Extract hydrocodone from lortab

Figured I'd post my positive experience, if it helps anyone idk. You may not want to make the same choices I did for my own circumstances.
F24, I got my bottom impacted wisdom teeth out, one was partially out and horizontal, the other fully under the gum. They did seem to be shifting/crowding my other teeth. My tops are also impacted and fully under the gum. I decided to leave them for now because of the cost and because they don't seem to be affecting the others on top.
I was given hydrocodone and amoxicilin (prescribed to take 3 a day for 7 days). I have had cdiff in the past so I decided not to take the amoxicilin unless I had signs of infection... thats another reason why I didn't want all of them out, less extraction sites to worry about. This was my first experience with iv anesthesia! the last thing I remember was my throat feeling cold and I only slightly remember the ride home.
Day 0/1 was ok, I had to use some of the extra gauze they gave, had a little bit of swelling. My face was numb but slowly went away. I took hydrocodone twice. Had some mashed potatoes, apple sauce and juice. I couldn't sleep very well the first night, I was tired but I felt like I kept startling myself awake right before I fell asleep? Not sure if that was the hydrocodone, me being weird, or after affects from the anesthesia?
Day 2 very swollen, more so on the side of the tooth that was completely under the gums. I flossed and brushed my front teeth, and started salt water rinses. Couldn't really get a good look in my mouth. I took ibuprofen which worked for the pain. I decided not to take hydrocodone to see if I could sleep better. I did get more sleep that night.
Day 3 still very swollen, but more evenly. I was able to brush a little further back. Had a hydrocodone in the morning, mashed potatoes and juice. Didn't need any pain pills at night, I did notice a small bruise on the inside of my cheek.. Felt some tension around my temples. Later in the day the swelling seemed to get lopsided again.
Day 4 still very swollen. Didn't need pain medication, only felt a bit of tension near my temples. I noticed I also have a bruise on the outside of my cheek where the inner bruise is.
Day 5 still swollen, yellow bruise at the jawline on both sides. A small stitch came out but everything still looks the same inside. No pain meds.
Day 6 still swollen with yellow bruises. No pain meds. Tmi but worst constipation of my entire life I thought I might need the hospital lol. I do not like Hydrocodone, wish I had not taken that third one. I was able to floss and kinda brush all of my teeth!
Day 7 visibly about the same.
I used salt water rinses religiously after every meal & drink, also in the morning and at night before and after brushing my teeth.
10 days now, have still been doing salt rinses. Still some discomfort, the side where the tooth was partially out still has kind of a crevice and I can feel a stitch I think. This is probably long enough lmao.

Just sharing my experience for other folks in my situation. I didn’t quite know what to expect going into this operation in my late 30s. It’s definitely tougher at this age, but manageable.
I’m on day 5. Had all four wisdom teeth removed in one surgery. Two teeth had been exposed for years and were showing signs of decay. Two others were formed but under my gums. I elected to have all 4 removed while I was under, at the recommendation of my dentist and oral surgeon.
The operation itself was a breeze. I had local numbing and sedation, and only vaguely remember looking up at one point during the surgery with no feeling (or care in the world). I had never been fully sedated like that but my surgeon coached me what to expect. I came out of sedation real quick once they were done and felt surprisingly fine.
Fast forward, no significant complications so far, but I was seriously surprised by how much blood I had to deal with in the first two days. Total yikes. Spent the whole time with gauze or teabags in my mouth. Woke up the first morning after with a mouthful of partly clotting blood, mostly in the back of my mouth and sinuses. I still have some traces of blood in the morning on day 5, but that seems within normal bounds.
Part of that might be due to a partial breach into my nasal cavity. My upper tooth that had not dropped was far enough up that the extraction created a small hole into the nasal passage. Apparently this is somewhat common and no one on the care team seemed worried about it. I have some extra soreness that felt like a sinus infection for three days.
Pain was rough the first and second night in between hydrocodone doses, but manageable. Opted to get up at 4am to very gently rinse the front of my mouth and take another dose. It helped. I was also surprised by how sore my actual jaw has been - I presume from the general physical trauma and swelling. Ice packs helped a lot and I had 4 on rotation, it’s just tough (and a little dangerous) to try and use those while sleeping. Pain was better on day 3, and I switched to ibuprofen yesterday (day 4).
I’m on a 7 day regimen of amoxicillin (antibiotic). Seems fine on a mostly empty stomach.
No clots have come out - I’ve been super careful about that reading all your horror stories in this sub - but my two of my stitches are coming a bit loose today. Is that bad or good??
Very glad I took off the week from work. My job is mostly desk work and meetings these days, but I’m probably running at 60-70% five days later.
Hope this helps someone compare notes!
(Bonus note for runners: my surgeon is a distance runner too, and stressed very clearly that I was not allowed to run for at least 5 days and should probably take it easy until day 10 to avoid elevated heart rates and clots coming loose)
EDIT: location and pricing. I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area (USA). My procedure was at a major facility with a hospital attached. All said and done the bill was about $2300, I paid 10% through Delta Dental.

Hey everyone. Going through some high stress with my sweet Malchi, Khaleesi, and wanted to get some input from you all.
She's a 9 years old maltese/chihuhua mix we got as a pup at around 6 months old. She's been an amazing family member but things started going downhill with her health about 6-7 months ago.
TL;DR: Malchi has collapsed trachea, with heart murmur, and enlarged heart. Has been fine for a few months now with little to no coughing episodes. We just spent a week at the beach where she had a blast and no issues. On Sunday we played a little game of run around the couch and when I realized she was out of breath she started wheezing and passed out. Last night at 1:30AM, while sleeping in bed with us, she woke up, coughed a bit, and passed out again. Seeking vet assistance today, but wanted community input.
She was diagnosed with a heart murmur over a year ago which progressed pretty rapidly and she was put on pimobendan (1.25mg twice a day) and has been on it ever sense. In September 2023 she developed a tooth abscess which broke through on her face and took some time to diagnose as an abscess, but she eventually had dental surgery to extract the tooth and all healed up without issue.
On December 26th, 2023 she began coughing/hacking/wheezing/honking almost non-stop. Emergency vet x-rayed and basically told us she had collapsed trachea, enlarged heart, and probably congestive heart failure. They recommended she start additional heart meds, and gave us hydrocodone for cough. We got in to normal Vet ASAP who, at the time, assumed the emergency vet was correct and prescribed additional heart meds, but advised us to seek heart experts at local university vet. At one point in between all this she had a coughing fit while laying on couch with my partner and then collapsed/feinted/pass out.
We immediately decided to seek attention at the uni vet via their emergency services first who prescribed theophylline which seemed to work well. We then visited their cardio team and had an ECG done. They ruled out congestive heart failure, but confirmed slight tracheal collapse and enlarged heart. Recommended staying on pimobendan, but no other meds. Giving hydrocodone as necessary. They actually thought the coughing was possibly a respiratory issue. She slowly recovered from cough and had been mostly issue free (outside of what we assume is an allergic reaction to something outside a month or so ago which caused some swollen area under her chin).
We spent the last week at the beach on vacation and she had a blast, no issues at all. Few walks on the beach (nothing fast paced) and she loved it (I carried her for some walks too, just in case).
We got home Saturday and everything was fine. Sunday while in the basement she got the zoomies and I chased her around the couch a bit, quickly realized she was out of breath so I stopped and sat down with her on floor and she started coughing. Within a minute she went off balance and fell over. She moaned a bit, legs stretched out, eyes rolled back, and let out the most gut-wrenching cry I've ever heard and was out. I swear I couldn't feel a heart beat. I freaked out, grabbed her up and started compressing a bit on her chest while running to get my partner. She came to within a few minutes and was obviously distraught but eventually seemed fine. I didn't immediately seek medical attention because I knew of the collapsed trachea and passing out, and felt it was my fault for letting her get so worked up/out of breath playing.
Then last night at 1:30AM we woke up to a cough and immediately realized she was passing out again. Same situation, but concerning since she had been resting/sleeping in bed with no intense exercise/etc.
I haven't noticed any blue gums/etc to indicate severe oxygen loss ( so far, I also didn't immediately look for it).
I'm just stressed to the max since we love her so much. Hoping the vet can help. I'm going to ask about theophylline again in hopes it's just oxygen loss and it can help.
Any advice/words of wisdom are greatly appreciated, and sorry for the wall of text!

