Dr Grube picked me up from the airport and took me to her practice, it was after 7pm but the staff had stayed behind so I could have all the necessary x-rays prior to the surgery the next day. After the full mouth series of x-rays Dr Grube took me to the motel and spent some time preparing me for what was about to happen the next day.
The next day was Wednesday and I had 7 hours of dental work done, my amalgam fillings were all replaced with a bio compatible material in the first three and a half hour sitting, the next three and a half was to remove my wisdom teeth and clean out a cavitation in number 19 on the bottom left of my jaw.
Because she used conscious sedation I didn’t experience any pain whatsoever, in fact that evening back at the motel I didn’t even need a pain killer. I went to a local restaurant and ate soup followed by yogurt.
I had no dentistry the next day, that was so important as it would enable my immune system to recover, then on the Friday I was quite nervous as I knew I was about to have my front six teeth removed, but Dr Grube was so gentle with me, the conscious sedation was applied intravenously before the anaesthesia, so no needles in my gums, well they were but I didn’t see them which I can assure you was far less traumatic.
When I awoke three and a half hours later, I felt a little strange, as in I noticed I didn’t have teeth in the front of my mouth however there was no pain at that time. I was taken upstairs to see the massage therapist who made me feel a lot better. Acupressure and massage reintroduce the muscles and nerves in your body that had lost sensation over the years since I’d contracted MS.
When I returned to the motel the discomfort and pain were starting to set in, Dr Grube’s husband, a chiropractor and herbalist had given me some herbs and botanical’s to help. That night was a bad night for me, I felt very alone, thousands of miles from home and no one to help or comfort me. I closed the curtains and took one percocet for the pain which in all honesty was really bad. I made ice packs by crushing ice an wrapping it in a wet towel which I placed over my jaw. As I was alone I had to replace this every 20 minutes which was a pain in the butt. I’d rest or at least try to, then twenty minutes later get up and refresh the ice pack. I didn’t sleep much at all that night but I kept telling myself that it was only temporary and that in a short while I’d be a lot better.
The following day was a little better for me, the manager of the hotel had put a fridge in my room and stocked it with lots of yogurt as he knew I wasn’t able to eat anything solid, he was a good man, in fact all the staff were very helpful at the Hampton Inn.
During my surgeries on both days I had 25g’s and 50g’s of intravenous Vitamin C, this made a massive difference to my potential healing. I have to point out that this was given over a 3.5 and 4.5 hr period, the Vitamin C is essential and has to be given over at least this time or the body will not absorb the Vitamin C.
The following week, I remained in Scranton to have intravenous Vit-C each day, also my six tooth partial would be fitted on Thursday. I definitely felt a little strange not having teeth in the front of my mouth. On Thursday evening, the partial was fitted, I was very pleased, then, Dr Grube and her husband took me out for dinner, it felt so good to have solid food.
I flew back to Colorado on Saturday.
Getting back to work on Monday felt good, although I was happy that I’d had the surgery and what it could potentially do for me, I needed to be back at work, talking with, and trying to help others. That might sound strange but I loved what I did for work, it was incredibly fulfilling for me knowing that every day I had an opportunity to make a positive change in someone’s life.