Cut

If I were restricted to discussing my history of oral surgery, I could fill a few pages. When I was nine I went over the handlebars of my bike and landed face-first in the pavement. I had surgery that night for a shattered jaw bone. One of my front teeth was lodged in my jaw bone and only years later was it finally removed. Years later I had a bridge installed so my mouth looked normal again.

Today I’m having a gum graft. Read this if you want to lose your appetite. There are parts of the body that regenerate, but gums are not one of them. Mine are bad. I decided to have this procedure as an alternative to having worse procedures in the future. I’m not nervous, although I am hoping to be knocked out, like when I had my wisdom teeth out. In that case they gave me an IV, had me count down from ten, and at about six I was knocked out. Wisdom teeth and appendixes. Why do we have them again?

From my recent history, you might think that I’m a surgery junkie. Three years ago I had a cyst removed. I remember falling asleep well before I got into the operating room. Post-surgery was the pain, literally and otherwise. The wound stayed opened and my poor wife had to pack it twice daily. I heard that it would heal in six to eight weeks. It was 13.

Last year I had emergency surgery to remove a troubled appendix. Relive that experience with this epic blog. When I returned home the following day, I was bored more than anything else with having to basically sit on a couch all week. I’m hoping for that kind of experience today and beyond.

Am I nervous? Here’s my theory on surgery and on life. Everything that you anticipate or dread will pass. When I’m on vacation, by day one I can imagine how I’m going to feel on the final day. It will be over and there will be nothing I can do about it. This is comforting in times when you’d prefer to pull out the TiVo remote and fast forward. This is not comforting when you want to savor the brief “moments of magic”.