Ouch!

When I took Allie in to get her teeth cleaned, I asked them to check out my mouth.  There was something not right.  So they did.
The “guess” was that I had some sort of infection.  I was told I needed to go have a visit with my periodontist.  They even called and the made the appointment for me the next morning.  Hmmmmm.  (It usually takes a while to get an appointment.)

I figured he would look in mouth and let me know what I needed to do.
Instead, he poked around and talked about how he hoped my implant was not compromised and surgery was needed.  Eek! 
I am not the best dental patient but if I am armed with heavy-duty drugs, my iPod and a blessing, I can handle it.  So I figured I would be returning soon.
Wrong!  He asked if I was busy.  And then he proceeded to inject me with Novocain and (once numb) started digging around in my mouth.  It all happened so quickly.  (It seemed like he was cheating somehow!)
I was sent home with detailed instructions of how to take care of it and a lovely prescription to take away the increased pain.  (It didn’t hurt that badly before!)

He said that when the crown was put on my implant, a little bit of cement probably got caught in there and bacteria had been growing ever since.  However, I complained quickly (which I don’t normally do) so very little damage was done.  Yeah me!

Healing

I had to deal with all this excitement one armed.  Truthfully it was a lot tougher than the first go around.  I’m not sure why.
Because I had been through the same surgery before, I KNEW what to expect . . so I worked on straightening my arm sooner.

I grew to hate my splint.  It was so much nicer with it off.

I KNEW when I’d get my stitches out. . . but I was wrong!  The stitches were different this time.  He put them on the inside so there was nothing to remove!

I decided that splint or no splint, I could still do things .  . like hit on the backboard!

But it was hard to watch my friends play REAL tennis.

I was “released from my splint and sent off to physical therapy. . .

and told me I could play tennis as long as I didn’t do anything stupid!  7 weeks is so much better than 5 1/2 months!

Jealousy

My left elbow was feeling left out and sulked for over a year.  If the right elbow could ache and get attention then so could the left elbow.  *sigh*

I wonder if the gal in registration recognized us from the week before.

He better not cut open the WRONG arm. . .

I have no memories of the following pictures being taken.

I got my milkshake.  I just don’t’ remember drinking it.

Nothing hurt at this point. . . that would change.

I did take the following pictures.  It’s when I was feeling pretty good.

A good friend dropped off a card.  Maybe there was more but I can’t remember.  I blame it on the drugs.  (I sure appreciated it!)

I sure wasn’t fixing sinks the next day like Paul did.  My arm/hand were so swollen that I resorted to using frozen vegetables in addition to my ice packs.

In addition to that, my tummy wasn’t feeling so good. It turns out the pain pills were too strong.  We got that fixed quickly.

I hope to never have another elbow surgery in my life.  I’m so glad that we only come with two arms.  I’m not sure I could handle doing this again.

Paul’s Turn

We had to get to the surgery center early for Paul’s surgery.  First they wanted insurance information and a down payment.

I was told how I could stay updated on his surgery while I “patiently” waited in the waiting room.
They took us back and seated Paul in this chair and had him don the appropriate garb befitting surgery.
He was then hooked up to an awesome blanket that blows in warm air.  (I might have been jealous, other than the surgery and stuff that hurts.)
He was given to obligatory IV.

And I was sent packing.  And waited “patiently”.  The doctor came and spoke to me and said things went well.  I got to visit with him for a little bit before they sent him home.  I fetched the car and my man.

Tradition calls for milkshakes but Paul wanted Taco Bell too.  I’m pretty sure that wasn’t included as part of the post-op diet, but who am I to argue?

He was sent home with this nifty toy.  He was able to play with it while he was parked on the recliner!

He was a pretty good patient this time!

We were fortunate to be blessed with a meal and some goodies from some people in our ward family.

Paul was supposed to take it easy and had a few days off from work.  However, the day after surgery the kitchen sink developed a leak.  He felt he had to be the one to fix it.  So he did.

He figured if he felt good enough to fix a leak then he should probably go back to work.  So he did the next day.