Paradigm Shifted

So the teeth came out.  It was followed by pain and swelling (but only on one side).  Much ingestion of vicodin came next.  And that should have been the end of the story.

There is a lot of controversy over removal of third molars (wisdom teeth).  I can’t speak for other countries, but it seems much of the American dental establishment is pro-removal, unless there is a guarantee that they will grow in straight.   Since that guarantee is pretty much nil, they push for extraction.

I saw my X-rays – my untrained eye told me that the bottom two needed to come out.  For that matter, one mystery was solved – why I had such issues with the furthest back second molar (the third molar has been pushing against it for years).

But the top right wisdom tooth was one that I was uncertain about.  I also doubted the removal requirement of the top left tooth, until it started to erupt… and then stopped halfway out.  You can’t have a half-protruding tooth.   But the top right seemed fine to me.  Impacted, but causing no problems.

Nevertheless, they all came out.  I have 4 nice little holes, two with stitches, one without, and one I can’t quite tell (they seem to have fallen out?).  There is still a crapload of pain, which is being controlled by vicodin.

I’d worry about the vicodin dependency, except for one unfortunate side effect.  For that reason, I’m not likely to ever worry about ever developing an addiction to opiates.  (By the way, one of the commenters mentioned vitamin C – I will try it and report back)

No, my body is horribly miserable and feels less like a temple and more like an American car manufacturing plant – abandoned, unloved, and unproductive.   I was going to wait until post-painkillers to start detox, but my body can’t take it.  So today, I started on the high-fiber diet.

I realized about mid-day that despite not actually being able to chew anything, I love what I’m eating.  When you can’t chew, you are limited in what you can take in.  I am not very tolerant of heavy dairy, so 4 days of ice cream is not in the picture.  I hate jello.  And the rest of the processed food genre requires chewing.

So instead, I’m keeping it real, and keeping it simple.  Oat bran (cooked in water), and flavored with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Or a savory version with garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, and butter.   Refried beans with melted cheese.  Mashed avocado.  Kefir.  Carrot and ginger soup. Rice and lentil mash.  Vanilla yogurt.   Idli.  Steamed tofu in garlic sauce.

I went into this expecting to drink kefir and blended soup for 3 days, and be done with it.  But the older you are, the longer the healing process.  So onto day 5, and I’m learning that some of the simplest, healthiest foods are also some of the best for my body, and some of the most healing.