2011-04-19

Out cold

My dentist was a bit concerned about the state of my gums and referred me to a specialist, so I turned up at Södersjukhuset expecting to be poked and peeked at a bit. And so I was. The specialist had a look and then explained to me in a comforting Southern Swedish accent:
This looks like typical lichen planus. Shouldn’t be any problem at all, usually disappears on its own, but just to make sure of the diagnosis I’d like to take a tissue sample. I’ll make an incision and stitch it up afterwards. Ah, this looks like a good spot. OK?
He procures a syringe with anæsthetic and proceeds to jab me inside the cheek with it. Ouch! Then he turns towards his compre re re Re Re Re su s s s s s s s s re RY RY RY RY RY. I can’t make sense of my senses, I struggle to think a coherent thought, any at all, while at the same time I somehow observe that I’m not able to. What is happening to me? Finally my mind coalesces.
Oh, hi there. You fainted there for a bit. No worries, happens quite often when you’re stressed, vasodilation causes low blood pressure and you go out. Just lean back and rest.
It takes a minute or two before I have regained enough control to be able to speak. What happened? I’ve never fainted before. Have I become sensitive to the anæsthetic, or was I more spooked at getting cut than I realised myself? After a while I can start moving my hands, but I’m weak and jittery all over. I run diagnostics, counting backwards from 100 by threes. Seems to work. Reading the labels on the bottle of antiseptic. Works, even identifying the languages. (A faint worry that my recollection of the true values might not be correct, but the results seem reasonable.) Still, I’m feeling nauseous and eventually ask for the head end to be raised a bit. The dentist continues calming me down and decides that we will not proceed with the procedure in my current state, but I’m welcome to have a lie-down on a bed. Eventually my legs feel like I can move under my own power and I am escorted to a hospital bed where I doze off for a while. About two hours after arriving I finally feel like all parts are in place again.

I get a time for a new appointment in a couple of weeks.

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