So, I have anxiety and depression and other issues, and IMO Kratom is the best anti-anxiety aid and anti-depressant I've ever taken in my life, and it's not even close. I usually try to use it sparingly enough not to get dependent, but lately I've been overdoing it a lot. Usually my WD when it happens only lasts 3 days, and they may be sucky with hypersomnia/oversleeping and/or some insomnia with sleep disturbances, depression, runny nose, and sometimes some RLS and a bit of shivering/cold sensitivity. I am starting to use more now because I realize I might have to quit drinking due to side effects, and that's REALLY depressing me, and I just don't like my life, and Kratom helps me SOO much. But I was on bluelight (a good drug forum) and a moderator is telling me that kratom use WILL catch up to me if I keep using it, so I want to hear from anyone here who uses Kratom at least 4 days a week, every week, if not more, and has been doing this for at least 3 years, if not more, and who has overall had POSITIVE experiences, especially when it comes to treating problems like mine.
Here is what this moderator said about Kratom and how he thinks it will catch up with me. I will include parts of the conversation where I asked questions and outline which text is him and which is me, and I want to know if people on here agree with him, either partially or fully, on the way things usually go with Kratom addiction:
ME:Is a kratom habit REALLY that bad? I mean, taking 3-6 grams per day (other than the 2 days I took extracts) is pretty mild right?
HIM: that is a solid kratom habit. == to about 15mg hydrocodone a day. if you take 5ish grams a day, you WILL get a physical habit/withdrawals. is kratom really that bad? dunno, are opioid habits bad in your mind? it's life changing, that is for sure. and especially as you deal with anxiety and all this other shit/benzo habit/booze adding another addiction is not the way i would go in that situation. plus, the magic of kratom leaves when you take it all the time, then you are just getting well.
ME: Cause for me, I've never had Kratom WD last longer than 3 days, so it will suck for those 3 days sometimes, but then it's over. Do you think it could get to the point where my withdrawal would last MORE than 3 days, or do you think it could just get worse within those 3 days? Does it sound like I have something to be worried about as far as my usage is concerned?
HIM: absolutely it does. you are falling into the common fallacy of early opioid dependence - it seems to treat everything wrong with you, and doesn't seem "so bad" coming off. that is the beginning of the spiral (think of it like water on a big drain) those first rotations are slow, and doesn't even seem like anything is happening except maybe stuff sucks a little more not on them, or a couple days feeling bad - that's not so bad right! maybe im immune to this "bad opioid wd thing!" <--- says literally everyone initiating an opioid habit. the truth is, it takes time and repeat exposure to downregulate the mu receptors, and each kick gets worse/more severe symptoms than the last.
ME: I mean, Kratom isn't the same as oxycodone or hydrocodone really. Would you consider it a TRUE opioid addiction in the same way? Like, a plain leaf Kratom addiction (I know i have to stop with the extracts) be bad on that same level as a true pain-pill addiction?
HIM: I dislike kratom withdrawal MORE than oxycodone or hydrocodone withdrawal because it includes SSRI like wd issues and makes sleep, anxiety and energy absolutely awful - and severe kratom wd lasts like 2 weeks instead of a few days of acute and another week of weirdness like a normal opioid. Be careful with it, it's not just a simple/natural compound. it's a proper opioid and should be regarded as such. if you wouldn't take hydrocodone w the same regularity, you shouldn't take kratom thinking it's better.
I really don't want to believe him, but I know he's being honest (at least for him and other people he knows). So, any opinions on this conversation and my questions would be great.

I’m asking for a friend - I found this per Department of transportation’s official government website:
“The DOT testing at HHS-certified laboratories is a 5-panel drug test regimen. As of January 1, 2018, the ‘Opiates’ category was renamed ‘Opioids’:
Marijuana (THC) Cocaine Amphetamines Opioids Phencyclidine (PCP) Under ‘Opioids’, previously ‘Opiates’, DOT testing will continue to include confirmatory testing, when appropriate, for Codeine, Morphine, and 6-AM (heroin). We added initial and confirmatory testing for the semi-synthetic opioids Hydrocodone, Hydromorphone, Oxycodone, and Oxymorphone to this Opioids group. Some brand names for the semi-synthetic opioids include OxyContin®, Percodan®, Percocet®, Vicodin®, Lortab®, Norco®, Dilaudid®, Exalgo®.”
All that in short to ask, does kratom fall under one of these or qualify as any of these? Specifically the Opioids part? I know Mitragynine/7-HO-Mitragynine is molecularly different than all the other opioids.
Has anyone been tested with a 5-panel drug test who uses kratom? Have you ever had a false positive for any other opioid from using kratom?
Thanks in advance for any info 🙏

TL;DR at the end
Firstly, let me just say that y'all were right. I came across this subreddit when researching lion's mane for its ability to promote neurogenesis and brushed off the reports I read as psychosomatic or the result of adulterated extracts. I thought how could a mushroom that doesn't contain psilocybin and is available in grocery stores possibly cause such profound effects? So, I ended up ordering about a month's supply of organically grown, American lion's mane tincture made solely from the fruiting bodies to see if I would notice any benefits.
My goal was to try Paul Stamet's stack without microdosing (I hate how microdosing makes me feel) thinking there might be unrepaired damage resulting from the severe concussions I received as a teen that might need addressing. I had high hopes for the stack, having using psilocybin mushrooms on and off for the past ten years to cure the prominent issues I had from my concussions. Well, that wasn't my intention for using shrooms to begin with but I noticed after about a dozen trips that my verbal fluency greatly improved and after many more trips I no longer stammered at all.
Anyway, fast forward a few days and I received the tincture and immediately took a dose. The bottle stated that 1ml contained 50mg of LM extract and to take 1ml twice daily which is the protocol I followed. I didn't have any shrooms at the time so I figured I'd just trial LM on its own and add shrooms to the mix once I had some. I felt no effects for the first two days. On the third day, I noted a slight spacey feeling along with a dampened mood but thought nothing of it. The spaciness did not grow but my mood continued to worsen over the next two days. I had no reason to feel down other than perhaps the gloomy spring weather. Based on my life circumstances, I should have felt the opposite.
Feeling uncharacteristically down, I reasoned that the mescaline I had been planning on doing that Saturday would lift my spirits and restore me to a state of gratitude. Well, Saturday morning arrived and the spaciness had grown stronger and my mood had not really improved despite the now sunny skies. I proceeded to down a cup of San Pedro tea and took my dog for a long walk as I waited for the mental clarity and mood lift from the mescaline to kick in. It never came. I've had cactus tea probably around 100 times and even weak doses will reliably brighten my mood. Or perhaps it did brighten my mood but was counteracted by LM as I wasn't feeling depressed, anxious, or any other negative state. I guess the best description would be emotionlessness/emptiness which is highly abnormal for me sober much less while on mescaline. At the time I had not even considered that LM was a factor in how I was feeling.
It was over 5 hours post dosing when the most terrifying experience of my life began. I was cleaning up my kitchen counter when all of a sudden my heart rate more than doubled and I became dizzy, nauseated, shaky, and lightheaded. Cold sweat started to bead on my forehead as my vision began to fade white. The first thing that came to my mind was "OMG am I having a heart attack?" I didn't experience any pain at this point so I thought it must be hypoglycemia instead (my father was a type 1 diabetic so I'm well aware of the symptoms). I downed two tablespoons of honey and went to lay down. I no longer felt like I was going to pass out or die but my heart rate would not decrease and I had this awful sense of impending doom.
The feeling of dread continued to persist no matter what I did and I reasoned that I was losing my mind since I couldn't pinpoint a cause. Usually with a bad trip there's a catalyst whether it's one's own negative thoughts, something askew with the surroundings, or ego death from a high dose. None of the above were present in my case. I hadn't even taken a heavy dose. I kept reassuring myself that it would pass by evening. A few hours later the intense fear was gone though the rapid pulse remained. I could not for the life of me figure out what had gone wrong but was relieved that I didn't seem to have suffered any lasting damage. The mescaline had worn off around sunset and I felt back to normal save for the elevated heartrate. Sleep eventually came to me that night though it was cut short as I spontaneously awoke two hours earlier than my alarm which is abnormal for me.
Sunday morning greeted me with a pounding headache, dull chest pain, and dizziness. My heart was still racing despite being exhausted from the previous day's experience. I pondered what I had done differently and the only thing that I could think of was lion's mane. I never had a bad trip cause lingering physical effects like this so it couldn't have been the mescaline. I came to this conclusion after already having taken that morning's LM tincture and consuming fresh, roasted LM for lunch. Apparently what I had experienced was similar to a panic attack. I've never had a panic attack before in my life and I don't have an anxious personality. I'm certain that the mescaline amplified what I experienced but I have no doubt that the LM caused it, especially given what followed afterwards.
That night I was awakened at 2am by a racing heart, sweating, strobing white light behind my eyelids, and feeling of impending doom. I walked around a bit trying to convince myself it was all in my head and managed to briefly fall asleep 30 minutes later only to be interrupted by the most intense nightmares. The feeling of doom persisted into Monday morning as I forced myself to go about my routine life. The elevated pulse, dizziness, headache, and chest pain were still present while the spacey feeling that began days prior had grown to the point where everything seemed on the verge of being unreal. It was like I was stuck in a state of fight or flight but while being shrouded in a fog at the same time. Somehow I managed to fake my way through the day. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. Unfortunately, sleep would not provide any solace.
Vivid nightmares along with the random light flashes prevented me from sleeping for more than an hour between awakenings. Tuesday morning provided a glimpse of hope in that my pulse had returned to normal. The chest pain and headache were still there but the spaciness had decreased to a more manageable level. This improvement was contrasted by that night's panic attack at 2am along with continued vivid nightmares and frequent awakenings. Fortunately, the next morning the spaciness and dizziness cleared up further though the headache and chest pain still lingered. At this point, I knew what I could expect come nightfall. Wednesday night did not fail to deliver another panic attack at 2am though its severity was mercifully weaker. The vivid dreams of course persisted.
Thursday morning saw the welcome disappearance of both my headache and chest pain. This would be the last day I experienced any dizziness as well though the gradually dissipating spaciness would last through Friday. I felt 100 percent back to normal the following Monday with no more interrupted sleep. I continued to have vivid yet not unpleasant dreams for another two weeks after that. The only supplement I took was thiamine hcl but I'm uncertain if this played any role in my rapid recovery. Hitting the gym also provided marked relief for hours afterwards.
If I had discovered that LM contains a kappa opioid receptor agonist I would have never tried it in the first place. Its neurogenesis-promoting properties are inferior to that of psilocybin's in my opinion. The only positives I noticed were an increase in memory recall of childhood events though this could have been placebo. I thought LM side effects could never happen to me. It's one thing to read other's reports but going through the hell that LM can cause is beyond harrowing. When people say it made their life a living hell they are not exagerating. This was easily the most terrifying experience of my life, testing the boundaries of my resolve. I urge anyone considering LM to weigh the risks against the paltry benefits.
TL;DR:
Took high quality Lion's Mane extract for 7 days. Experienced low mood later followed by panic attack-like symptoms, interrupted sleep, tachycardia, chest pain, and mild derealization precipitated by a moderate dose of mescaline on day 6. Negative effects gradually resolved over the course of a week resulting in a full recovery. Took strong dose of mescaline a month later with zero side effects.
***Edit 4/30: Three days ago I took a strong dose of mescaline. I just had to prove that LM was the culprit for my last experience and that my brain had made a complete recovery. Besides, it was my birthday and I wanted to make it one to remember. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous, especially once a feeling of unease crept in 30 minutes after dosing. I couldn't help but think "what if I'm suddenly catapulted back into a state of panic without any warning or trigger like last time?"
Fortunately, my fears were unfounded as the anxiety I felt vanished, never to reemerge, even after the effects grew to the point where I was forced to lay down. I had a fantastic time, with the experience being on par with all my previous trips on mescaline. None of the disturbing physical side effects from the previous experience made an appearance. My sleep since then has been deep and sound while my mood and sense of well being is slightly elevated. There's no shadow of a doubt in my mind now that LM was the catalyst for my previous bad experience and was the sole agent responsible for the effects that followed it.
One element that I neglected to mention that may explain why I had such rough time with LM is my idiosyncratic experience with opioids. I'll try to keep it brief. The first time was when I was prescribed hydrocodone in high school for a horrible cough from the flu. The first night I took it I felt warm and fuzzy but the second night I felt cold and depressed. I discontinued it as a result. My second experience came when I tried kratom out of curiosity in college. I think I took 2 or 3 grams. I felt warm and fuzzy for about ten minutes. After that, I somehow blacked out and woke up on the floor with intense nausea and dysphoria that lasted all night. I never tried it again nor will I. It's the only thing that has ever made me faint/black out, which I understand is basically unheard of for kratom.

