MY TEETH ARE IN MY PURSE

GUYS.

Hi, I'm alive! And I'm 24! So much has happened since I last posted (AKA like 2 things, but that is still more things than usual).

6 days ago, I got 2 of my wisdom teeth yanked out of my face! Since they had the X-rays and I had a ride home, they basically confirmed that they were taking care of it that day. The consultation didn't even happen; I just sat in a chair and they proceeded with, you know, some fucked up shit!

I had to rush around that morning at work and try to get as much done as possible, and unfortunately my high stress levels killed my appetite that day. I knew that was bad because based on past teeth-pulling experiences I knew I would not be eating normally again for at least a few days. I made myself eat a donut but unfortunately that's all I could handle.

Around 1 I left work and met my younger sister Sarah at my mom's house so she could drive me. I actually asked them on the phone the day before if I could drive myself and they said yes, but I know deep down I'm a big baby so luckily for me, Sarah was around to be my driver for the afternoon.

The place was like 10 minutes away next to Kohls, and I so wished we were about to go shopping there for some overpriced cardigans instead of the reality, which was me entering the scary brick building and riding an old tiny elevator up to the second floor.

The rest was sort of a blur. They talked with me about how nervous I was and that I shouldn't be (thanks, now I feel better!) and had me read through something that listed all the worst case scenarios and then just got right to it.

They had a spray to numb my mouth so the shot wouldn't hurt, which was kind of awesome. The shot still hurt a tiny bit but I was like WHATEVER, LET'S DO IT. #adrenaline #stillscared

Actually getting the teeth pulled didn't hurt at all. You can hear some pretty awful sounds as your tooth is being ripped from your skull, and that is definitely freaky but deep down I was like just get it done already! He did sort of have a hard time getting the right one to come out, and I kept holding my breath only to be scolded by one of the ladies for doing so. (She was helping, but also I was like get outta here, lady, I'm DYING).

Toward the end, as the guy wiggled my tooth in an effort to free it from my face, the same lady told me she loved my necklace. I hope no one noticed, but I gave a small thumbs up in response, though I was mostly focused on the HORROR happening in my mouth.

And then it was done. Literally, this entire thing took 5 minutes. That is not an exaggeration. He stuck some stuff in my mouth (some medicine crap, and a shit ton of gauze) and they sent me on my way. They repeatedly told me not to use a straw or to rinse too hard, as if I hadn't already googled this 18 times that day. I was over the moon; I legit felt lighter. This thing I had been worried about for so long was just suddenly over!

As the title suggests, they offered me my nasty teeth, and I accepted, and placed them in my purse. I suppose if you're dying to see a photo of these monsters, you can here. *Fair warning, they're fuckin teeth. They're gross. Don't get mad at me for how yucky they are or I will turn them into a necklace and send it to your house.* I also took the time to take a selfie to let my siblings know that I had survived the ordeal:

 

When we got back to my mom's, I took 3 ibuprofen as suggested, and waited for Adam to show up to cart me back to Wallingford where I could heal in peace.

I was feeling kind of shitty by then, though my mouth didn't hurt too bad, and miraculously it wasn't bleeding for hours like I expected it to! I felt kind of sore and tired, likely from being stressed for days beforehand, but now that it was over I could finally just chill out a little bit.

Adam downloaded all the episodes of One Tree Hill for me, so I let him pick randomly and tried to enjoy it. I wasn't allowed to rinse my mouth or brush my teeth that day so I tried to ignore that discomfort by drowning in the drama of Lucas and Peyton.

Because I was out for so long, I actually managed to watch season 4 of One Tree Hill in its entirety. Adam begrudgingly watched - even when he was on the computer he was still half paying attention to my dumb show. He even admitted to me yesterday that he just can't stop thinking about Dan Scott.

I had taken Wednesday and Thursday off as a precaution but actually assumed I'd feel okay enough to go to work on Thursday. Turns out I'm dumb and felt shitty all the way up until Sunday! Between not eating enough food (liquid tomato soup can only take you so far) and feeling like my face was being hit with hammers from the inside out, I felt like I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even sleep!!

I spent the first 2 days crying over dumb things because I was hungry and tired. Adam giving me a pink Orchid and moving it to a cute pot? Crying. Adam and his mom making me soup? Crying. Adam changing his plans to accommodate me calling out an extra day? CRYING.

I was a mess! The few times I left bed were to rinse my mouth out and imagine the holes that were there, and then fight the feeling of being about to faint until I got back under a blanket and away from the cruel, toothless world. And for about 10 minutes I ventured outside with Adam to pet Duncan and see sunlight that wasn't being filtered through a window.

BABY!!!!!

I didn't want to let this whole thing ruin my birthday (hey, it's the second thing that happened: I turned 24!), but to be honest it kind of did. My fears of an infection (or worse)

led to me feeling anxious about the things that could go wrong, and made it difficult to enjoy pizza. (Don't get me wrong, I still ate like 5 pieces; it was just really hard).

