fear going under the gas. It is a very understandable reaction to getting rendered unconscious. But the anesthesiologists are generally very professional that will help you guide you through the process if you tell them about your condition.

Even though I do not know you well, I wish you luck on your road to health.

Thank you.

By the way, are you made out of dead people, soylent ninja?
(this is a very vague joke if you have ever seen the movie soylent green)

**Lily** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 3:27am

Holy hell, all the best with the surgery ZenofA. Things will definitely improve from here. Don't worry too much about your studies till after the surgery, will be waiting to here a positive outcome.

My wisdom tooth story, 2 impacted at the bottom, surgery had been scheduled for Dec 2005. I never went back to that orthodontist as I was too scared to go through with the surgery. No migraines though but I did get the warning about the possibility of abcesses which thank god haven't happened yet, I think.

**ZenOfAnger** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 3:35am

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Lily. I hope as well you don't ever get abcesses, but getting surgery would be a very good idea for you as well.

Best to get it out of the way now, rather than to find out you have developed abcesses or cysts that could form into tumors.

**SoylentNinja** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 3:36am

That movie is the entire reason that I have made this name! Its been my screen name since I picked up counter strike source when I discovered the joys of dropping on people from great heights with a primed frag grenade.... sorry, got rambly, yeah i really like my name because I have not run into a forum where somebody has the same name.

**Lily** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 4:49am

Okay Zen, you get your surgery, tell us about how you feel in the next few weeks and then I'll seriously consider getting my wisdom teeth out.

I'm glad you have family members who will support you during and after the procedure. I am sure that this will get rid of the migraines, imagine being pain free in a matter of weeks!

**CoffeeFan** · Posted On: 1/21/2009 5:33am

Good luck ZoA. I had two wisdom teeth removed last year and had a hell of a time with it. I suggest you make sure to go to a dentist with a good reputation and not a chop shop dentist like I did (fucking HMO).

For right now I'll tell you a funny story about when they had me going under. I had a needle in my arm dripping some groovy powerful drugs and a gas mask around my neck feeding me another kind of groovy drugs. Needless to say I was wacky in the brain, all dizzy and ready to go under. The anesthesiologist starts talking to me, I guess to calm me down or see how well things were progressing.

Dr: "So what kind of hobbies are you into?"
Me: "Mostly I'm into SAMBO"
Dr: "What, like the dancing?"

Now normally when I get this response (which is quite often), I go into an prepared speech about the rich history of the modern grappling arts and where SAMBO fits in. The diverse nature of the art, a list of influential players within the MMA scene, the joy one gets from flipping people into the air and turning their legs into pretzels. Due to the drugs and time constraints what came out was this:

Me: "he he he, no it's like BJJ."

(Forgive me my fellow SAMBOist.)

Dr: "Oh, I got you. I actually got some advice for you since I do a bit of martial arts myself. Now just remember Jonathan, it's only gay if you look the other person in the eye."

Let me tell you, that little zinger had me chuckling like a little girl. I was laughing my ass off, then the doctor was laughing, then the nurse started laughing, then the Cheshire Cat was laughing (it's possible the cat was not really there, I'm pretty sure that was the drugs). I wanted to tell the guy about Bullshido, but instead I laughed myself into a coma and woke up feeling as if I had been raped in the face. I know I wasn't really raped in the face cause I made sure not to have eye contact before I opened my mouth.

/story

Remember to listen to your dentist and expect a long recovery time. I suggest you eat whole foods while you can and fill your kitchen with easy to eat stuff like juice, puddings, smoothies, apple sauce, and soups. It's not going to be fun but better to get it done earlier rather then later.