Teeth again….. Aaaahhhhhh!!!

OK so it has been a while since I last posted on here. This post will be dedicated to my friend Shawn Hunley and to all my friends and fans on YouTube. If you were not referred to here from the YouTube link, here is a link and please CHECK IT OUT!!! Draining My Face IN HD #2! and here it is embedded

 

 

For all of my fans that was not able to read through the mess that is my chat log in reverse order here is the list of events for my dental event from last year.

In March 2009, I began having severe tooth pain and I called many dental offices to see about having it extracted. The thing is.. I did not have insurance at that time. I finally called a company called DentalWorks, where the lady on the phone assured me that they would be able to extract the wisdom tooth that was causing the problems.

Upon arrival I was greeted and promptly taken back to be examined. I went through excruciating pain as I had to bite down on the plates for the X-Rays to be taken. Finally the dentist came in and after looking told me that he would not be able to extract the tooth and that I would need to go to see an oral surgeon. After being seen I had to pay the office visit charge although nothing was done except for writing a referral and two prescriptions (antibiotics, and pain reliever).

After this visit and the costs I did not have the money to be able to go to the oral surgeon, the cost was going to be over $500 and that was more than one weeks wages for me. The antibiotics helped with the infection and the pain subsided. Unfortunately, I would have future flare-ups of the pain in the coming months. Finally, in August the worst case scenario came true. Over a weekend the pain began, I still not having insurance went to the E.R., for treatment and was prescribed antibiotics and pain medicine for the third time in one year. My partner’s grandmother set-up an appointment with her oral surgeon and had a payment plan made to get the one tooth extracted.

As the week progressed, my mouth began to hurt more and more. My face began swelling and it was hard to open my mouth. I was in tears because the pain was so bad. On Thursday afternoon, my partner and I was out and about and I got a Wendy’s Jr. Cheeseburger…. NO BUN.. No Toppings.. Meat and Cheese only. I took a fork and cut it into little pieces and with the infection and swelling so bad I could barely squeeze it between my teeth. At this point with the horrible pain, I began calling the oral surgeon to see if there was an earlier appointment or anything that could be done.

At this point they referred me to the dentist that I had visited before, who then told me that there was nothing that they could do with out me having another exam and paying another office visit fee. I obviously did not have the money for that, I was now unemployed. I then proceeded to return to the E.R. at Dublin Methodist Hospital where I was immediately taken back for examination. The doctor on duty in the ER had some tests done and came back to inform me that he was going to be able to correct the situation, however I would not be allowed to leave.

Over the following 4 days I had many tests including several CT scans, and two surgeries. The first surgery was to extract the wisdom tooth. The anesthesiologist was afraid that if they used the usual anesthesia that I would not be able to breathe and they might loose me on the table. They decided to use a drug called Ketamine also referred to as Special “K” and which is similar to LSD. It is given in doses called “bumps” the last thing I remember was the surgical assistants wrapping me in warm blankets since the OR was so cold and then they strapped me in. I awoke in my room in recovery, and the first thing I asked was where my partner Nick(Pickles) was.

This video which I just uploaded… was taken after the first surgery… I was really out of it, and it is a cell phone video so poor quality but for those who know me.. its rather entertaining.

 

The following day I began to get better and on Sunday I took a turn for the worse. Infection had set in and my head began swelling. The pain was so bad, I could not handle it. I was given Dilaudid, which is a Hydromorphone or strong Morphine derivative, and it had little to no effect on the pain. The nurses called the doctor who in turn called in the surgical assistants and set-up the OR for emergency surgery. This time it was an I&D or Incision and Drainage.

I was running a temperature of over 104 degrees, and my blood pressure was very high as well. After the surgery I was placed in ICU for monitoring. Well actually it was E-ICU, not only was I in an ICU room, I was being monitored by another local hospital’s ICU via a Webcam, monitor and tower. The doctor was not thinking that I was going to make it through this situation, and told my partner and mother that I was running the risk of losing my airway and that I might have to have a Tracheotomy to allow me to breathe. In order to get the temperature to come down there was a machine placed in the room that was filled with Ice and connected to a special bed mat, it continuously pushed the ice through the mat to cool me down. In addition to that there were icepacks placed over most of my body to reduce the temperature.

I remember Dr. Karanfilov telling me that he would have to place a drain in my face to drain the infection out, and the next thing I could feel was the sting of a needle several times around the incision. This was him numbing the area before placing the drain into the incision. The drain lasted for a few hours before the infection finally pushed it out. There was a foul odor from the infection as it drained. I remember as I awoke I did not know what had happened but I could smell the lingering stench.

While Dr. Karanfilov was performing the surgery, he took a swab of the infectious puss that came out and placed it on a Petri dish and allowed it to incubate. While it was incubating he told my partner that it grew rapidly and covered the whole dish within a small amount of time. The preliminary diagnosis was Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA however the infectionist doctor came in and said that it was not. The only drug that was able to weaken the strain was I believe Vancomycin. I was placed on Augmentin and Percocet upon discharge with a follow up appointment in one week with Dr. Karanfilov.

For many who watch the video some might say that I should not be doing what I was doing, however, it was merely doctors instructions, and since I was limiting my contact with outside people the video was my best way for them to be able to see what had happened. The video was only originally intended for my blog and friends/family however in September 2009 someone found it and posted it on another website called PopThatZit.com and it has driven the hits and popularity of the video. The original with music currently is nearing 100,000 views and the other that I posted in response to the dislike for the music has nearly 60,000 views.

At this point, just over one year later, the incision has healed and looks only like a dimple. A $350 dimple at that… although the doctor was very reasonable with the charges, and I thank him greatly for saving my life.

Tomorrow, August 24, 2010 I will go to the Oral Surgeon for the extraction of my three remaining wisdom teeth and one baby tooth. For my sake and the sake of my family and friends, I hope that all is well with the outcome of the surgery, although I do miss my stay at the Dublin Methodist Hotel… oops Hospital..

 

Thanks for reading my friends and I will post more info if there happens to be any more problems with my surgery. Also if interested you can follow me on Facebook.

 

Brian