Feeling Like A Real Person Now That I'm Off Vicodin

It's been nearly a week since my wisdom teeth came out, and I feel so much better. I'm still a bit sore and having trouble chewing anything that's not very soft, but I'm feeling a lot better. A lot of the improvement came about yesterday when I opted to stop taking Vicodin. They prescribed it to me as a pain medication, and for the first couple days, I really did need it, since the pain was quite intense. Now though, since the pain isn't that bad and it's mostly just a bit of swelling and soreness, I'm so done with the Vicodin. While I really needed it it was fine, and I'm thankful that it kept the pain at bay, but once I didn't need it as much, I hated the side effects that came with it. It was making me feel very lightheaded and loopy, and also nauseous. Also, it was turning me into an emotional basket case with the mood swings. Over the last few days I'd found myself feeling miserable and crying for no reason just because of the meds. Yesterday I gave a call to my campus minister in one of those moments, and she recommended that it was time to lay off the Vicodin. Even making that decision made a huge difference, and by the end of last night I was already feeling a lot better. I'm still working that junk out of my system, but the pain is more or less gone and I'm so glad, I feel like a real person again. I feel more clear and focused and though I'm not fond of work, I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow just to feel like I'm getting back into my life. My work schedule is moved back an hour, which means I'm going from 8 to 5, which is also a perk in that when I go back to TKD I can go and help the kids in the second class instead of only making it to my own class. Also to look forward to, this weekend is Daddy's birthday and next weekend I'll be going up to the Springs for Homecoming with Cole, which will just be awesome. I've been dreaming about it, even, looking forward to seeing Sami and Brian, not to mention Val and Philip and Beth and Carl and Lena. Val's been having a rough time of things, and I think it will be a nice thing for her to get to spend some time just hanging out. I also need to remember to send Toria a birthday present, since her birthday is the same day as my daddy's.

Lacking in Wisdom *rolls eyes*

I got my wisdom teeth out this morning, and though it's not great, by any means, thus far it's a lot better than I expected. I was very nervous, and kind of stuffy, since I couldn't take my allergy meds, but they were very nice and quite calming. They led me into the room, covered me up with a blanket, explained everything as they did it, and kept asking if I was ok and chatting with me. The nurse who put in my IV was also very nice, and much more skilled than the idiot paramedic who tried it during my car accident a little over a year ago. He tried three different places (one hand and both elbow crooks) and couldn't get it in. She slipped it in, I didn't even feel it, and then the anesthesiologist was chatting, he put something into the port, and the next thing I knew I was waking up. I don't remember a thing. I was tired on the way home, and I napped a lot, have to change my gauze a lot, and have some fun lovely meds for pain. I'm only allowed to eat pudding and milkshakes and things with no texture right now, but tomorrow I can move up a little, to apple sauce. A few days after that, things like soft fruit, melon and the like, pasta, and mashed potatoes. The other weird thing is that I'm supposed to eat a lot of small meals every time I take my meds, which is hard, I'm not used to eating that often. They said Saturday will be the worst day, as far as pain and swelling, but thus far it's only soreness and working on controlling the bleeding. The strangest part at this point is that part of my mouth is still numb from the novocaine, and the only part still numb is the left part of my lower lip and chin...earlier it was my whole mouth, and I was dribbling everywhere. Anyway, wish me luck, and we'll see how it goes for the next week.

Tooth Extraction Ho!

The official date has been announced. I'm going to get my wisdom teeth taken out on September 25th. I had my consultation, and while it's not super emergency urgent, they would like to get them out as quick as possible. I only have the lower two, but they're impacted, and the doctor wants to get them out before I end up with any cavities on my other teeth below the gum line. They gave me the full list of pre- and post-op instructions. It's kind of scary and unnerving to think about, though I did opt to be knocked completely out. I learned that the bottom teeth are harder to remove and often have to be broken to be removed. I don't think I want to be awake to know that they're breaking apart pieces of my head and yanking them out. They told me about how they'll knock me out, through an IV, which should be interesting. Last time they tried to put in an IV, when I got in a car accident, the idiot paramedic tried both hands and an elbow before we got to the hospital and gave up. I'm also gonna be stuck on a liquid diet for a couple days, which should be interesting. Lots of jell-o, yogurt, pudding, and shakes. They also terrorized me with the stories of things like dry sockets...I'll have to be careful to not mess with them too much. Anyway, wish me luck, and don't be surprised if I get in a drunken blog post while I'm knocked out from the narcotics following the surgery.

