So my two friends came in town and I had clam chowder. That was Saturday, the day after; I was still craving that quarter pounder. So far, just soup since yesterday, and the day before, the prep, chicken bouillon, clear liquids and that stuff they make you wake up in the middle of the night to drink. But it was good to see them and oh how they laughed, they could not believe what had happened. Sunday I took it easy, slowly working my jaw up and down. The oral surgeon said it could slip out again, easier at first. That was enough for me, couldn’t wash my hair or face, and carefully as I could, brushed. I’m a dental hygiene fanatic, brushing and flossing religiously.
I’m also the kind of guy who has to be in my death bed not to go to work. I got up Monday morning; my follow up with the oral surgeon was 9:00 AM. I put a hat on over top of my bandage and now gnarly hair. I had not washed it since Friday, 4 days. It was the 31st of October, Halloween, and the staff was allowed to dress up but conservatively, we didn’t want to scare the patients. We always had a 7:30 Monday morning meeting and my work day started at 7:00. Only a few people saw me before the meeting, “nice outfit”; “are you a mummy”? The meeting was with the executive staff, CEO, COO, Administrator, Chief of the Medical Staff, Chief Nurse and a few others. I was the only civilian on the executive staff, director of performance improvement; quality management, patient safety, risk management and compliance were my responsibilities. The CEO walks in, she looks at me and is not sure what to say. My boss, Chief of the Medical Staff, tells the story. She was not sure if she should laugh, I started so everyone joined in.
So I went to the follow up appointment, the assistant took me back. The nurse who started my IV came in. She told me my case was their toughest ever, hers and the doctors. So it took knocking me out and reducing my jaw, after trying five times while I was conscious. No wonder my face was black and blue. The doctor came in and said there was no reason to take another x-ray and took the bandage off. I was able open maybe 50% of normal, not enough for the burger, it surprised me and it hurt. He reminded me to take it easy and slowly work my way back into opening fully. I asked him what could have caused it to pop out. He said besides trauma, only opening really wide and that it could pop back out as those muscles have not strengthened back to the way they were before.
My boss told me to go back home after my appointment. So, I did, it was nice to relax, take a shower, wash my hair and shave. That afternoon the nurse anesthetist called me. She was the one that was trained in the Air force and nothing like this has ever happened to her in fourteen years. She started out all defensive; why didn’t you tell me you had TMJ problems. My reply; I didn’t until I came in and was under your care. Almost dropped the F bomb, but I wanted to keep it professional. And look at your questionnaire, I said it did not ask me anything about TMJ problems. Why would it, unless they were scoping the other end. I also recommended that she added an item to her post anesthesia checklist, that if this ever happened again send the person to the emergency room or oral surgeon. She asked me what I did for a living, I told her, she got quiet, and we got off the phone. I didn’t put two and two together, until she mentioned that patients coming out of anesthesia do yawn and you do not have control of your muscles. So that must have been it, coming out of the anesthesia, yawning and not being able to control it.
RJM Stuff N Such 