Monday, March 22, 2010

Lucky me! I get to be the medical miracle!

I used to be a gum chewer. I always had gum in my purse and most of the time I was chewing it. I liked the flavor, I liked having something to chew on, and not worrying about bad breath is a nice perk too. It all stopped abruptly in 2005 when I had my wisdom teeth taken out. I was 25, one of them was bothering me a bit, so I went in for a routine extraction. I didn't have any that were impacted so it should be a piece of cake, right? WRONG!

I woke up that evening with a pain medication hangover, Dave was watching something on ESPN classic, I had a plethora of mashed potatoes and chocolate milkshakes because my friends are the bomb, and I felt like I had been hit with 2x4's on both sides of my face. I got out of bed and went to sit in the living room because who could resist the 1987 classic: LSU vs. Georgia Bulldogs...I remember it like it was yesterday...

I digress...so I woke up and began to change all of the necessary dressings and I realized the right side of my tongue was still really, really numb. Like crazy numb. I told Dave how weird it was because the rest of the anesthesia seemed to have worn off. A couple of hours later, my doctor called himself to check on me. At this point it was around 6:30pm. Dave told him I seemed to be doing really well, didn't have a lot of swelling, no immediate bruising, but the right side of my tongue was still very numb. My doctor seemed a bit baffled, but figured I was just highly receptive to the anesthesia and told me he would check in the next morning.

Well, let's just say it's now March of 2010 and my tongue is still numb! Yep...freaking weird!! And guess what, "In his 35 years of practice he has never had this happen." Lucky me. I get to be the medical miracle!

It seems the doctor severed a nerve while taking out my wisdom teeth and as a result I have no feeling in the right side of my tongue and very hightened sensation in the gums on the lower, right side of my mouth.

I've had corrective surgery, I've had one of the top oral and maxillofacial surgeons in.the.country. take my case and he is the one that performed my corrective surgery....and it didn't work. Ah, friends, it's always fun to have doctors calling you to interview you when they are WRITING THEIR BOOK because you are a "very interesting case".

I'm virtually the 8th wonder of the world. You know, the 8th wonder that bites their tongue when chewing gum and can't feel the right half of their tongue....

13 comments:

Sherrie said...

That's awful! Was the surgery able to fix it?

Susannah said...

SUper random, and that kind of sucks! Does it bother you??

Unknown said...

OMG!! That exact same thing happened to me! I got my wisdom teeth out in 2003 and still have no feeling in the right side of my tongue. My gums on the lower right side are extra sensitive too so when I go for my normal cleanings they have to be super gentle over there because it'll send shooting pains through my mouth. It feels tingly like when your foot goes to sleep in my mouth all the time. If I chew on that side too I bite my tongue.
I am so glad I am not the only person that happened to. People thought I was crazy for the longest time when I would tell them I was still numb!

Laura said...

oh how i remember this. i think i even recommended the guy to you since mine went SO freakin' well with him. sorry princess! if you make it in a book and get compensated...i think i might get owed a cut! haha! just kidding!

KW said...

owwww!!! don't feel so bad, my best friend had 7, YES 7 wisdom teeth!!! i tell her she is related to wolves ... :)

Emily said...

WOW!! I am going to remind my dentist of this when I get my wisdom teeth out.... Does it bother you still?

Alissa said...

Oh my gosh how crazy. Did the surgery help at least? I still have my wisdom teeth and this just gives me another reason to want to keep mine.

annalee said...

this is crazy! you must really be special:)

melissa said...

Wow, how awful. How do you keep from biting your tongue all the time? And how random that the same thing happened to one of your commenters!

jackie fo said...

this is a little bit funny... but i also i feel bad for you... it sounds like it sucks!

carissa said...

this is just super strange! so sorry you have to go through life with a numb tongue! this might sound dumb... can you still taste things the same? just curious. your blog is presh. thanks for stopping by. i'm your newest follower and can't wait to get to "know" you!

Annie said...

ugh....that must be terrible!! I hat that feeling after the dentist when I am all numb up..and you have to live with that forever?!!? poor thing :(

Jamie Pickle said...

How odd is that?!?! That must be really annoying.