AmandaKiddy

If you go to an oral surgeon, most likely you will not have that much pain. Here are my tips.

**You will probably get a handful of prescriptions including two/three levels of pain killers-- fill ALL the prescriptions. You may not need to try the strong stuff, but you do NOT want to be unprepared.

**I found out that when I came to I asked for my mother and thought the nurse was her, but when I realized it wasn't my mom, I got to the crying, so just make sure your parents/friends are there for you when you wake, so you just are not disoriented.

**As soon as you get home, make sure you have one of those ice pack thingies with a screw on top that you can add water and ice to-- this has been a savior for me, and I have seen little swelling at all because I have kept that pack with me since I got home-- you will want to have at least three days of recovery, though I was walking around the *house* on the evening of Day 1.

**Have some book/s or summer projects ready that you've wanted to do but never had the time to sit down and do/read them. I've finished up my summer reading just while recovering.

**As for pain, there will be little as long as you stay on a STRICT schedule of taking your pain killers and antibiotics. I have a little alarm which I have been setting to make sure I take my pills on time. The little pain that may reside after taking your low-level pain killers can be removed TOTALLY with that ice pack.. I love that ice pack.

**You gotta have soft foods, so go get yogurts, some spaghetti-o's, and Nouriche (by Yoplait)-- the yogurts and other soft foods will be good to keep you full, but the Nouriche is wonderful because it is relatively cheap and is an actualy meal supplement-- please take my advice and try some, they are delicious and a good source of protein and vitamins when you cannot be eating meats/veggies!

-----*If they give you some type of pain killer that has aspirin or ibprophen, do NOT take it-- go straight to the Hydrocodone or other low-level pain pill. Why? Because the Ibprophen/Aspirin *will* make you bleed longer-- instead of 36 hours of bleeding I only had about 8 because I did not use the xtra strenght Ibprophen I was given (my mother was insightful enough to realize I needed to avoid it.).

If you have any other questions, don't hesistate to ask - as I would have appreciated someone briefing me on the process beforehand and would love to help you out!

[Edited to remove personal contact information.]

[This message has been edited by Well-come (edited 08-06-2003).]