I'm seeking advice as this is an ongoing issue for me that seems to be getting worse. As the title indicates, I process analgesics incredibly quickly (confirmed by genetic testing.) Anything other than a relatively shallow filling becomes a harrowing experience. I'm providing maybe too many details below, but I want to make clear how bad this is.
As I'm aging (49f), I'm needing more dental work done. I've also got some cards stacked against me: genetics, dry mouth from medication, perimenopause/HRT, autoimmune issues.
Last week, I had my final wisdom tooth extracted (bottom left.) It decided to emerge only two years ago, and hadn't been an issue until it was, ie., it caused decay on the molar in front of it, necessitating a crown for that tooth. It was decided to do both procedures together (extraction, temporary crown.)
At my request, my dentist prescribed halcion as this helped when I had my other late-blooming wisdom tooth removed a few years ago. That was the most pleasant dental experience ever. I don't even remember it.
Not this time. He started with the temporary crown so as to not get debris into the extraction site. As per usual, it took repeated injections just to get through that without pain. Immediately after the part where he widened the socket area for the wisdom extraction, the analgesic again started wearing off. He had only one more dose he could give me without cardiac risk, which he gave me. This should've been enough had it come right out; however, the tooth was well-seated so it took way longer than anticipated. Needless to say, I was in absolute agony - and there was nothing he could do but to keep going (I guess?) Sidenote: I'm grateful there were no children in the waiting room...
Each time I go through a procedure, the recovery is lengthy and painful - typically not for the actual issue, but for the site of the injections. Here I am on day 5, and the extraction site is fine; however, the injection site is mincemeat (let's just say x8 injections @ x3 pokes = 24 pokes in the same area.) This gets worse at night. I keep waking up in severe pain that no painkiller can help (hydrocodone, naproxen, ibuprofen/acetaminophen; I've even tried oxycodone that I had from the aforementioned extraction. Yes, I've been careful about what/when I take.) The only thing that has brought any relief at all is clove oil on a wet qtip applied to the area for ~15mins, along with repeated application of an ice pack. The latter I did probably 4x throughout last night.
I've still not tried eating anything that requires pressure to chew, ex., last night I got daring and added tuna to Mac & cheese simply b/c I've been living on applesauce, pudding, yogurt, etc. That repeated, though very slight and slow opening of my jaw was too much though, ie., last night's pain was the worst yet.
I want to stress also: I have a very high pain threshold, and am not a "baby" about pain. I also loathe taking painkillers as they make me dizzy and nauseated (besides, it seems I process those quickly as well, making them fairly useless imo.) But that extraction really hurt. And this jaw pain really hurts. I missed two more days of work because of it (Th/F.) And I rarely call in - maybe 2x/year.
So my question is this: What should I do going forward, re., dental procedures? I can't deal with this every time I need a deeper filling, a crown, etc. I do stay on top of my dental health: 2x/year cleanings, etc., and I like to address issues promptly. But all things considered, I'm wondering if I shouldn't let issues "rack up," and then once a year, go under general and get them all taken care of at once. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm desperate for solutions.
Thank you in advance.

I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted(all boney but 1) on april 6th and the pain today was so bad i had to leave work, should i be concerned ?
i dont see a clot myself, i see a white bit that looks like bone but ny surgeon didn’t say anything about dry socket, she barely explained what i was supposed to do as well. i thought she told me everything i needed to know, later realized i wasn’t supposed to be using straws, swishing my mouth out (i read you’re just supposed to tilt your head to let the water in the socket), etc.
on day 3 i was in a lot of pain, having hot flashes, chills, and i was constantly vomiting everything up. went to urgent care, they said that my hydrocodone dose was really high for my size (5-325 mg acetaminophen; f 4’11). i followed the directions on the bottle, 1-2 tablets every 6 hours.
urgently care recommended that i see my surgeon, she said “yeah i probably should’ve put you on a pediatric dose” and told me to stop taking the hydros and only take ibuprofen. 400mg at a time, no relief. i cut a hydro in half 30 ish mins ago and im still at the brink of tears from the pain
(her husband also cut my gums yesterday with scissors ?? he was trimming numbing gauze and he cut me several times, ow)
literally what do i do at this point ? the pain is so bad i had to leave work early today but i can’t afford to miss out on much more, i have bills to pay
ice packs honestly make the pain so much worse after about 2 minutes or so
i also paid 1.5k for this surgery so that’s fun. the bills are quickly racking up
do yall have any recommendations for the pain or what to do in general ?
edit: after reading the mod comment, i do smoke, im so sorry to disappoint, that probably (definitely) caused my dry socket lol

I've been keeping this secret for about four years. All those years ago, I was going through what was at the time the most serious and traumatic breakup. I was vulnerable. I had been through years of this toxic relationship.
I lived with my mom at the time, and she has quite the slew of back and health problems. She got prescribed Percocet and very often tried to give me them. I had tried them before but they made my stomach hurt, so I often turned her down. She continued to offer them to me.
One day I decided to take one, I was hurting from work or something. And I snorted it. It was great, my stomach didn't hurt and I felt better. She continued to give me pretty much as much pills as I wanted, and even offered some when I didn't ask.
She moved into my grandmother's house once she went to assisted living. My mother gave me her old pills too.
Now four years later I'm a "functioning" addict, as much as I can be. Nobody at work knows. And I only just realized how fucked up it is to give your child prescriptions. Idk if this is my fault or not but opioid addiction is a helluva thing. I've gone from Percocet to Oxycodone, to morphine, hydrocodone, lortabs, anything like that I will do to stave off withdrawals.
I got some fake oxycodone 30s one time and did them anyways. They were fentanyl. Coming off of that put me in the hospital. It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I cried so much, and the morphine they IV'd me in the hospital barely touched the pain. Unfortunately I guess I'm so far gone that wasn't even a wakeup call for me, although I refuse to touch fake pills again.
I've lost myself so much because of my drug use, and wasted so much time. I really do want to quit and I hate that I've ever done them. If I would've known how bad they were I would've said no, never done them. But I was ignorant to the true seriousness of it until it was too late.
I'm at a breaking point and have been for a long time. I don't know what I will do but I have to move past this. I'm tired of keeping this secret from the world, from my friends, my family even. It's time to let them go. Somehow.
Edit: there's been a lot of negative comments and assumptions here, no I am not blaming my mother for MY mistakes. I did not include ALL details here. It's a confession. To get off my chest. And if you can't be nice you'll be reported and blocked.

I had my 4 wisdom teeth extracted on Friday 3/15 so I'm on day 5 post op.
The left side has healed well but the right side is another story. Taking 800mg ibuprofen every 8 hours + hydrocodone as needed (trying to limit this due to dependency). When I start hitting the 5-6 hour mark after my last ibuprofen dose, the pain on my right side goes from a 3/10 to an 8/10.
My right jaw is super swollen, completely bruised, and my lymph node is swollen, and hard like a golf ball.
All incisions look kind of the same, but only one hurts this badly. Also taking amoxicillin since day 1. Just so concerned that the right side pain and swelling is so bad and wont go away. I thought I'd be recovered by now, especially since they said it was an easy extraction.
I convinced the dentist to see me tomorrow to make sure it's not dry socket - but I hear that hurts really badly even with ibuprofen and narcotics, but that's not my case. It only hurts when the medicines are wearing off.
Just telling my story to vent.... pretty sad I am not one of those "i was fine in 2 days" people. Havent slept in like 3 nights due to excruciating pain, even with head elevated / sleeping almost sitting down.
I just want to fast forward 2 weeks and be done with all this pain! :(
I also want my face to go back to normal. It's so odd having one normal side, and one side where it looks like I got in a bar fight.