Today, though, I am feeling better. I'm not eating like a normal person yet, but I'm getting there. Pretty soon I will be eating pretzels again and not worrying about what's going on in the back of my dumb mouth. And in about 2 weeks, I will finally be starting on my Invisalign journey once again!

I've fallen out of the Invisalign habits that I had formed before; it'll definitely be hard having to brush my teeth at work again. But at the same time I am just so ready! For real this time, in about a year or so (we'll see how many trays they give me), my teeth will be straight and I won't have anything to blog about again! Ahh!!

The worst is behind me and I couldn't be happier. I'm ready to deal with the pain (literally) of wearing braces again, and I'm sure I will update once I know more about how long it'll take and all that jazz.

Until then, I am ready to get spooky for Halloween, and to enjoy "making up" for all the calories I missed last week via the Twix and Oreos I got for my birthday. 

I hope everyone is having a good...uhh...month, and Halloween, and all that! Pet your kitties and tell them I love them, things are looking up from here!

Recommended Listening: Number One - Tove Styrke

PS. I suppose I should acknowledge the fact that I only used One Tree Hill gifs. I'm not going to explain; I just wanted to acknowledge it. Thanks.

Let the Pity Party Commence!

Hey.

So if you read my last post (hi mom, hi dad!) then you know that my braces stopped fitting my teeth correctly last month. And I wrote on and on about how it had been the worst few days ever and I was so upset...and then it was all fine in the end and totally normal.

W E L L.

Since then some real bad shit has gone down; I have had what I would call the worst week and a half...of the year? Definitely not of my life, but pretty close, like top 5 (bottom 5?) worst bunch of days. 

Okay, maybe I'm being a little bit dramatic, but it was still not a good week by any means.

Once my teeth were scanned and sent off to whoever they get sent off to, I figured all I had to do next was wait. I had a tentative appointment set up for October 5, which was iffy only because sometimes the orthodontist and the people at Invisalign go back and forth on what is the best treatment option for like, 100 years.

So last Tuesday I got a call from the orthodontist, and I thought, great! They must be done early so I can start sooner than I thought!

My dreams were soon crushed as I called back and heard the words I thought I'd never have to hear...again. 

Ortho: Hey, so, you might remember last year we were considering pulling those 2 teeth at the top?
Me: Uhuhh.
Ortho: So I was thinking you could come in and look at what we're thinking. We think we want to extract those to make room after all.
Me: ...
Ortho: I can tell you're not exactly doing cartwheels over there.

AND HE WAS RIGHT. I mean, I guess you could say my emotions were doing cartwheels. I got a little teary eyed and agreed to go see what was up. At that point I assumed there was going to be another, maybe more difficult, option, so I wasn't completely devastated. I did manage to lose a ton of sleep over it, but otherwise felt okay...ish.

Next day I showed up and they showed me the new treatment plan they were thinking of going with. It involved pulling 2 teeth (one on each side) near the front of my mouth - the ones right behind the 2 that stick out the most, right before my molars. Eeeek.

Option 2 was getting my top 2 wisdom teeth taken out, but somehow I'm left with a weird overbite at the end. GREAT.

Neither seemed okay, but they didn't give me any other options. I left the office promising I'd think about it while holding back tears like no tomorrow! Once I got in the car, all hell broke loose!

Not to be dramatic, but that right there started one of the worst days I've had in a while. I had to sit in my car and cry for a full 20 minutes before I pulled myself together enough to go back to work after lunch. I even called back that afternoon to again ask if there was any other way, and was told it's just not gonna work. My dumb mouth is too small and filled with teeth and the old plan just isn't going to get us results. PLUS that night I read that Fixer Upper is ending after the next season. CHIP AND JOANNA HAVE FAILED ME.

So today I called them and officially made my decision: I am getting my top 2 wisdom teeth taken out. As I write this I feel a weird acceptance about it, even though I admittedly cried about it 4 times today since making the call. All I knew was I didn't want to be missing 2 front teeth for 6 months, and to me it's way more normal to get rid of wisdom teeth anyway. 

I found some oral surgeon near-ish to work to get it done and booked all the appointments I needed to, and now I must wait. I was going to make them wait until November, but I was told if the consult goes well and it looks easy enough to get done without knocking me out (fingers crossed!) then they might just take care of it at the consultation appointment. Gawd. I'm gonna die.

So that might happen...4 days before my birthday. Ending 23 with a bang - and some bleeding gums.

I'm mostly okay with it, at least until I think about the reality that will be me laying in bed for 24 hours and feeling sorry for myself. I did make my boyfriend download all 9 seasons of One Tree Hill, so at least I'll be able to cry while watching some teens play basketball and like, get married at 16 years old.

I know I'll be happy I did it in the end, but this particular bump in the road has been difficult to get over. Teeth gross me the hell out and the thought of driving myself to some strange office and letting someone take 2 of them out makes my skin crawl. Freaks!!

I guess that's all I have to say about it for now. I am absolutely 100% dreading this, but at the same time I can't wait for it to be over. I imagine I'll update again once this horror is behind me, so, see ya when I'm 24!

Recommended Listening: I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie (aka my self pity song this week!)