(more than) Me,Myself & I

Aware! Scary content, read by your own risk

I just had the first surgery ever in my life this afternoon. Although it’s just a minor one, I think that’ll be the one thing I can hardly forget.

I mistaken the appointment for 1pm where it’s actually 2pm. So I waited and waited. As I was waiting, I realized that the watch I just bought for not more than one month broke down. Ergh~ and I continue waiting feeling really sleepy after a meeting and a singing practice at the night before and one morning class. I thought I could just sleep when anesthetic is given to me. But….I really hate myself to use “BUTs” in such situations.

I entered the room. Room number seven. I hope it’s a lucky seven and nothing goes wrong. I was thinking what kind of dental surgeon I would get. Ideally, should be a handsome, well-built, experienced, skillful young dentist who can pull my tooth in less than half an hour (so that I don’t have to suffer). I do have a reason for all the criteria above, i.e. experienced and skillful so that he can judge well and do well, well-built so that he has the energy to do it if possible in a split second so that I suffer less, and finally, handsome so that he’s so pleasant to look at until I forget the pain.

BUT…everything went the other way. A young, petite, forth year (pursuing dentistry), Malay lady come into the room and ask me more than a dozen of questions. She asked and wrote until another dental student came in. Then, came in another Chinese male student (not handsome though), so my bubbles went “POP”

The male student looked like the most convincing though, but I wasn’t sure who would the surgeon be until she started to introduced herself. She asked more questions and her assistant wrote it down. You know, usually I’m a really cooperative person, especially when I hope to get out of that place ASAP.

BUT… I started to feel uncomfortable when another bunch of students come in and discuss about the structure of my teeth and ask each other questions. OMG, is this a group discussion for an assignment? They started to check on my teeth as if they were some antiques in a museum. I just hoped that the supervisor (the students’ lecturer) could come and save me. I don’t wana risk my life AHHHHHH~

It really felt like a century as minutes passed. The student then started to checked clinically on my teeth after I laid on the couch. She attempted to switch on the light so that she could see clearly. “click”…how come no light? “click” again… “the bulb might be burnt” said the student. So they asked two nurses. They gave some tips but it didn’t work. They then discuss whether to move to another room or not. Just then, a nurse came in with a technician. “Click”…no light. “Click” again…AHA~ there it is! “How come you guys didn’t switch this on?”
I began to confirm that my worry is more than reasonable. How come dental students don’t know how to use a simple equipment like that? I should have been running away from that horrible place.

Firstly, the informed consent was not properly carried out because I didn’t even know what the heck will be happening to me in a few more minutes. Instead, I asked the student, “So, later, you’re going to drill part of my jaw bone, then you’ll pull out my tooth and stitch it back? And you’ll give me anesthetic? How long will it last?” Gosh, I was so afraid I missed out anything until she told me about a nerve which was way below the tooth AND the interesting part is, the percentage of getting it numb, for the rest of my life is one percent. I immediately prayed. Please, I won’t be that lucky one percent.

Then, came the supervisor. I thought the supervisor can calm me BUT…
Her presence just totally ripped off my confidence towards those students. Well, I’ll be experiencing practical too in the later stages of my study but I can really list down the mistakes they done.

“Hey, how can you remove that (anesthetic syringe) with your bare hands? Don’t you know it’s sterile?” OK, I hope my immune system can withstand all the germs of the assistant’s hand.
Then, the supervisor asked if they’ve informed me about the operation and I answered as if I could score an A if I were in an exam except that the chance of getting numb jaw for the rest of my life is not one percent but TWO. Ok, statistics can change…and a small difference is acceptable for me. But my chance of not being able to function normally just increased by one percent when the supervisor was there. God bless me…

I nodded like a really good and kind patient while the “surgeon” and her assistant were washing their hands. Suddenly, the supervisor said something. “Don’t you know how to wash your hands properly? Do you know you should wash until your elbow?” Ok…that is very lack of general knowledge. Before that, the assistant was even scolded for wearing the mask upside down. “Don’t you know that you’ll trap germs like this?” Things happened until the supervisor said something like “Saya memang tak nak tegur kamu…saya tiada tenaga dah”. I was speechless but still managed to keep three words “ NO EYE SEE”.

As the supervisor kept asking the students questions, the situation just got worse and worse I felt like I was a white mice. “I’m a forth year student and this is my first time performing an oral surgery” (swallowing my saliva hardly).

So she started with the anesthetic. It was ok but the supervisor kept saying something like “I’m going home at four. It’s three something now so if you don’t hurry, you’ll do it yourself.” After that, they closed my face and body with two pieces of cloth and started the surgery. The supervisor kept asking them questions like who knows the answer to this, ten marks. There were times when the student didn’t know the answer and my worries geared up. Why don’t they ask more questions like “Ng, how do you feel?” I really regretted that I found my tooth to grow abnormally. I should have just pretended that nothing happened and live a normal life. To that, I just added three more words to my speechlessness “NO EAR HEAR”, especially during the part when the supervisor urged the student to be fast while she was trembling. She didn’t know in fact I was shaking an eighth level degree on a Ritcher scale.

All ended at four something. The happiest thing that ever happen to me today. I even took pictures. But now, my mouth and even the left part of my neck hurts like hell. I’ve taken a simple function like swallowing saliva for granted but now I know, I should have appreciated it.
I really don’t feel like doing anything whereas I should be working on my assignment. I got a 3-day MC but only plan to skip several classes. Tomorrow will be a another painful day…plus it’s still bleeding.

posted by Shan @ 9:01 PM