The Idea Of Burger Juices Dripping Off My Hands Is Almost Pornographic.

So its been three weeks and one day since I had the surgery and I have to say that I WAS NOT PREPARED and I am an impatient whinger.

All I thought about BEFORE I had this surgery was being brave enough to get it done. I spent the entire time just preparing myself to have the balls to do this awake and all alone in a foreign land. I just didn't really think past the "event" properly, I didn't even consider the stitches, or really anything other than it might hurt for a few days and then Id have my temporary dentures and Id be looking normal. Everyone I spoke to indicated that they were eating and smiling THE SAME DAY, so I went with that, I didn't stop and say "Well hang on, NONE of these people are having 25 teeth extracted AND implants placed", everyone I spoke to had only had the implants after years of traditional denture wearing,  no extractions or a couple. I was not able to find ANY PERSON ON THE PLANET to speak to who had as many teeth out all at once. I was too "event" focused.

As I have said I used Global Health Travel for my trip, and pretty much I figure the bulk of the medical tourism industry is made up of women wanting boob jobs, but I did not consider this before. So you get on their site, you read the testimonials you see the posts and you kind of get sucked into the "This is good, cheap, quick and the recovery time is short" type mentality, but dental work is certainly NOT a boob job, they are not even in the same ball park let alone the same league....I had too much emotional effort going into doing it I don't know if it was deliberate or not but I didn't even really spare the recovery a thought.

First thing I learnt was DO NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING LIKE THAT ON YOUR OWN! Yes I survived, yes it was clean and painless and done while under GA in the end, but the experience changed me and I'm not sure it was all good. When I recall the events of the first visit to Dr Sunil I panic. I get short of breath. The memory of that first ride from the hotel to the clinic is one I really would rather forget. Never in my life have I been so scared. NEVER EVER!!!! I had no one to hold my hand, no one to talk sense to me, no one to hug me and say they were there for me. I just had me and I am very unreliable....as far as I knew Id be having teeth ripped in less than an hour. I don't care if it sounds melodramatic but  that car ride really, for want of a better word, fucked me up, it was the most traumatic 30 minutes of my life and my life ain't been easy....a friend would have made it easier....Ill never recover from it. I am sure that fear will haunt me forever. It was intense.

So after it was done, I didn't die, I had my dentures, I wasn't in agonizing pain, I had no infections and I discovered Cream of Broccoli Soup I was on a high. The pain killers, antibiotics and anti swelling tablets may have contributed to my altered state of reality, but meh....it was fun while it lasted.

Then I came home, first the plane was crap, customs was crappier, the foot and leg swelling crappier still and the hospital well, OMG THE HOSPITAL (on that, an investigation has been initiated and I WILL let you know what happens), but worst of all guess who came to visit - REALITY. I really hate Reality, I wish it would curl up and die....painfully......

Anyway....

Second thing I learnt, the dentistry may be uber fast in Thailand but the recovery time is still the recovery time no matter what country you are in. My dreams of a beautiful smile are on hold pending dissolution of several  tens of stitches. I can't wear the dentures and so I cant eat real food unless I cut it into teeny tiny pieces. I cant talk properly, as you all now know my name is Susie i.e. worst name for someone with a dental surgery induced lisp and spends her working day on the telephone....The stitches are STILL THERE!!!! Yes, they are SLOWLY dissolving but its just not quick enough. They are fraying,  the knots that are left are twisting and digging into my gums, the strands of sutures are itching the shit out of me and until they go I cant wear the dentures....I AM GOING MAD!!!!!

Another driver for my insanity is HUNGER! Since I had my teeth out I have not vomited once, I haven't even felt like there was a remote possibility I might spew....this is a MIRACLE!!! As a result I am STARVING  I dream of a hamburger, a really juicy one with the lot, bacon, pineapple BBQ sauce BEETROOT....hmmmm, OMG I want a hamburger.....The idea of burger juices dripping off my hands is almost pornographic to me at the moment...For the last decade I haven't wanted to eat because Id throw it up, I had done everything to minimize the effects of Crohns and I was still unwell, it is clear to me now that I was so sick because of my teeth and now they are gone I will actually see the benefit of my efforts.

