OUCH
[:0] This past spring I wound up in the hospital. No, not a car accident... This time it was an extremely painful impacted, infected wisdom tooth. It had formed an abcess in my neck which made it difficult for me to swallow and breathe, therefore, warranting an emergency room visit and a consequential stay in the hospital. An oral surgeon removed the wisdom tooth along with the tooth in front that Mr. Wisdom had destroyed. The pain of the extraction was negligible compared to that of the abcess. So, two days later, I wound up in the O R again to get a tube placed between my gums and inside cheek, through my jaw, and out my upper neck in order to drain the nasties that were collecting there. There is more to this story, like an ENT doctor sticking a camera up my nose and down my throat, and the vast amounts of vicodin I scored during the entire ordeal, but I have since recovered completely.
At the moment, I'm kinda busy with work and all to take another vacation at the hospital, so before anything unexpected happens, I'll be getting another impacted wisdom tooth taken out on Tuesday. This one is not painful nor infected, but you know, "been there, done that" isn't always a pleasant experience. Now here's the rub: My dental HMO will only cover local anesthesia, so if I want the full deal with general anesthesia, it will cost me $560 as opposed to the $145 extraction with local anesthesia (am I spelling it right?)
I guess I'm looking for a little moral support. Help me out here... Please tell me that staying concious during this procedure is a perfectly common practice and a sane choice for a non-masochist. Has anyone ever stayed awake during such torture? Or, should I sh*t can the idea of getting lowering springs for my PT, sacrifice the cash and spring for the general anesthesia?[B)]
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