I had the privilege of having my wisdom teeth extracted yesterday at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic at MUSC. I had been having trouble with them for the past week and after a visit to my dentist on Monday, he recommended I just get them out. Thankfully, the surgery clinic saw me for a consult on Wednesday afternoon and fit me in between OR cases on Thursday. So yesterday I had the joy of being a patient undergoing anesthesia for the first time in my life. A second year resident started my IV and hooked me up to the monitors. I think he was nervous because he found out I am a nurse, poor thing, but he got the IV on the first stick. I sat waiting for a while, listening to my heart rate on the monitors before the attending and residents rushed in to get me sleepy. The last thing I remember as they were pumping my IV with versed and fentanyl was my head swimming, and saying “whoa” as I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in the recovery room, my IV was gone, and apparently I had asked several times already how I had gotten there there and if had walked from the operatory to the recovery room. Austin was a great nurse yesterday packing my mouth with gauze and my face with ice packs, allowing me to sleep off the meds. Strange to be on the receiving end. I’m so used to starting IVs and putting people to sleep. I guess this will give me more empathy for my patients. What an experience.