I need to remember that what I did was massive and I am only human and bodies take time to heal. Be patient and remember that doing the RIGHT thing and not smiting an immediate irritation is what I need to do.

This cost so much, it will get better.....stop being a whinger......

I now need to deal with a new type of humiliation but only for a few more weeks...I HOPE...

UPDATE

Today I met the burger in my fantasy. It wasn't mine to eat, I still cant eat anything like that, but it was mine to covet. The phallic pickle was just so symbolic. This burger is to a woman with no teeth as porn is to an impotent man.

I will return to masticate you one day, you naughty naughty burger......

Don't Get Too Excited. There Are No Before and After Shots Yet!

Im going to dedicate this post to photos, mainly because I haven't added any yet...

Don't get too excited there are no before and after shots yet, they will be saved until the permanent teeth are in...

Where to start?

This was the view from The Prime 11, where the Global Health Recovery Units are....

Not bad at all. Here are a couple of shots of the street its on, Sukhumvit, Soi 11....

Loved the Pop Up Bars!

Me being tough, holding snakes, cause that's just how I roll...

OK, so I was freaking out!

But I did it!

Wat Pho, I loved that place...

Wat Arun was cool, but you will see why I got sore legs! Such steep steps!

My Thai Boyfriend...I actually think he was a girl....well it was Thailand.....

The filthy river...

The housing....

I have lots more pictures but these are a snapshot of my time in Thailand...Thanks for following my journey! It seems I still have a fair way to go!

"I AM NOT REFUSING TREATMENT I AM REFUSING DRUGS!!!!"

And with the lights a flashing the ambulance arrives, very very quickly...well done Queensland Ambulance Service!

I explain to the paramedic, Hayden, that I had just got back from Thailand, I had swollen feet and legs and had developed a stabbing pain under my shoulder blade. I also explained to him I was prone to panic attacks and anxiety and that my husband had had a pulmonary embolism, so maybe I was freaking out, I also told him truthfully Id had a Jim Beam and Coke...

I said to him over and over I do not want to go to hospital, if you think I'm over reacting just say and Ill go to my GP. He said that my vital signs and risk factors meant that he felt I needed to go to hospital so I agreed.

Normally if someone offers me hospital grade, medical practitioner prescribed pain relief I'm in, but I have had enough needles, enough pain killers enough yucky jabs that I would rather the pain. I refused all offers of drugs by Hayden, I also refused a finger prick blood test to check my sugar level. I insisted NO NEEDLES, NO PAIN DRUGS.

We arrived at the hospital and this is where the insanity began.....

I must preface this by saying this is my side of the story, I have made a formal complaint for answers about the events at Logan Hospital in Brisbane Queensland last night, I will be sure to provide you with their explanation once I have received it......

"Bitch Nurse from Hell", who will hence forth be referred to as BNFH, came to me and asked me my name, so I told her, the ambulance must have called ahead and given my details as she then said, do you go by any other names, I have not changed my name with Medicare to my married name so I provided my maiden name details, along with my date of birth, address and phone number....BNFH left, only to return moments later and said, "What other names do you use?",

"None, that's my name, I'm sorry I don't have my Medicare card I haven't put all that stuff back in my wallet since returning from Thailand"..

They wheeled me out of a corridor and into a bay....

BNFH returns "Could you please tell me your real name"

"THAT IS MY REAL NAME!!! OMG!!! What are you talking about???"

Then I could NOT believe my ears....

"Stop lying to me, I nursed you here 3 or 4 days ago, you were asking for pain medication?", proclaimed BNFH.....

"I beg your PARDON????" I was yelling, "I WAS IN THAILAND THEN! I GOT OFF A PLANE YESTERDAY MORNING AT 8AM!!!!! YOU HAVE NEVER NURSED ME! I WAS IN THAILAND LOOK AT MY MOUTH!!!!

