Merry Christmas

It's Christmas eve and I am feeling festive. Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. I am home with my family and have just enjoyed a delicious Indian takeaway. I can't say we have ever had an Indian takeaway on Christmas eve before but god it was nice. Presents are wrapped and ready under the tree and I am about to watch the Griswold's Christmas vacation. I watch it every Christmas eve. It's funny, it feels like only last week I was watching it. The years are speeding up I am sure of it.

I should mention my dizziness shouldn't I since it's the reason for this blog. This will be my 8th dizzy Christmas (I can't believe it) but I am happy to report that for the last 3 and a half weeks the intensity of my daily vertigo has been less intense and more manageable. Of course I still have vertigo and all the other symptoms that come along with it all day everyday but at a more steady and manageable level. I think it is probably the longest period of time that my vertigo has remained consistently less severe. Normally it's up and down (mainly up) throughout the day but at present it is keeping at one consistent level. I am happy about this.

So Merry Christmas fellow Swimmyhead's maybe Santa will bring us each a new vestibular system.

Swimmyhead

Painful week but less dizzy

It's been 4 days post wisdom tooth extraction and I am still in pain. my right cheek swelling is slowly subsiding but the throbbing and intense pulsing pain continues usually worsening by late evening. To be honest I did not think about developing pain after the tooth surgery. I figured having a wisdom tooth removed would be the same as having any tooth removed (pretty painless). I had one back tooth removed years ago and it caused absolutely no bother but this wisdom tooth extraction is something else. Dental pain and vertigo how lucky am I?
That being said I must admit this week has been pretty good regarding the intensity of my vertigo. I am pretty damn steady. the vertigo is not overwhelming and disorientating. I am really glad about this because if I felt like I normally do dizzy wise and had to feel this face pain at the same time I would be feeling very sorry for myself indeed.

I keep joking to family that it was my wisdom tooth all along that caused my vertigo because I feel so much better since it has been removed. Of course this is not the case. I guess I am just having one of those weeks but hell wouldn't that be something, lol.

As I am typing this my best friend has just called to tell me his wife has just given birth to a baby girl which is fabulous news. They have to young boys so a baby sister is a wonderful addition. Great news.

Swimmyhead

Bloated chipmunk

This past Monday I had my lower right wisdom tooth removed. I had been dreading it especially since this past weekend I was a disorientated wreck. Fortunately though I woke up Monday morning feeling much more stable and balanced ( A stroke of luck) so when it came to lying down in the dentists chair I was feeling ok-ish. The dentist first explained to me what to expect . She told me about the swelling that will occur and how there will be  cracking sounds and stitches. I was fine about this as I am not squeamish. What did concern me was when she explained that I have a facial nerve that sits quite close to my wisdom tooth and that this nerve maybe banged and prodded during the procedure which may result in pro longed numbness of the tongue, lips and gums. I asked what she meant by pro longed? her reply was days, weeks sometimes years. Still I had no choice so I signed the consent form and the procedure began.

The extraction took about 30 minutes and was pretty painless. Lots of drilling and cracking but the only thing that was uncomfortable was the amount of pressure I felt on my jaw but what could I do. They numbed the area then whipped it out and stitched me up and I was good to go.

A few hours later the anesthetic started to wear off and pain started to appear. On one hand I was bloody thankful to feel the pain knowing that I was not going to have a permanent numb tongue and lips on the the other hand it was bloody awful pain so pain killers were swiftly thrown down my gullet. So it's been two days now and my face is still really painful and throbbing , my right cheek resembles a bloated chipmunk and eating is a real pain in the ass. It's actually more painful today. I am hoping the swelling and agony will start to improve come tomorrow.

On the bright side I am feeling less dizzier these past 2 days but as always cannot enjoy the steadiness due to the fact that my face feels like I  have been hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer but I am happy that the wisdom tooth has been removed. One less tooth to give me problems in the future,

Swimmyhead