Survival of Family Parties and Other Things to Be Proud Of

This weekend was a party for my grandpa's 80th birthday, and it was quite an ordeal for everyone, especially my grandpa. I was annoyed at having to be social when I'm still not feeling great and getting over a lovely head cold and cough. It was nice to see some of my distant cousins from that side of the family though, since I hadn't seen a lot of them for several years. I didn't even know my cousin Nick had kids until now. He's got two of them, little girl named Sydney and a little boy named Cody. My great uncle Archie and auntie Olga just dote on those little ones. Family squabbling about the hassle of planning and cooking and whatnot, the party was nice, though I truly did consider it a survival game. I was so tired and cranky by the end of the day that I was more than happy to come home and collapse.

In other news, I finally got the official letter stating that I'm a fully certified instructor. Took a long time of waiting, but it's nice to be able to finally put the black collar on my uniform. Twelve years worth of work. I'm quite proud, and I can't wait to show up for class on Thursday and have my new collar on my uniform. I also received the official patches, with my name on them, that I can put on the breast pocket and lapels of the suit I can buy to wear at official ATA functions. Dunno how soon I'll be able to purchase it, since it's rather expensive, but it's not like I need it urgently either...I prefer to wear my uniform to testings and other functions anyway.

Third thing of note...Thursday is also the day of my consultation for my wisdom teeth extraction. I'm nervous about it, but it does mean a day off from work and a day to sleep in and spend some time with my mum. It's still nerve-wracking to think that they're going to cut open my gums and yank them out, but oh well. I'll survive.

I'm also working on my plans for the future, researching schools and saving money. Dad wants me to get a teaching certificate, though that won't really make a lot of difference to me in the long run, since I want to be a professor. I've gotten great recommendations from some friends, and I also am working to contact some professors and others who can help me decide on the right path.

Climbing Dreams and Struggles Toward the Future

So I had some really weird dreams last night that I don't think had anything to do with the prescription cough meds I've been taking for my cold. I won't go into crazy detail, but most of my dreams involved climbing or struggle, starting with the norm that I remembered and turning toward really bizarre twists. I gave a call to my campus minister, who is still a dear friend to me, and she gave me the theory (she's always been really good at dream interpretation) that my dreams had to do with my current struggles in life to move forward and get out of my current situation. I'm miserable in my job and I want to go back to school and feel like I'm progressing toward someting. I'm not quite there financially, though I'm definitely making progress, but Val made the point that if I don't do it now, financially ready or not, then in a couple of years I'm just going to be in the same spot and the only difference will be that I'll be older and it'll be that much harder to leave. She recommended I contact a few people for advice about how to go about choosing the right grad school for myself and how to work out paying for it. I've already sent emails to those people and with any luck I'll hear back from them soon and have some ground to start on. She also made the suggestion that dad is so vehemently opposed to me going not just because it will be an expense for him but because he and I are similar enough that he enjoys having me around and basically doesn't want me to leave. That makes a lot of sense, since we fought tooth and nail while I was in college, but once I came home we got along so much better. We still have our disagreements, but they aren't so drawn out and they get dropped so much more quickly. I love that thought, since dad and I have never quite gotten along, but at the same time, I don't want to stay here and feel like I'm stagnating. So this year is going to be devoted to research and applications for grad school, along with finding money to pay for it that won't put me into much further debt. I know my parents will help me, however grudgingly, with at least things like living expenses, even if I can handle school by myself, and I'm also more than willing to work at school to help myself out. I just want to feel like I'm going somewhere, and thanks to a pep talk, I think I'm on my way. Wish me luck, and any advice is welcome.