The horrid cow rolled her eyes at me , and sent in another nurse, a male one and again I was questioned about my identity - I had seen and heard BNFH talking to him...

I had luckily not removed my passport or boarding pass from the handbag I had, I showed the new nurse that...he said nothing...but did tell me I had been admitted to the hospital in December, which I HAD NOT, and that made me even more crazy!!!! I even called my husband to check I wasn't deluded, no I had not been admitted to Logan Hospital in December! The male nurse rolled his eyes!!!

I said why are you treating me like a drug addict? He responded with "No one said that, why would you get that idea?" my response "Because you are treating me like one, I have swollen feet a pain in my chest and I just got through 11 hours flying, I NEED AN XRAY AND A DR!"

BNFH then returns with needles and the such and I say to her, "No pain medication  no needles, I do not want medical intervention unless I NEED it" The stupid woman walks away and tells someone at the nurses station I am REFUSING TREATMENT!!!! I SCREAM AS LOUD AS I CAN "I AM NOT REFUSING TREATMENT I AM REFUSING DRUGS!!!!" WHY ARE YOU TREATING ME LIKE THIS? WHY ARE YOU QUESTIONING MY IDENTITY? WHEN WILL SOMEONE ACTUALLY LOOK AT MY SYMPTOMS!!!!!"

They just ignored me...Hayden the paramedic appeared, I asked him, have you heard what they are saying to me, he said he had and that he had already told them he felt it was inappropriate.

I told him to go and tell them I was leaving, to give me back my clothes and Ill go to a different hospital.....

He took too long, the sounds of the machines screaming when I disconnected myself drew one nurses attention, she found my clothes, I dressed and walked out, got a taxi and came home.....

I was brought to the hospital IN AN AMBULANCE, presenting with all the signs of DVT and a potential blood clot, I sat there for over an hour being questioned about my identity, being told I was there when I was in another country, having offensive insinuations thrown at me and I did not even have  a stethoscope put to my chest, let alone an x-ray, a blood test, or see a doctor, then they let me get up and walk out.....they didn't even try to stop me....

By the time I got home I was wild....The government wont help me with my dental and they sure as shit wont help me when I'm taken to a hospital in an emergency services vehicle....because that's how all druggo's get to hospital not people in a potentially life threatening situations....far out....I mean if I was seeking drugs they should have applauded me for the realistic immigration stamps and fake boarding pass in someone else's name with matching passport!!!....

Anyway.....

I was stubborn, but educated in by stubbornness  My husband had had a blood clot in his lung, in fact he has had three. The nature of the pain was NOT the same and no where near as bad. I went to my GP...it was a trapped nerve....so nothing to panic about....

BUT! That does not excuse for one millisecond the treatment I received at the hands of the Queensland Health as a result of the employees at Logan Hospital Emergency Department.

Hopefully you have been reading my blog and you would have read about the wonderful medical services I experienced in Bangkok. Now, people love to talk about how crappy and dirty and whatever they think it is like over there, but those people are wrong. The medical treatment I had over there was world class, not bullshit bogan class, wait like a cow to the slaughter and if you don't die before we believe who you are, its your lucky day so go buy a lottery ticket...

I am hurt, I am angry, I have lost all confidence in health care in this country.

It either costs so much it is an impossible dream ie dentistry, or so utterly crap if you are actually sick you will die in a corridor before they even take your temperature ie an emergency department.

In all fairness I will share their response to me when the investigation is complete.

In the mean time, watch out for me in the media....if I wasn't compelled to share my VERY positive experience with overseas medical treatment before I am now.

Ever Danced With The Devil In The Pale Moonlight?

My last night in Bangkok was a bit of a blur...

I think that maybe I started to feel a little too comfortable and possibly let my drink vigilance slide.

I had one Long Island Iced Tea and was feeling very happy, so I ordered another one, about a third of the way through I spotted a guy selling pretty light toys and tops, I HAD to have one so I asked the Aussie Dude Id been chatting to to watch my drink while I went and bought some.