I wanted to explain my experience in great detail, should it help others!
I’m 31F CF 220lb in Memphis, Tennessee and had my bisalp yesterday. My procedure was performed by my OBGYN, Dr. Butawan-Ali at Mid-South OBGYN. I’ll have her name added to the list over in childfree.
—
COST
My total cost with Cigna insurance was $1800 (broken down to $900 to the clinic and $900 to the surgery center).
DISCUSSION
My doctor gave me no pushback to my idea of getting a bilateral salpingectomy performed. I explained that I’ve never had a maternal instinct, and she thought it was a great plan for me. She checked the boxes by confirming my understanding that it is permanent and that I would either need to do IVF or adopt if I wanted children. The surgery was scheduled for a month out. I asked if my extra weight would pose a problem and she said I wasn’t as overweight as I thought, that my while obesity is a risk factor in surgery, that my weight or belly composition wasn’t going to impact her ability to perform the procedure. Nothing but positivity and excitement from her in this entire discussion.
PRE-OP APPOINTMENT
She scheduled a pre-op appointment 2 weeks before the surgery. There, she asked me if I hadn’t changed my mind, explained the procedure in full, and had me sign consent paperwork. I paid the clinic a deposit here. Before surgery, they send you a pamphlet in the mail explaining what to do before arrival, which was essentially just no foods or liquids after midnight, bring comfy clothes, no jewelry, etc.
On surgery day,
FRONT DESK
I arrived at 6:00am. I signed surgical consent forms and paid the surgery center at the intake desk.
INTAKE
I was taken back by 6:30am. I was paired with a nurse who took my vitals, had me confirm my name and birthday, my health history, had me confirm the procedure I’m having and quickly made sure, in just one sentence, that I again understood that it was permanent and I would need to have IVF to get naturally pregnant. She documented my valuables on my person and put them in a bag for the lockbox (I got to hang on to them and my phone until I was wheeled back). She had me give a urine sample for the pregnancy test and had me change into a gown, a cap and grippy socks.
I was put in a bed to wait my turn. My surgery would start at 7:30am. The nurse got me all set up and comfy, talked to me a bunch about my life - work, pets, tattoos, etc. - and even gave me this big body-length bag filled with warm air under the blanket to keep me warm. She inserted my IV catheter in my hand and was really sweet and gentle since I said I didn’t like needles. She numbed the area before. She drew blood from this for my hemoglobin test.
While I waited, 4 more people came to visit me. The anesthesiologist and her assistant came by to confirm my name, birthday, and procedure; and to ask me about history with anesthesia, and explain the procedure (it was mask/gas for me). Explained that there would be a breathing tube inserted after I fell asleep and had me open my mouth to confirm crowns and any chipped teeth. Explained that they would be gentle but there is always a risk in surgery of chipped teeth.
I met the surgical assistant and my doctor, the surgeon, who also confirmed my name, birthday and procedure I’m having. My doctor was excited and asked one more time to confirm that I hadn’t changed my mind. She said the procedure was quick and easy. Some time before it was my turn, the anesthesiologist’s assistant came to give me some relaxation drugs through my IV. At this point, they called my ride to let them know that I would be going back now.
At this point, I was overhearing other patients in the ward — the woman to my right in a bed behind the curtain was there to be induced to deliver a child, I was there to have my tubes removed, and the woman to my left was there to abort a non-viable pregnancy. Everyone was chipper about all of it - the patients and the staff. I found this spectrum of child-related cases to be poetically fascinating.
SURGERY
When it was time to get wheeled back, the nurse from earlier and some other nurses wheeled me back into the surgical theater, where my doctors and assistants waited for me all geared up. It was very cold and sterile in the theater and there weren’t any words, just when they were going to put the mask on me. I don’t remember any thoughts I had - I think I was so relaxed from the drugs, I didn’t care to be nervous. I was excited and hungry lol.
The procedure itself only took 20 minutes. The doctor personally called my ride, who I also authorized my medical information to be released to, to let him know that they were finished and that she found signs of endometriosis - said she took a biopsy and I’ll know more at my post-op appointment.
PACU
I didn’t feel like I’d ever slept. I remembered mask, some vivid dreaming, and then I woke up in PACU with a nurse beside me. I woke up crying from the initial shock of pain, though thinking back, it wasn’t even that painful. I was confused about my surroundings and this new sensation in my abdomen. The nurse at my bedside immediately asked if I was crying from pain and asked me to rate the pain on a scale of 1-10. I said 5 and she gave me a pain pill. An assistant came in at this time. I slept a little more and she got my things together. When I woke up for good, she asked me to rate my pain again. She called my ride and told him they were dressing me and getting me ready to go. And that I was hungry. 🙂 They unhooked all my tubes and removed my IV, and helped me move around in the bed. I was pretty drunk from the anesthesia. They both helped me get undressed (kept me covered with the blanket to maintain modesty) and into my regular clothes - they even put a pad in my panties and complimented the color of them. We joked about Victoria’s Secret making tiny underwear lol. They gave me my belongings, discharge paperwork, and put me in a wheelchair. They took me out to my ride and got me in the car. They advised to take it slow and only eat soup and crackers at first. The clinic called in my medication ahead of time so they said to go pick that up, and then go home and rest. I had lunch at Panera and was fine enough to go inside and eat. They advised that I be monitored for 24 hours and do not operate a car. They advised that I don’t shower for 24 hours, and I can remove my bandaids then. They want you to make sure that you pee and that you don’t vomit in 24 hours, and if not, to call the office.
HOW I FEEL
Immediately after the procedure, I felt drunk. When at Panera, I felt disoriented and couldn’t take a straight step forward without being helped or holding on to the wall. My incisions felt awkward but didn’t really hurt. I sat down and got up slowly. My throat was swollen and dry from the breathing tube so I had to eat small and slowly. Today, my throat hurts mildly. Cold beverages and cough drops are my friend. At home, it’s about the same. I’ve been able to move normally aside from sitting and laying down as fast as I normally do. I won’t risk bending to the ground or lifting heavy things. My incision sites don’t hurt themselves - it’s more that they feel sore underneath. There are two on either side of my belly and one in my belly button. For other women with apron bellies, my surgeon did do the incisions on top of the belly and not “under the flap”, if you will. The incisions are held together by surgical glue and have band aids on top. I am vaginally bleeding very lightly throughout the day. I do feel a little rumble in my abdomen from the gas, but haven’t had the shoulder pain that everyone talks about. They gave me Naproxen (think Aleve) and Hydrocodone (think Vicodin, or Lortab). The pharmacist said to only try taking Naproxen, and if that didn’t help, try the Hydrocodone along with it. NO OTHER NSAIDs while taking these!! I was in a little more pain mid-day so I tried the Naproxen - didn’t help. The pain is tolerable without them… until I try getting in and out of bed. That’s when it becomes painful enough to piss me off. So I did end up taking the Hydrocodone (I understand why people abuse Hydrocodone now… Generalized depression and anxiety? We never knew her! Dangerous stuff here, lol, don’t do it if you don’t need to). Otherwise, I can cook, clean, go places, etc. just fine! I feel fine enough to be back to work (office) by Monday. Movement will just remain slow.
—
Overall, 10/10 no debilitating pain, no complications, easy and minimal injury procedure, and I feel confident in my newfound freedom from unwanted pregnancy and ovarian cancer. We are so lucky that modern medicine can provide this service to us, and I am endlessly thankful for how enjoyable this surgical team made this experience.
I hope this helps! Cheers!

What's up y'all,
Just got my CRPS Type 1 diagnosis about a month ago. Trying to wrap my head around this and figure out what I should do going forward. A bit about me: I'm a 22 yo male with 35 degree scoliosis and very painful TMJ (both discs are dislocated, possible nerve damage from a wisdom teeth extraction that went wrong). I often have very sharp pain in my jaw, neck, sinus area, shoulders, and upper back. I have equally intense, but dulleachier pain in my low back, hips, legs, and feet.
I am in too much pain to work even 20 hours a week at a chill service industry job. I dropped out of high school when the pain started. I am immensely passionate about derivatives trading, and I am determined to pursue that passion to the fullest extent, but it is incredibly hard to focus on coding stock market algorithms when your brain is in constant pain. I'm so tired of living in fight or flight mode all the time. I need a real solution. I want my life back.
I have tried the following treatments:

1. NSAIDS (ketorolac, naproxen, celebrex, advil) — do not help (or help very marginally) and actually often make the pain/tension rebound with higher intensity when they wear off
2. Tylenol — basically a sugar pill
3. Cymbalta — does not reduce pain, makes me feel super weird / not myself
4. Medium to high dose of gabapentin (400mg 3x/day so 1200mg total daily) — works wonders for the pain. Takes away maybe 70-80% of it. However, it makes me a complete zombie with no passions, motivation, or personality.
5. Low dose naltrexone (4.5mg) — been taking this for 2 months now, can't tell if its helping or not. I feel like I have a lot more headaches since starting this medication. I forgot to take it one night and the next day I felt considerably better. Gonna tell my doctor about this and ask if I should go down in dosage / stop completely.
6. Lyrica (100mg 2x/day) — currently on this. Fewer side effects than gabapentin, but still produces some anhedonia. However, the pain relief outweighs the side effects (for now)
7. Tizanidine (4mg as needed) — Reduces pain and especially tension considerably, but makes me too tired to function. I only take this in the evenings.
8. Hydrocodone (20-30mg) — works great, but no one is willing to prescribe it so you have to take your chances dealing with shady people. Incredibly expensive for just 6 hours of relief and overall just not worth it long term.
9. Cannabis products (THC/CBD/CBG) — sort of works, but has so many side effects on cognition. I used to smoke a lot for this pain, and it really messed with my mental health. Overall not worth it.

