
Little Green Giraffe on Flickr
I went in for my six-month dentist cleaning and checkup today. It went as smoothly as it usually does. No cavities. No gum problems. Nothing except for this one huge thing: wisdom teeth.
Last year, my dentist and an oral surgeon confirmed that my wisdom teeth were coming in and needed to be removed or my current smile would be scrunched together in a painful fashion. Not to mention the risk of infection and increased gum disease. But I kept putting it off. I told myself that I'd do it over Christmas break. Yet Christmas break came and I hadn't made any appointment.
However, a few weeks ago I noticed a change in my mouth (something that a diabetic never likes to feel). Occasionally, I would chew and it would just hurt. I've had this for a while (about 1.5 years), but it would only be in the mornings every so often when I hadn't eaten anything in awhile. Yet this was different. It would happen at any time of day, no matter if it were my first or fifteenth bite.
So I mentioned it to the dental hygienist today. She promptly poked around in my mouth. And when she poked the gum tissue around my molars (exactly where the pain had come from), OUCH! Inflammation...not a fun thing.
The hygienist and the dentist told the whole lecture about how I need to have them out. They were nice about it, of course, but still telling me that the inevitable is very unavoidable. And dangerous for a diabetic like myself, well controlled or not.
I decided to bite the bullet (no pun intended) and immediately made an appointment with the oral surgeon. Tomorrow at 12:45 (first available and I'm thinking it's best to get it over with as soon as possible). Luckily, I chose the best oral surgeon in the area. He's the best because he's a type 1 diabetic. He also has the exact same pump as me, except in clear (but no hard feelings about that).
I'm very nervous. I'm so nervous that I have butterflies in my stomach. I'm so nervous that I can definitely see myself screaming as they put me under general anesthesia. I have no idea why I am so nervous though. Well, I do...kind of.
I trust that the doctor is going to do a good job. I trust that I'm going to come out with no complications. I trust that eating mushy food for a few days will be okay (thank goodness for the pump!) But I don't like the idea of being out of control when I'm under anesthesia. I have a very difficult time relinquishing control (psychology says it's because I have a chronic illness). So I'm very nervous!
There are parts of me that are nervous about the other sides of it too. I know that being diabetic, all these things are risky (at least more so than a normal person). My infection risk goes up. There's more chance of problems with general anesthesia. And the whole food thing...yea, not so great.
I'm trying to figure out how to manage my basal rates right now. Since my appointment is at 12:45, I'm planning to eat something small around 3am (also taking all of my usual medications at this time with Diet 7UP). Maybe I should decrease my basal by 40% starting at 7am. I'm going to check my blood sugar every hour after 8am.
Guess we'll see what happens tomorrow! I'll be sure to post updates as soon as I'm feeling up to it.
















I had my wisdom teeth out when I was in high school and not diabetic. But I did have a minor, out-patient surgery about 18 months after being diagnosed. I wasn't on the pump at this time, but the time of day is similar to yours. Read about it here http://confessionsofafoodaddict.blogspot.com/search?q=5%3A58+a.m.