I just had my wisdom teeth extracted today at The Maryland Center for Oral Surgery and Dental Implants. I was in and out in probably 15-20 minutes. I first want to talk about myself. I am a patient with extreme anxiety. I've been this way since I was little (probably because doctors held me down to give me shots and a strep test). I took Xanax the night before my scheduled surgery and the morning of which did calm me down a little bit.
Two weeks before my surgery I heard some disturbing news about this practice from a friend who had previously worked there. I decided to call and see about switching surgeons and locations. I called two weeks ago and addressed my concerns. I was assured that my surgeon (also owner of the practice) was the best of the best and that I was in very good hands. Instead of scheduling another $150 consultaion and waiting months in advanced, Idecided to keep my origional appointment.
The day before my surgery I was still so anxious I called the office about 5 times. I asked if my mom and boyfriend could come back with me, what I could expect, and told them how incredibly anxious I was. I also told them I wanted to be informed of everything that would happen as it was happening. I like to know what's going on to reduce my anxiety.
I also messages through the patient portal with the protocol to follow. One thing I found weird was no nail polish was allowed. I messaged back and said I had just got my nails done and it was the dip (not the easiest to remove). I got a message back saying "as long as it's a light color you will be fine, and only one nail has to be bare". I then asked what the reason for this was, out of curiosity, to which I got a reply saying "failure to get vitals will result in the surgery being rescheduled". I found this a little off putting because my question still had not been answered, but I removed my pinky nail polish.
The first few times I called the ladies on the phone were very nice. The last women I spoke to on the phone felt like I was talking to angel. She had the utmost sympathy and compassion towards me, and I could tell she cared. All the ladies on the phone were amazing, especially Natasha who said she would be in the recovery room with me tomorrow and shared advice when her kids got their wisdom teeth out. She was so reassuring and helpful.
It’s the morning of my surgery. I woke up and immediately took another Xanax because I could feel my heart racing. The drive there I was fine but very anxious. Upon entering the office, I am doing very well to manage my anxiety until I am called back into the surgery room. The woman who called me back said “only one person can come back”. I immediately freaked out and started to back away. She kept saying only one person is allowed, only one. I started hyperventilating. After I started to experience an anxiety attack, she finally complied and said both my support people could come back with me.
As we walked back into the office all the doctors were watching me have my episode but no one said a word. I backed myself into a corner and started freaking out. Once we got in the room I was very hysterical. It was hard to calm down and I had shallow rapid breaths. The woman who walked me back looked at my mom and said “so are we going to be able to do this today?". Between my shallow breaths, I actually responded “yes I will be okay but I have really bad anticipation anxiety and I’m very worked up right now. Im very scared to get the IV and would prefer it in my hand”. After that she was more sympathetic towards me and got me a mirror to put my contact back in, while she held it for me. Very sweet of her.
Once Dr. Shwartz, my surgeon, arrived he came in and said “How are we doing” and started getting my arm ready for the IV. I said “horrible I’m extremely scared and anxious. Can you please tell me everything that's about to happen?". He then stopped responding directly to me and referred to my mom, probably because he didn't know how to respond to my emotional state. I tried to ask him to put the IV in my hand and he ignored me at first as he tied the band around my upper arm. I felt like I had to say it like 5 times between hysterical crying before he addressed me directly. I just wanted to be informed of everything that was happening.
He finally put the IV in my hand and I was very scared because I struggle with a phobia of needles. Believe me, I am embarrassed to have this phobia but I can’t help it. I’m not like this with any other type of procedure. Dr. Shwartz did a very good job with the needle and I barely felt it. I wasnt sure what the IV was for, if it was for vitals or if it was the actual anesthesia. I would have liked to know that. Once the IV was in he said I was going to go to sleep soon. This scared me because I felt unprepared. I wasn't ready yet I still had questions.
Then they took my mom and boyfriend out of the room when I specifically asked if they could be there until I went under. I felt my eyes dilate and could hear the heart monitor beeping rapidly. I cried and begged for them to stay until I was out. I kept saying “wait I’m scared I need them”. All I remember was watching my two support people leave while crying hysterically. The surgeons assistant hooked something up to my nose and said you'll be asleep soon, as I'm crying for my mom and boyfriend. Then I remember waking up.
The surgery went well and Natasha was amazing with me in recovery. She is truly an angel here on earth. I love her and felt safe and comforted by her. I’m not thrilled about how they handled me before and during my going under state. I tried to call before so I could avoid all of this. I tried my best to advocate for myself because I wanted as much control as possible. The more I think about it the more upset I become with my lack of respect and autonomy as a patient. I also didn't need to have my nail polish removed because they took my vitals and pulse on my index finger rather than my pinky finger.
Currently, I am in some pain whenever I take my gauze out to eat any food. Once the anesthesia wore off I began to feel uncomfortable. I too my medicine and tried to eat without the gauze. I’ve decided to keep the gauze in because the air hitting my holes is uncomfortable. I've cried a little because of the discomfort and the anxiety I experienced from this morning. I ordered an ice pack from Amazon with refillable packs for heat and ice. It's really helped keep the swelling down. The sock thing they gave me didn't work the best so I'm happy I ordered this one.
Overall I think the surgery went very well and I got to keep my teeth. After the surgery Dr. Shwartz was very kind and compassionate to me. He even called me at 5 to check up on me. He asked how I was doing and I said I was in pain. He said just keep icing then we ended the call.
My one recommendation would be to have the staff be more aware of patients with anxiety and how to properly address them. Mental health is still a developing field in our world but it is so so so important. I have the utmost respect for the medical personnel and appreciate all they do. I know they are just trying to help. However, I wish I had a smoother experience with less anxiety and more autonomy on my end.
I hope in the future any patient with anxiety like mine will be given a smoother experience and able to advocate for themselves better than I was. Not everything is a medical emergency. This is a procedure that is done many times so I hope in the future, they will take the time to cater to the emotional needs of the patient.
At the end of the day I got to go to pure raw juice and get a tasty smoothie. There were tons of plants in the cafe and I was loving life. I walked around and talked about each one. This was the best place to go post surgery, especially for a plant lover. Even on drugs, I still appricated the plants.
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