I was thinking of asking my pain doctor about the possibility of low dose Buprenorphine. I've done some research on reddit and google scholar and it seems like there are quite a few anecdotes / studies that vouch for its efficacy on CRPS symptoms. I was dead set on avoiding any sort of opiate for years for this pain, but honestly I don't really care about what I take anymore, as long as it allows me to live a "normal-ish" life.
Would love to hear your thoughts. I'm also considering jaw surgery for my dislocated discs, but my oral surgeon told me the likelihood of it producing a positive outcome is reduced for people with CRPS. For non-CRPS people, this type of jaw surgery (arthroscopy with disc tie-back) has 65% odds of reducing TMJ pain significantly, 35% odds of no change in pain.
​

6 days ago I went in for my first implant procedure on #30 15 years after extraction. Dentist said that I didn’t need a graft and that there was enough room for implant he would just need to use one with a higher collar due to the bone loss I had. He did a CBCT prior to placement. After drilling the hole he placed the implant but immediately realized it was way too loose and was able to remove it with forceps. Even the assistant said she saw how loose it was going in. He said they couldn’t go bigger on the implant because this was the biggest one he had. They put in graft material to see if that would help it catch, it didn’t. He seemed to be flustered and anxious about it and quickly decided to do a PRF membrane. Frantically rolled up my sleeve and took blood without even alcohol wiping the draw site. He packed the membrane and placed the implant. This time I felt the implant go in, not really painful but pressure when he got it seated. He didn’t put a healing cap on, only the cover screw by hand. He didn’t torque anything. He sewed the gum over the implant and sent me on my way with only salt water rise as post op care. I’ve been in near constant pain since and finally called on day 4 for meds when I ran out of my own stash of hydrocodone from previous surgeries. The stitches have all come out but some of the gum has receded, only half of the implant screw is covered. I can touch the other half with my tongue. Tonight I’m in the worst pain I’ve ever been in to the point at times I cannot speak or do anything. The implant seems cold sensitive and I can’t drink anything over it and anything that touches the implant leaves me in extreme pain for several minutes. I’m worried the pressure I felt when he placed the implant the last time was it pushing against the nerve and that it will never heal properly. I see the dentist again tomorrow for checkup but I’m debating demanding another CBCT and possibly removal of the implant entirely. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

