Monday, January 25, 2010

Illness abounds

It's been almost one week since the fateful wisdom teeth removal, and my Jan Michael is as sick as I've ever seen him. I'm sad to report that oral surgery and a cold, even the very beginning of one, do not mix. In fact, they collide violently to create the perfect, raging storm of misery and vexation.

His cheeks are yellow and bruised; because of the wreck in his mouth, the details of which are too graphic for the sensitive reader, he has eaten only a few pudding cups and the occasional bowl of mashed potatoes in 7 days; he is weak and tottery; he alternates between being unable to breathe and having to use Kleenex by the dozens; sleep evades him, except for an hour or two in the early morning; when he speaks, he sounds like a croaking toad.

And while I hate to see him in such an awful state, it makes me so thankful that for the most part, we are both very healthy, robust kids who've never had to deal with anything more earth-shattering than a bad stomach flu or sprained ankle. There are so many people in the world who are chronically or terminally ill, who live with suffering and pain for months and years on end. There are people in places like Haiti who are having limbs removed in the middle of the street, and who have no homes in which to heal and recover. My goodness, the amount of inconvenience and hardship we experience is just a minute drop in the bucket, if that, and I'm grateful for the help we're given to put things in perspective.

But you can bet that neither of us will ever have any kind of surgery without an immune system that's in tip-top shape to begin with :)

3 comments:

Jen said...

Wowsers. For the brusing to be that bold a week later is quite the thing! Those puppies must have been in there somethin' fierce!! I know your pain, my friend. Literally. I was in for a regular check-up and he wanted to re-do one of the fillings in my wisdom teeth (long story) so I made a new appointment. He looked and poked and prodded and then said, "Let's pull 'em." Before I could shriek out in terror, he was injecting my gums and yanking away. It was annoying. I think I remember trying to punch myself so that I could say I was "knocked out" for the procedure, but the dumb assistant kept intervening. I was NOT impressed.

So, rest up, get well soon and milk it for all it's worth when it comes to wifey cooking your favorite meals (or soups). :)

Carmen said...

I hope you get better soooooooon Juan Miguel!!!!

Jan Michael said...

thanks Jen and Carmen,

wow that sounds terrible Jen! :(

I'm really glad that i was out of it for the procedure. I wish I could eat good foods that Hilary makes, but so far all I've been able to eat is jello and pudding... The taste of wounds healing in my mouth is horrid.