I'm finally feeling better after my wisdom teeth ordeal. It was my first surgery, and I'm happy it's behind me. Now I just have to hope that I won't have to have surgery again for a long, long time. It was a miserable four days.

This will sound odd, but the worst aspect of the recovery wasn't the pain, although that wasn't slight. What was driving me crazy was not being able to exercise or eat solid food. Part of it was psychological I'm sure, but because I've been so active over the past few years, my body doesn't respond well to inactivity. I need to go for a run today, even if it's a short one. And after two days, I didn't want to think about eating milkshakes or applesauce or yogurt ever again. I would guess I've lost between 6 and 8 pounds since the surgery.

I'm fairly certain that I had dry sockets on the left and right side of my lower jaw. I went back to the surgeon yesterday because of throbbing pain in my lower jaw, and after he stuffed the empty sockets with medicated gauze (the usual treatment for dry sockets), the pain all but disappeared. Tomorrow I have to have the gauze removed, and I'm hoping that I won't have to start back from square one.

My lower jaw and lip are still slightly numb, so I'm guessing a nerve was disturbed while the teeth were being extracted. However, I'm not worried because I've read that if it is a "tingly" and/or "itchy" numbness, it's most likely not permanent.

So, back to normal life I return.