THE CAPSULE
by W. B. Stickel
​
The pothole appeared out of nowhere.
“Son of a bitch!” Miles Freeman hissed, swerving to avoid the cavernous thing.
“Whoa!” his twelve-year-old son, Brandon, said from the backseat. “Close one, Dad.”
Easing their RAV4 back into the appropriate lane, Miles glanced in the rearview and met his son’s gaze. The boy’s bleary eyes practically swam in their sockets—a result, Miles knew, of the pain meds the ER staff had pumped into him an hour earlier. “Sorry about that, bud,” Miles said. “This road isn’t the greatest.”
“S’okay, Dad. It’s Syracuse.”
“Yes it is,” Miles agreed. “Pothole Capitol of America. How’s the leg?”
Brandon glanced down at his heavily bandaged thigh. “Achy. How many stitches did I get again?”
“Eight. Which you took like a champ.”
“Think I’ll have a scar?”
“Probably.”
The boy grinned dopily. “Battle trophy.”
Miles reached back and touched the boy’s hand. “Hey, I want to talk about what happened. In more detail than what you told the doctors, I mean.”
Brandon shrugged. “Okey-dokey, doggy daddy.”
Miles smirked at that: one of his favorite lines from True Romance—that badass Christian Slater flick from the early Nineties. The boy had never actually seen the movie; no, the violence in it was far too excessive to show a child. Brandon had simply heard Miles say it once, and thereafter adopted it for himself. “All right, knucklehead, do me a favor and shut your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just humor me. It’ll help you concentrate.”
Brandon closed his eyes. “They’re shut.”
“Good. Now think back to this morning when you got the ouchie in your leg.
“Okay. I’m thinking about it.”
“Picture what happened and describe it the best way you can.”
“Well,” Brandon said. “I was grabbing branches for the trail like you told me to, and I saw a nice big one in the area that doesn’t have any trees. Something tripped me as I went to grab it and I fell over. And my leg went right into the metal thingy.”
Miles nodded. They had been in the woods bordering their backyard, working on their big summer project: creating a system of trails in the dense underbrush that grew back there. Brandon had chosen to hunt for branches with which to line the trail, while Miles used a pair of hedge clippers to clear the actual pathway. After a time, Brandon had wandered out of sight into a nearby clearing. Next Miles knew, the boy was screaming bloody murder. Miles found him sitting on a log, palms pressed against his bleeding thigh.
“This metal thingy,” Miles said. “It was sticking up out of the ground, then? Like at an angle or something?”
“Yeah.”
“I know you told the doctor you couldn’t really remember, but think hard for me. Was the metal thing smooth or rough?”
Brandon shook his head. “Don’t know. It happened real fast.”
Miles pursed his lips. The ER doc that had treated Brandon couldn’t say one way or the other either. What she could say for certain was that the offending object had been rusty, given the tiny rust flakes she discovered while abrading the wound.
“No worries,” Miles said. “So, the thing poked you. What happened next?”
Brandon cocked his head like a dog keying into an interesting noise. “There was sort of a breaking sound. Or a snap. Then I fell down. I saw there was a piece of it sticking out of my leg, so I yanked it out and dropped it.”
That was new information. “A snapping sound? You think you broke it off something?”
Brandon opened his eyes. “Uh-huh. Just remembered. After that, it hurt real bad and was bloody, so I did like you showed me to make the bleeding stop.”
“I’m real proud of you for that, too,” Miles said. “Quick thinking.”
It occurred to Miles then how fortunate they were that the object had merely pierced the boy’s leg, versus his belly or chest. Or—God forbid—his head.
The very thought made Miles queasy. He truly couldn’t fathom an existence without Brandon. It was hard enough losing the boy’s mother in childbirth. If he ever lost Brandon too, he didn’t know what he would do.
No, that was a lie. He knew exactly what he would do, and it involved the Mossberg 500 shotgun tucked away in his bedroom closet.
Miles brushed the awful thought away and ran a hand through his curly mane, which some people said made him resemble a taller Patrick Dempsey. “You hungry for lunch yet?”
“Starving,” Brandon said.
“Mediterranean?”
Brandon’s eyebrows arched. Mediterranean was his favorite. “Sure!”
“Pita Palace?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“All right, pal. Pita Palace it is.”
***
By the time they finished chowing down at home, Brandon was in tears again from the pain. Miles gave him a Hydrocodone, as prescribed by the ER, and got him set up on the living room sofa.
“Xbox or Occulus?” Miles inquired.
“Xbox,” Brandon said. “Minecraft Retro.”
“Shocker. But that’s okay. You deserve it. Do all the mining and crafting you want today.” Miles handed the boy a game controller. “If you’re okay for a bit, I need to go out back and look around for whatever poked you. Make sure it’s safe.”
“Coolsies,” Brandon said, turning his attention to the living room’s 65-inch TV.
Before heading out, Miles hurried down to the basement and retrieved their walkie-talkie set from the workroom. “Here,” he said as he returned to the living room. He placed one of the handsets on the end table next to the sofa. “If you need anything, use this to reach me. You remember how to use it?”
“Push-to-talk?”
“Correctamundo.” Miles tussled the boy’s hair and headed for the back door.
***
During his youth, Miles had a spent a lot of time outdoors. His own father had been an avid outdoorsman and took care to instill his spirit of adventure in Miles. Miles had wanted to do the same for Brandon, but the kid preferred exploring the wondrous landscapes of his imagination over those in the real world. If it wasn’t written in one of his books or coded into one of his video games, he just wasn’t interested.
Fortunately, that all changed the previous summer after Brandon finished reading The Wild Folk by Sylvia Lindstead. They had been on the back deck at the time, letting their dinners digest while they gazed at the woods that lay beyond their property line.
“Dad,” Brandon had said. “I want to go into the woods. Make a trail through the trees. I think I belong out there.”
Miles had been so happy he nearly cried. “Absolutely,” he had said, and thus the big summer project was born.
Smiling at the memory, Miles stepped onto the back deck and eased the sliding glass door shut behind him. The afternoon greeted him with a sweltering embrace. “Good Christ,” he said, checking the weather stats on his phone. 92°, it said. With 80% humidity.
Already beginning to sweat, he wiped his face and vaulted off the deck into the backyard. It was marginally cooler once he reached the trailhead, as the woods’ canopy provided plenty of shade, but the air was still stifling as hell. Wondering if he hadn’t somehow been magically transported to the Mississippi Delta, he followed the path as it zigged and zagged its way through the dense cluster of oaks and pines that studded his little swathe of Central New York.
At the trail’s terminus, Miles discovered the hedge clippers he’d dropped earlier when Brandon had cried out. “Oh, yeah,” he said, holding the clippers up in front of him. He couldn’t say why, but in that moment, he found their slender blades oddly comforting.
Comforting? he mused, unsure where the sentiment had come from. What? Did he think some sort of threat existed out amongst all the fern, ivy, and honeysuckle? Like a rabid fox or killer rabbit?
“Sure,” Miles said. “Why not killer bunnies? I hear they’re all the rage this season.”
“Having a Watership Down moment, are we?” a voice inquired behind him.
Startled, Miles whipped around in a panic and instinctively readied the clippers for combat.
“Easy there,” said Jacob Winslow, Miles’ next-door neighbor. “I come in peace.” As a show of good intention, the man raised his empty hands like a cornered bank robber.
“Jesus Christ!” Miles growled. “Where the fuck did you come from?”
“Sorry, amigo,” Jacob replied, lowering his hands. “I thought you heard me approach.”
Miles lowered the clippers and glowered down at his pale, red-haired neighbor, who stood a foot shorter than him. “I didn’t hear shit.”
“Not sure what to tell you,” the man said. “I wasn’t being particularly stealthy.”
Miles drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fine, whatever. Is there something I can help you with?”
Jacob’s brow furrowed. “Oh. I, uh, heard about what happened to your boy—Ted from across the street filled me in—and figured I’d see if you needed a hand with anything. You didn’t answer your doorbell, so I peeked out back and saw you heading into the woods.”
Miles squinted at the smaller man. On top of being a prying snoop with little respect other people’s boundaries, Jacob Winslow was, bar none, the least neighborly neighbor Miles had ever had. Especially when it came to helping out with. . . anything. If it wasn’t his bad back or ulcer acting up again, he always seemed to have errands to run or relatives to visit. Conversely, the little shit had no issue asking for anyone else’s help.
Yet here he was now, offering his assistance. It was strange, to say the least.
Even stranger, though, was the fact that Jacob knew anything at all about Brandon’s injury. Other than the hospital staff, Miles hadn’t shared what had happened with anyone.
“Ted, huh?” Miles asked. “And what’d he say?”
“Not much. Just that your boy landed in the ER with an injured leg. And that he was home now, doing okay.” The shorter man observed the consternation on Miles’ face. “Oh, Ted only knows because of Gina.”
“Gina,” Miles echoed. “Right.” Ted’s wife, Gina, worked as a nurse at the Galisano Children’s Hospital. He hadn’t seen her during their visit, but he supposed she could have seen Brandon’s name on the patient register and decided to check his file.
Miles studied his neighbor for a length, thinking, then revisited the man’s offer to help. “Well,” he said, redirecting his attention to the clearing. “If the offer is serious, I was about to search for whatever jabbed Brandon in the thigh. I only have a vague sense of where it occurred. I was busy whacking away at the weeds where we’re standing when he cried out. I found him sitting in the clearing over there.”
Jacob nodded. “Not to be a Nosy Nelly, but why were you gents out here in the first place?”
Miles told him about the summer project.
“Gotcha,” Jacob said. “And you want to make sure the pokey bit isn’t still a problem?”
“Bingo.”
Jacob considered their surroundings, and glanced down at his own attire, which consisted of a Budweiser tee shirt, cargo shorts and a pair of flip-flops. “I’m clearly not dressed for the occasion, am I?”
“Nope,” Miles said. “The poison oak and ivy out here is downright evil.”
“Nuff said,” Jacob replied, ambling back towards his house. “I’ll be right back.” He returned minutes later, garbed in a blue long-sleeve shirt, jeans, boots, work gloves and a fitted Yankees cap. “That’s a bit better,” he said. "Let’s just pray I don’t die from heat exhaustion. I’m already sweating like a pig.”
Fresh rivulets of sweat ran down Miles’ own back. “Me too. Ready to get started?”
“Let’s do it.”
***
Five minutes into their scouring, Jacob came across a bulky wasp nest forged in the crook of a dead sugar maple. “Check this out,” he said.
Miles stayed where he was; he wanted no part of the dozen or so wasps buzzing about the crook. “Industrious sons of bitches, huh?”
Jacob grunted. “They’ve set up shop in a couple spots around my house. I’m going to hit up Home Depot for some supplies later and go on a killing spree.”
“You don’t use an exterminator?” Miles asked.
“More satisfying to handle it myself.”
“If you say so. I prefer not being stung.”
“We all get stung sooner or later,” Jacob said. “That’s life.”
“Maybe so. Luckily, I’ve never been allergic.” The sound of his own words resonated queerly in Miles’ head and for an instant he was bombarded by a flurry of disturbing images. A beehive in an old barn; a curious little boy with a stick; a barking dog; angry bees swarming the child; the boy slapping and whimpering at them; silence and stillness; the child’s dead eyes staring at him.
“Hey,” Jacob interjected. “You okay?”
Miles glanced at the man. “What? No, yeah. It’s nothing. I—” Just then his foot landed on a thin cylindrical object, which rolled with his stepping motion. “Shit!” he blurted out, stumbling backwards. He nearly toppled over but somehow managed to keep his footing.
Jacob couldn’t help but chuckle. “Gravity’s a bitch sometimes, huh?”
Ignoring the comment, Miles squatted down and began rummaging through the brush for whatever he had slipped on. “There!” he said moments later, extracting the offending object from a thick clump of honeysuckle and lifting it into plain view. It was maybe a foot long, with one end badly corroded and the other dappled with ants feeding on a darkened substance.
Jacob moved in closer to have a better look and frowned. “Is that . . . rebar?”
Miles turned it over in his hand. “Looks like it, doesn’t it?”
“And you think that’s what got your boy?”
“I do,” Miles said. “I think it was sticking out of the ground, at an angle maybe. Brandon went to pick up a branch, stumbled and landed on it. I’m guessing his weight was enough to snap it where it’s corroded.” He stooped over and recommenced rummaging through the underbrush. “Hang on, it’s got to be here somewhere.”
“What does?” asked Jacob.
“Ah, there we are.” Miles switched from rummaging to pulling away large tufts of honeysuckle. A half-dozen pulls later he stopped and moved aside. “Look.”
Jacob looked. At the center of the now-bare honeysuckle patch stood a rather guilty-looking nub of rusted metal, its circumference matching that of the rebar Miles was holding. “Well, that opens up a whole other can of worms, don’t it?”
“Sure does,” Miles said. “First in my mind is: how far does it go into the ground?” He reached down, gripped the nub tightly and attempted to move it back and forth. It moved a quarter inch in either direction, but that was all. Miles clamped his other hand on the nub and tried again, achieving the same result. “Feels like it’s in there pretty deep.”
“Which means it probably didn’t fall from something tall,” Jacob deduced, looking up, “though I’m not sure what that thing would even be.”
“Me neither,” Miles said. “From what I understand, this whole area wasn’t developed until the Renfrew Company purchased it some thirty years ago. Before that, it was just wild land.”
“Then what the fuck?”
Miles planted his hands on his hips. “You know what? To tell the truth, I don’t really care about the ‘why’ of it right now.”
Jacob removed his Yankees cap and wiped his brow. His short red hair looked like orange fire in the bright sunlight. “You want to know if more of these things are out here.”
“Yep,” Miles said. “Once I have that figured, I’ll move onto how deep they go, then try to solve the ‘why’.”
“Roger that, amigo.”
Miles reexamined the clearing. “If you’re still up for it, want to help me look?”
Jacob flipped his cap back onto his head. “I’m already sweaty and I don’t have shit to do until tonight. I say let’s keep the good times rolling.”
***
Later, after a long hot shower, Miles shuffled into the living room and plopped down on the sofa next to Brandon. “Whatcha up to, compadre?”
Brandon pointed at the TV screen. On it, Jake the Dog and Finn the Human were battling the Ice King, who’d once again kidnapped Princess Bubblegum.
“Adventure Time, huh?” Miles said.
“Where the fun will never end,” Brandon replied.
“Got to love the classics.” Miles eyed the boy’s leg. “How you doing?”
Brandon ran his index finger over the bandages. “Bad biscuits.”
Interpreting that as a negative response, Miles got him another pill and a glass of water. “Sorry, bud. That should kick in soon enough. In the meantime, want to hear something crazy?”
“Sure.”
“So, you know the spikey thing that poked you in the thigh?”
“Hmm, no. Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Funny,” Miles said. “Well, I actually found it in the woods. Looks to be a piece of rebar—a steel rod they put in concrete to help make it stronger. Anyway, in addition to the piece that got you, I found the bit it broke off from. I tried to pull that bit out of the ground, but couldn’t. It’s in there deep.”
Brandon giggled at something Jake had just yelled at Finn on the TV.
Miles waited until the episode ended, then shut the television off.
“Hey,” Brandon said. “I want to keep watching.”
“You can,” Miles assured him. “I just want to discuss something first without any distractions.”
Brandon simpered but didn’t protest.
“Great,” Miles said. “So, listen. Along with the rebar that hurt you, guess what I found?”
“Princess Bubblegum?”
“No. Five other pieces of rebar sticking up out of the ground.”
Brandon’s face bunched up as the number sank in. “Six rebar thingies?”
“Yeah. In that clearing, all hidden by bushes and tall grass.”
“Weird,” Brandon said. “Why are they there?”
“No clue. But I think they’re connected to something underground.”
“Underground? Like what?”
“Again, no clue. But I’m going to find out.” Miles sighed and sank back into the couch. “After a few days rest, though. Your dad isn’t the spring chicken he used to be.” He thought of the upcoming work week at his accounting firm, which looked to be a hellish one. “Next weekend, most likely.”
“Awesome,” Brandon said, eyes returning to the TV. “Can I watch more Finn and Jake now?”
Miles powered on the device and handed the boy the remote. “Sure, bud. Sure.”
***
The following Friday night Miles and Brandon decided to have a pizza and movie night. Brandon suggested Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs as the main feature, so Miles ordered a couple of meatball pies.
Early the next morning, Brandon crept into bed with Miles, claiming he’d had a really bad dream. Miles asked if he remembered what it was about.
“Yes,” Brandon said. “A bad man trapped me in the basement and stuck a spear in my belly. I was screaming for you to save me the whole time, but you never came.”
Miles held him tight and together they fell back asleep, rising again around ten-thirty. After breakfast Miles got the boy started on his math homework, and ensured both of their walkie-talkies were good to go.
“Working on the trail some more?” Brandon inquired.
“Sort of,” Miles said. “Like I said last night, I need to figure out what all the rebar connects to.”
“I want to go with you to help. My leg feels a lot better.”
“I know, and I love our team-ups. But the doctor prescribed two weeks with minimal walking. You can help by resting and we’ll see where we’re at in a week.”
Brandon sighed. “Fine.”
Miles gave the boy a walkie-talkie. “Same channel as before. I’ll be back in a while.”
***
The temperature outside was cooler than it had been of late. Mid-eighties with a decent breeze.
“I’ll take it,” Miles said.
From the shed he gathered a bag of tools—shovel, spade, pickaxe, sledgehammer—and hauled it to the clearing. His plan was to start at the foremost rebar tine, the one that had injured Brandon. Dig down until he uncovered its origins, then move onto the others.
The shovel made quick work of the surprisingly pliable earth seated around the rebar. It was looser than he expected and came up easier than store-bought potting soil. About two feet down the shovel’s blade struck something hard and metallic. And seemingly hollow.
“What the shit?” Miles said.
He cleared away ten more shovelfuls of loose dirt and set the shovel aside. A jagged, square-foot of blue-grey metal stared up at him from the bottom of the hole. The rebar tine, he saw, was welded to the metal surface. Puzzled, Miles tapped the surface with the heel of his boot and listened as it issued a dull reverberation.
“Definitely hollow,” he said.
He wondered if it could have been an old oil or septic tank, for some home that had once stood in the clearing. If so, it must have been one whopper of a place because oil and septic tanks weren’t typically as big as this structure seemed to indicate. As to why it had rebar tines sticking out of it, no rational explanation came to mind.
After radioing Brandon to see if he was okay, Miles moved onto the remaining pieces of rebar. The result was the same at each: rusty blue-grey metal and a welding joint keeping the rebar in place. He searched for words printed on the metal surface but found none.
Unsure what to think, Miles retreated to the unfinished pathway and enjoyed a well-earned break in the shade. As he rested, he came to the decision that he needed to unearth the whole top portion of the damn structure. See if he could locate any markings. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to do that today or wait until tomorrow.
He was on the verge of calling it quits when Jacob came ambling up the trail, shovel in hand. “Howdy, neighbor! Back at it again, I see. Need a hand?”
Miles noticed the man was decked out in a flannel shirt, jeans, gloves, a hat and boots. “Um, sure. Looks like you came to party.”
Jacob chuckled. “Just got back from visiting family in Utica and could stand to blow off some steam.” He reached the clearing and appraised Miles’ handiwork. “You’ve been busy.”
Miles filled him in on his theory about the oil/septic tank.
“No shit?” Jacob asked, kicking the metal surface with one of his steel-toed boots. The sound of it reverberating made him grin. “The mystery literally deepens. What’s the plan?”
“I was thinking I’d dig out the areas between the rebar and check for markings.”
Jacob moved to the furthest hole and readied his shovel. “Tally-fucking-ho,” he said and drove the shovel’s blade into the ground.
***
At quarter after four, Miles stopped digging and peered down at his boot. His shovel had just struck something about half a foot down. Something that had sounded more solid and less hollow.
“What’s that?” Jacob said, having heard it too.
Miles levered his shovel ninety degrees, prying loose a hefty chunk of earth. “Beats me. Come help me real fast.” He tossed the chunk aside and repeated the process.
Jacob joined him and together they swiftly uncovered the irregularity.
“Jesus,” Jacob said, staring at their new discovery. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yeah,” said Miles. “It’s a fucking hatch door.”
It certainly looked the part. Circular. Three foot in diameter. Robust hinge. Full-on handwheel. Like something off the International Space Station. Or the Red October.
Jacob fiddled with an object attached to the hatch’s lower curve. He brushed dirt off it and held it in his palm. It was a padlock. A large and new looking one at that.
“Seems like someone doesn’t want us getting inside,” Jacob observed.
“I have a monster set of bolt cutters in the shed,” Miles offered.
“Terrific. Let’s get that bad boy and see what’s inside this bad boy.”
Miles peered at the padlock, curious why it looked so new, when everything else seemed so rusty and old? When no good explanation came to mind, he said: “I think we’re going to save that for tomorrow morning. I’m losing steam. I want to finish digging out the top part and then go hang out with Brandon.” Saying the boy’s name elicited an unexpected swell of emotion, and anxiety.
“Got more restraint than I do,” Jacob said, resuming his shoveling. “But that’s cool. Adds to the mystique of it. Just make sure you come get me before you sheer that sucker off. I’m dying to know what’s in there.”
Miles transferred his gaze to the handwheel. “Me too,” he lied. He couldn’t pinpoint why, but the prospect of discovering what lay within the buried structure suddenly filled him with dread. Something bad was in there. He was sure of it. Something to do with Brandon.
He tried to expel the awful notion from his mind, but it refused to go.
Distraught, he plunged his shovel’s blade into the ground and extracted a large clod of dirt. As he cast it into the clearing, the first wave of mosquitos arrived, targeting their faces and necks. Cursing, they both applied more DEET and did their best to finish as soon as humanly possible.
* * *
As thanks for all his help, Miles invited Jacob to dinner. Jacob graciously accepted. After a hasty shower at his house, he came over with a six-pack of Miller Lite in one hand and a two-liter of Coke in the other.
In no mood to cook, Miles Grub-Hubbed a pile of KFC and together they happily dined on The Colonel’s famous recipe. While they ate, Jacob filled Brandon in on the hatch situation and its stalwart padlock. The boy was utterly fascinated by the revelation. So much so that he abandoned his meal and began limping around the living room like an agitated dog.
“Why’s it there?” he burbled as he paced. “Why’s it locked? What’s inside? Secret treasure? Monsters? And why’s the lock new? And who put it there?” And so on and so forth.
When, several minutes later, Miles finally intervened, he didn’t bother using any of his gentler tactics. “Brandon,” he said, using the nuclear option “return to the dinner table right now or I’m taking your screen time away—for an entire week.”
As he suspected it would, the ultimatum did the trick. Brandon stopped mid-burble, processed the cost of not obeying, and promptly returned to his chicken and mashed potatoes.
“Don’t fret, kid,” Jacob told him. “That’s the stuff we’ve been asking ourselves. Me, personally? I’m betting on treasure, like in The Goonies.”
Brandon smiled at that. “I like that one.” He switched his gaze to Miles. “Can I be there when you open it up tomorrow? My leg’s doing okay.”
Miles considered it as he sampled a drumstick. His gut, which still churned with echoes of the dread he’d felt at the clearing, told him to keep the boy away from the hatch. His rational brain, however, told him to quit indulging irrational impulses and let the boy participate. It was just a stupid hatch for God’s sake.
“Okay,” Miles said. “But no funny business. I say and you do. Got it?”
“Monkey hear, monkey do,” Brandon confirmed.
“That settles it,” Jacob announced. “We’re all going.”
Brandon clapped his hands in agreement. “We’re all going!”
***
Brandon had already brushed his teeth and gotten dressed when he came tugging on Miles’ comforter at quarter after eight. “Dad, Dad!” he said excitedly, like it was Christmas morning. “Wake up so we can open the hatch!”
Squinting at his alarm clock, Miles told the boy to go back to bed. “For an hour at least. Two is better.”
“No way, Jose,” Brandon said, dancing around the bed like a whirling dervish. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”
Knowing the boy wouldn’t be dissuaded, Miles sat up and swallowed his annoyance. “Okay, you win! I’m up. Now go fix me a cup of coffee before I eat you.”
Once he was showered and had a cup of coffee in him, Miles texted Jacob to see if he was awake. Jacob responded immediately, claiming he’d been up since six and was raring to go.
They met out front ten minutes later and adjourned to the shed, where they procured a sledgehammer and Miles’ heavy-duty bolt cutters.
“Yeah,” Jacob said, admiring the cutters, “these should work just fine.”
During the short jaunt out to the clearing, Miles marveled at how well Brandon’s leg was holding up. He was barely limping and didn’t seem to be in much pain. “How’s it feeling?” he asked.
Brandon gave him a thumbs-up. “No problemo.”
“All right, tough guy,” Miles said. “Let me know if anything changes.”
When they reached the clearing, Brandon scampered over to the hatch and grabbed the handwheel. “Wow, Dad. This is so cool. What if it’s, like, a submarine or something?”
“Then we’re all going to be famous, kid,” Jacob replied. He brought the bolt cutters to the hatch and looked back at Miles. “Want to do the honors, or shall I?”
Miles motioned for Jacob to go ahead. The man beamed like an idiot and set the cutters on the U-shaped shackle. “One, two, three!” he said and clamped down hard. The cutters bit through the metal with ease, producing a loud, satisfying kink!
(continued in next post....)

