Today I want to share the time my son had oral surgery. I want to start by saying, it is always a trying time for me when my son has any kind of surgery. First, he hates hospitals. Getting him inside the hospital building, then to his hospital room, and eventually into his hospital gown, is an excruciatingly slow process and requires a great deal of patience.
If I rush the process in any way, he will become belligerent and it will be nearly impossible to calm him down again. Let’s just say by the time he’s sedated and wheeled to the operating room, I am drenched in sweat and guzzling endless amounts of caffeine. But this isn’t the end of our ordeal. There’s also post-surgery care which brings with it, its own set of stressors. As a general rule of thumb, before, during, and after surgery are very harrowed times for our family.
This time around my son needed to have oral surgery. We were told the only complication we needed to worry about was dry sockets. This is when a blood clot is prematurely pushed out from the empty socket (where the tooth was extracted), exposing the nerves and bones. It is said to be a painful condition. So I needed to make sure my son didn’t accidentally push the clot out with his tongue.
This information stressed me out. First of all, how was I going to explain this to my son so he would understand? How do you explain blood clots to someone with an intellectual disability? I’m not even sure if he knows what his gums are. Secondly, how was I going to know if he was pushing out the clot with his tongue? It’s not like his mouth is transparent. It goes without saying my stress levels were pretty high.
Surgery and post-care
The surgery was successful. Both of us made it through with no problems. Now I just had to watch out for dry sockets. I approached the task like a vigilante, watching my son like a hawk. Ready to tackle any signs of the dreaded dry socket. If I even THOUGHT he was poking the empty gum sockets with this tongue, I would tell him to stop (who am I kidding, I was panic screaming at the lung of my lungs). I would also randomly yell tell him to stop poking his gums. I did this throughout the day with no rhyme or reason. Just to be on the safe side.
Needless to say, I was very anxious! So fearful I wouldn’t know if my son was pushing out a blood clot. And at the same time, I was scared my constant badgering would cause him to pay more attention to his gums. It may even cause him to explore it with his tongue. Which would lead him to push out the blood clot, which would cause a dry socket. As you can see there was really nothing I could do that would’ve given me a moment’s peace.
Thankfully, a couple of days after the surgery, my son’s gums looked great. There was no bleeding when I brushed his teeth and everything seemed to be mending nicely. A few days after that, I was told by the doctor that my son could eat normally (he could only eat soft foods after surgery). I decided to wait a little bit longer, just to give his gums more time to heal.
One week after surgery
It was now a week after surgery. It finally seemed like the right time to introduce normal foods again. My son’s first meal was a hot dog. Which he thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, he made a complete mess. It could be due to the fact I accidentally squirted a little too much ketchup on his hot dog but who really knows. Anyway, there was ketchup all over his face and hands. It took several napkins to finally get his hands completely ketchup free.
Then it was onto his face. Strangely, I could not get the ketchup off because no matter how much I wiped away, more appeared. It seemed like I was fighting a losing battle. As I continued to wipe, I realized it wasn’t ketchup. It was blood! My worst fear was coming true. My son had pushed out a blood clot and created a dry socket! Is there any other way to explain all the blood?
I frantically called the emergency number. The intern who had assisted with the surgery answered. I quickly apprised him of the situation. He listened calmly and emphatically told me it wasn’t a dry socket.
Seriously, what did he know? Did he spend hours on the internet researching dry sockets and how to avoid them? Or even how to tell if you have a dry socket? Did he even check WedMD?? I don’t think so! So who is he to tell me this isn’t a dry socket?
He went on to tell me some nonsense about it being normal. I responded by letting him know this is exactly what happens before a dry socket forms. To which he replied “Listen, crazy woman, it’s not a dry socket and what do you know? You’re not the medical professional”
Okay, the last sentence was actually uttered by my husband. Who, by the way, is also NOT a medical professional. So what did he know? Did he spend hours on the internet researching dry sockets? I think not!
After all the hysteria died down, I’m happy to report it wasn’t a dry socket after all. Which is EXACTLY what I’ve been saying all along.
What have I learned?
Do not tell me the possible side effects for anything. It’s best for everyone that I don’t know. I also want to clarify the condition is called dry socket. Not dry pocket which is what I was calling it up until I wrote this post. Yes, that’s right, when I spoke to the intern, I did in fact call it a dry pocket. He and his colleagues are probably having a good laugh about it right now.