Uhhh Good Morning

Well they were right about not remembering the surgery. The last thing I remember is a small cut from the IV. After that I remember being in bed, rolling over a few times and thinking that I wouldn’t have to worry about the alarm clock.

There’s a lot of swelling left and I have to admit its hurting still, despite the good pain meds and tons of sleep.

Starving, thirsty – a few milkshakes helped a little bit but I really have a craving for a big steak and some hash browns. Of course, as good as it sounds to my stomach that sounds like torture for my teeth.

I have been awake maybe six hours since the surgery and yet I feel like its bed time.

The pain of the cuts feels a lot different than the nerve pain of cramped teeth. I have to admit that the superficial slashes don’t hurt nearly as much as the deep bone pain I had been feeling before. I guess I’m being a wimp but the medicine is helping with that, buzzing my mind and making me sleepy again.

I had the same medication eight years ago when I had my tonsils out. Liquid loritab. (jeez, I Hope its gluten-free, its liquid so its worth a hope). Back then I had a prescription that would last me eight days but I felt so addicted after six days that I decided to take the pain and reject the drug. The prescription I got this time isn’t a fraction of last time, so hopefully I can watch my intake and not deal with the withdrawals.

Looking Forward to The Dentist

You know things are bad when you’re actually looking forward to a trip to the dentist.

I spent most of the day at the dentist’s today too, for x-rays and consultation. There are only two wisdom teeth, but one is completely embedded in the bone and they’re both right up against the major nerve. The top row is perfectly straight and the bottom row with the wisdom teeth in it is starting to point toward the center. The contrast was quite visible!

The bad news is no food or drink (even water!) after midnight. No smoking for five days!

At least I can sleep through the surgery. They say I should wake with no recollection of the procedure – and I hope they’re right.

Lazy Man Milkshakes

Elegant simplicity:

Take a glass, and fill it 2/3 with chocolate (or vanilla or strawberry or whatever ice-cream you like.)  I’ll pick a nice, safely gluten-free flavor like good-ole chocolate.

Now fill it up with milk.

Wait.

Wait a little more.

Are you waiting?

Stir it a little bit.  There you go!  You have a milkshake.

Oh but its a little lumpy compared to one in the blender, eh?  Well, when you’re eating on a budget, anything that saves time contributes to the budget.  The time it takes to use the blender and clean it out adds up, especially when you’re drinking 3 milkshakes a night like I am!

Speaking of that, how am I so underweight after a steak&bacon feast and three milkshakes a day..I guess that’s a personal benefit of the gluten-free diet!

Steak & Bacon (And Cheese)

Gluten is completely off-limits.  A crumb or cross-contaminated spoon is way too much for me to handle.  Soy is OK, I can tolerate it so long as it isn’t a lot of protein isolate like the type you find in vegan meat & cheese imitations.  I’m not a big fan of beans, either.

This brings me to tonight’s dinner.  Just like the title says: chuck-eye steak wrapped in maple bacon, covered in melted mozzarella cheese and dunked in BBQ sauce.  Yeah.

Other than a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower,  it was a carnivore’s feast.  I’m not trying to say its good for me or not I don’t know.  I do know that I don’t get the pains that accompany various vegetables and grains like wheat.  I know I can eat about two pounds of beef and just a few green, leafy vegetables and feel pretty darn good.

Unfortunately, cholesterol can be a problem even when you’re at a low weight.  I’m sure someday I’ll wish I had thought of that earlier… For now, my high meat, high fat diet has brought me down to the lowest weight I’ve been in 10 years – I have more energy and I need less sleep – and I can thank being gluten-free!

Ouch, wisdom teeth

As soon as my wisdom teeth popped up on the x-rays, we knew they were coming in completely wrong.  Not quite horizontal, they pointed right at my other molars and threatened to disrupt the entire row.

Luckily (I guess), they stopped moving for many many years.  They just sat there.  Maybe it was complications of Celiac and mal-absorption and there wasn’t enough nutrients to continue the final tooth project.  Whether or not that is the case, they are moving fast since I’ve been eating gluten-free for almost two years now.

I’ll spare you the details of the pain, but interestingly enough I will share that most of the pain isn’t in the actual teeth or jaw.  It actually took me a few days to realize exactly where the source of this was.  Its been going in waves for the last few months, but in the last week or two its been completely disorienting.

Fortunately, I was able to get appointments at the dentist for consultation, x-rays, and extraction within the next five days.   Hopefully, the surgery doesn’t hurt as much as the current status quo.