Thought I’d share my experience on here with taking the abortion pill because I know how scary some of these posts are so hopefully my experience will put someone’s mind at ease when reading this! If anyone has any questions don’t be afraid to ask, I want to help other women going through this. I know it’s scary but it’s nothing you can’t handle!💞
I am a 20 y/o F and I went to the pregnancy clinic and found out I have gestational sack irregularities and I was at high risk to miscarry. I was supposed to be around 9 weeks but the fetus was measuring 7 weeks.
I took the first pill mifepristone on Friday at 8am and went about my day normally with no pain or anything.
Saturday at 8:00pm I took my ibuprofen 800
8:30pm: i inserted 4 misprostol with clean hands into my vagina as far as they could go and i laid down for 30 minutes
9:30pm: I had slight cramping so i took 1 norco (aka hydrocodone, Vicodin, or lortab) that was given to me from the clinic
12am: I felt a gush and checked my diaper (which is a must!!) and i seen it was wet with light pink liquid which i assumed was my “water breaking”. I turned on my heating pad and laid down because the cramps got worse. Pain was a 6/10 but nothing that wasn’t manageable.
12:15am: went to the bathroom with an extreme urge to pee and a lemon sized clot with some tissue came out very easily. It didn’t hurt at all and felt very relieving. Pain was still a 6/10 so i took another norco and laid down with my heating pad
2am: still bleeding, pain was coming and going but nothing horrible so i took another ibuprofen 800 so i could sleep
Up until 5am i was in and out of sleep from waking up from cramping and having to pass a few smaller clots but overall it was a very relaxed experience nothing like the horror stories I’ve heard luckily.
I had no cold sweats, diarrhea, nausea etc. just cramping and bleeding which was managed with my pain medicine, diapers, a heat pad, and a supportive partner. You’re gonna want to take off the next day to relax and recover, it’s a long process that’s different for everyone but your body works hard during it and needs a break after.

Like what? Morphine? Methadone? Hydrocodone? Oxycodone? WHAT? I had never even heard of most of these let alone used them. I've had three minor surgeries including two tooth extractions removing a total of six teeth and I have NEVER been given a narcotic. I'm getting my first internal surgery in nine days and this will be the first time I have ever been prescribed one.
I have seven different chronic conditions, six of which cause chronic pain, two of which cause pain that ranges on the scale from 3 to FuckMyLife. I went undiagnosed with most of these until very recently, but they have caused me to suffer for a decade now. For the manageable ones, NSAIDs were plenty effective. For the two severe ones, NSAIDs don't work for the severe pain - and either way, when the pain is breaking the scales I just puke them back up, so they don't have a chance to work anyway. When I found out that others with my conditions are getting the good stuff when they go to the ER? When I found out that some people are given narcotics for MILD pain? And I was forced to suffer for hours on hours with NO relief for the worst pain of my life because I couldn't fucking move from pain and nobody even tried to take me for emergent care, and then when I did go to the doctor they just told me to cope? Oh HELL that pissed me off.
I am probably going to start trying pain management clinics to see if I can get some medicine to take on the occasions that I would take a bullet in my brain for pain relief. But damn I am so angry that I suffered so long and nobody gave a shit or took me seriously for years, even though I was a young teenager.

I had my first eye done Thursday. I can now see sooo much better it’s incredible!! As soon as they wheeled me out of the OR I could tell I could see clear even with the clear plastic cover on my eye. It’s wonderful! I went to the store a few hours after I got home with my ride and could see to drive like a new person! I’m soo very happy with my results. I have/had large, subcapsular cataracts on both eyes. I believe they said on a scale of 1-5 a 4.5? If I read the original diagnosis right? They started in August and it was like being in a fog storm ever since. I could drive at night much better but day time was just horrible! Soo bright sun I had to use double sun glasses. It was still cloudy that I could not see traffic signal until almost at the intersection so I was braking all the time. I really should not have been driving but I had to work still or I would lose everything!
Now for the actual surgery. OMG. Not pleasant at all. The initial intake at the surgery center was great. A warm towel given to me etc. great. I had been worried about revealing I was on Methadone and at what time was best to tell them as I was not even asked about my medication history until two days prior by text form. I did list it of course but could not list the exact dose. I brought a form from my clinic with my information and they did not even look at it they took me at my word. They were not worried at all and did not bat an eye although I said it was my darkest secret being on this. They said gosh are you serious! It’s like being on blood pressure medication!! They made me feel much better. Being on this has a stigma attached to it. I got on it for taking 5mg of Hydrocodone!!I don’t even drink or smoke and was prescribed my meds legally. I really did not do the right thing getting on Methadone for a mild Lortab withdrawal. Anyway …. Then I was taken back in the same bed/gurney and then laid flat! No pillow under my head just a rolled up towel which they had to keep trying to get me into a somewhat comfortable position. It never happened. I finally said I can deal with it for the short time it takes for the surgery. The Dr says look into the bright lights. I said it hurts to look at them. He said real snarky that lights don’t hurt!! He was getting frustrated that I could not look in the proper direction. I think most people don’t like to look into a bright light! I was waiting for them to say Run to the light Carol Ann!! Haha Finally it was done and over. Dr did not say a word when he was done except it as done. I think he was not happy I was a troublesome patient which was not my intention. I don’t like anyone upset with me. He did a great job though and I’m happy. I drove to my post op myself and could see like a new person. I told him how grateful I was and thanked him multiple times. He was nice as pie then as well. Younger Dr maybe in his early 30’s. Anyway I’m beyond happy with my sight even with the one eye still being blurry. If I cover my new eye my remaining bad eye is blurry as can be! I think my new eye with a distance IOL is at 20/25 but they said it will improve Thank you for all the encouragement leading up to this. Btw are all cataract surgeries done like this? Flat on a gurney? All the YouTube videos were in a reclined medical type chair

I’m having cataract surgery Thursday. It’s been a long, 3 month wait. I’m also on Methadone. No, I never did drugs just when it was time to stop taking Lortab for back pain I was soo miserable that I went to the Methadone clinic. I should have never did this as it would have been better to detox from lortab (Hydrocodone) than Methadone when the time comes. I do not reveal this deep dark secret to many people. Especially health care providers as there is a lot of judgement made on anyone who is on Methadone. I’ve never even seen pot before! I just took the easy way out and got on Methadone. Anyway, I have to tell the surgery center that I’m on Methadone as I believe they do some form of sedation. The Methadone clinic as well as a nurse I know said to tell them when I arrive and they will make sure I am given the proper type of sedation. I worry that maybe they will be mad that I did not tell them ahead of time. The nurse friend said that they are prepared for all this and do not need advance notice just to make sure they know when I arrive. Any thoughts on this? No matter what anyone says, providers do treat you differently if they perceive you as an addict without knowing the full story. They just assume anyone who is on Methadone did all kinds of hard drugs. Even the clinic director said I should never have been allowed to do an intake for simply lortab and now I’ll have to suffer when I do taper down and detox.

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your advice and comments of encouragement on my post from the other day. I got my wisdom teeth extracted Tuesday and the recovery has been going better than I hoped. There is only minor swelling/bruising and minimal pain— During the day that is. During the day I’m able to take my pain medication and go on with life as normal without hardly any pain or discomfort. If there is pain, I take some ibuprofen or hydrocodone and it is usually gone within an hour or so. I’m able to get up, move around, talk, etc. However once night time comes around the pain gets excruciating and no medication seems to help at all. My cheeks are so swollen and in pain and I can’t rest at all because of them. I went all of last night without sleeping in pain and it looks like tonight is going to be another sleepless night too. Putting a damp rag on my face does relieve it some, but not so much I can lay down or shut my eyes. Icing it helped the first night, but my post-op instructions say to quit icing after the first 24 hours so I haven’t done that. I tried doing heat, but it just made my cheeks and jaw even more sore. I’m wondering what’s the science behind my recovery not being very painful during the day, versus very, /very/ painful at night. Whenever I do lay down I lay down with my head elevated per doctor’s orders, but even that is very uncomfortable so I try to not lay down at all whenever possible and have been just sitting up either in bed or at the kitchen counter surrounded by medication. This sucks because besides this, my recovery has been going super well and I’ve been super happy. I hate the pain that I feel at night, and I’m tired and I want to go bed but I just can’t. The sun rises and morning comes and I’m fine again, but whenever it’s bedtime something seems to just change for the worse. Any advice for relief? Is anyone else experiencing a major increase in pain at night? Thanks again so much! This sub has been a lifesaver and you all have been so amazing and extraordinary. 💖

I (24, f) got all four of my wisdom teeth removed on December 21. The consultation for the extraction was directly before they took them out and I brought up concerns of roots being close to nerve endings in my jaw. The oral surgeon looked in my mouth for 5 seconds, said that the roots were close to nerves but wasn't worried about any issues. No x-rays were taken at the office, they just used a printed copy taken two months ago from my dentist's office. The oral surgeon put an extra nerve block in my jaw (said it would last about 2-3 days) in addition to novocaine once they knocked me out.
I decided to go through with it since the wisdom teeth were giving me issues. My mouth, lips, teeth, gums, jaw, and tongue were numb as expected, but all medicine wore off by day two. Everywhere has regained feeling except for my teeth, gums, lip, jaw, and chin on the lower left hand side. It hurts to apply pressure (eat, brush teeth) on that side. It feels like I have little pins and needles or sometimes small pulling threads in that part of my mouth, which I have never experienced before. Temperatures of food and liquids are also super sensitive in that area now too, also something I haven't experienced before (cold foods and hot foods create a sharp, zinging feeling... even a spoon or metal utensil touching it hurts).
My family was taking Christmas pictures this morning and noticed that my smile was not lifting on the left side in every picture. They asked me to smile, frown, blow raspberries, and make other facial expressions that require both sides of the mouth, and the same stillness on the left hand side happened over and over. I tried doing the same thing in the mirror, hoping concentrating on the visual appearance of my face and its muscles would work, but there was still no movement. In addition, my speech is slightly altered since I cannot move that side of my mouth.
I am concerned that these symptoms are the possibility of nerve damage that I was trying to avoid. For more info, I stopped taking all pain medicine prescribed (hydrocodone/acetaminophen and ibuprofen) on Dec. 24. I don't have any pain except for the pins and needles/numbness in the bottom left lip/jaw/mouth.
Is it normal to have that sensation and lack of movement in one spot for this long? Is this something I should contact the oral surgeon's office about? Is there possible recovery for this? I am a woodwind musician by trade, and I am concerned that my skill and livelihood is now in jeopardy. Thanks for the guidance and help.
TL;DR: all four wisdom teeth were removed four(ish) days ago and I am unable to move and feel my lip, chin, jaw, teeth, and gums on the lower left side. Is this normal or signs of nerve damage?

Hi everyone! Thank you in advance for your help.
I (24, f) got all four of my wisdom teeth removed on Thursday, December 21. The consultation for the extraction was directly before they took them out and I brought up concerns of roots being close to nerve endings in my jaw. The oral surgeon looked in my mouth for 5 seconds, gave me (what I assume is) the generic rundown of the procedure. He said that the roots were close but wasn't worried about any issues with the nerves. No x-rays were taken at the office, as they just used a printed copy taken two months ago from my dentist's office. The oral surgeon said he would give an extra nerve block in my jaw (said it would last about 2-3 days) for pain management in addition to the novocaine shots once they knocked me out, since the roots were so close.
I decided to go through with the extraction since the wisdom teeth were giving me consistent issues. I woke up from the procedure and went home as expected. My mouth, lips, teeth, gums, jaw, and tongue were numb as expected, and wore off by day two. Since then, everywhere has regained feeling except for my teeth, gums, lip, jaw, and chin on the lower left hand side. It hurts to apply pressure (eat, brush teeth) on that side. It feels like I have little pins and needles or sometimes small pulling threads in that part of my mouth, which I have never experienced before. Temperatures of food and liquids are also super sensitive in that area now too, also something I have never experienced before (cold foods and hot foods create a sharp, zinging feeling). I am favoring my right side for eating and drinking.
My family was taking Christmas pictures this morning and noticed that my smile was not lifting on the left side in every picture. They asked me to smile, frown, blow raspberries, and make other facial expressions that require both sides of the mouth, and the same stillness on the left hand side happened over and over. I tried doing the same thing in the mirror, hoping concentrating on the visual appearance of my face and its muscles would work, but there was still no movement. In addition, my speech is slightly altered since I cannot move that side of my mouth.
I am concerned that these symptoms are the possibility of nerve damage that I was trying to avoid. For more info, I stopped taking all pain medicine prescribed (hydrocodone/acetaminophen and ibuprofen) yesterday morning. I do not have any pain except for the pins and needles/numbness in the bottom left lip/jaw/mouth.
Is it normal to have that sensation and lack of movement in one spot for this long? Is this something I should contact the oral surgeon's office about? Is there possible recovery for this? I am a woodwind musician by trade, and I am concerned that my skill - and in a sense, my career - is now in jeopardy. Thanks again for the guidance and help.
TL;DR: all four wisdom teeth were removed four(ish) days ago and I am unable to move and feel my lip, chin, jaw, teeth, and gums on the bottom left side of my jaw. Is this normal or is this nerve damage?