Came back and drank a little bit more....then the weirdness started, first I dropped my bag, then I could barely see to pick up the contents, so I sat back down and drank a little more, then I saw stars...shooting stars with lots of pretty colours, I looked at my drink it was only half gone. Now I am an avid drinker and one and a half drinks does NOT make me drunk, even if they are Long Island Iced Teas, the room was spinning a little and when I realise I was singing along to a One Direction song, I knew something was up..

I decided to make a very swifty exit, I left my half finished drink and attempted to walk back to my hotel. The further I walked the harder it became, I was weaving and stumbling, but I was not thinking drunk just my body was all weirded out....then I fell....YAY!! Looking like a good Aussie Tourist....Two Thai men came running up to me and helped me get back up and even found some clean tissues to wipe up the blood. I was a few metres from my hotel so they made sure I got to the concierge and then left. I made it to my room and that was it, I woke up to my alarm the next morning  I'm so glad I remembered to set that alarm lest Id have missed my plane!

I'm not so sure what happened to me that night but it was odd, I'm thinking I may have had my drink messed with but it may just have been something else. Who knows. I survived and was not interfered with by anyone so if they did spike my drink it was an epic fail. I didn't even lose my lighter!

As per the always magnificent service, Dr Sunil's lovely driver was waiting for me at 9.30am to take me to the airport and so my journey home began.

My first flight, from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, was uneventful, short and sweet.

Kuala Lumpur Airport is nothing short of a shit hole. If you are lucky to find a western style toilet you are doing well and if its clean, doesn't have fluid on the floor, an over flowing bin and a strange smell consider yourself one in a million type lucky...the seats in the waiting area are so uncomfortable, the food choice are appalling, and that's being generous, oh and if you smoke, no need to light a cigarette just go into the non ventilated windowless smoking room, even a 2 pack a day Winfield Red Smoker's lungs would hurt upon entering! Just looking at it will probably give you lung cancer. It sucked.. My tip is avoid layovers in Malaysia if humanly possible.

The next thing you need to avoid are overnight flights...now that alone is a torture beyond hell unless you are sitting next to an Evangelical Christian returning from his latest "mission" who wants to "witness" to you and make sure you hear "the gospel as its meant to be heard", then you realise hell must get pretty deep.

I'm sure he would not have spoken to me had he not seen the book I was reading "The Last Testament of the Holy Bible" by James Frey....has saw the book and must have read a small bit over my shoulder an asked me if I was a Christian,  now I suggest you either google that book or read it, its great, its a fantastic atheist book....I told him the premise of the story and we discussed our views on religion, I was blunt and frank and he tried to convince me of idiotic things like the "Young Earth Theory" and "Noah's Ark" , I have to give him credit he knew the bible very very well and when I quoted a verse he always knew the book chapter and verse number, it was an interesting conversation with a very learned person. But he would not shut up, he kept on trying to convince me to come to his church, after about 3 hours I told him I had enjoyed the chat but it was sleep time....

And so we enter further into the bowels of hell....

I ask to purchase a pillow, it was "Air Asia - where nothing is included", they had none...WTF? No pillows, this was going to be fun. So after fitful micro-sleeps for about 4 hours on come the lights and then the pain sets in, There was no longer a comfortable way for me to sit in the seat...my whole body was hurting, my mouth was killing me, I was starving, I was so tired....I WANTED OFF.....but still had at least 3 hours to go....

There was also a guy who had the most disgusting hacking cough, he sounded like he was dying. Please people, if you have a cold and you are on a plane wear a face mask, PLEASE. It was gross and it makes others freak out about superbugs. There were people on that plane from Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Vietnam, China, Russia, UAE, India they could have anything!!!! In fact I suggest you wear a mask anyway.

To my great pleasure we arrived 35 minutes early and that first lungful of Australian air was sweet.

To my great displeasure, I was "The One" in customs, I did have Blue and Red Pills, both keep reality at bay, anyway, I had my bags searched, they were x rayed twice, I was sniffer dogged  it took almost 2 hours for me to get through, and I DECLARED I had drugs...WTF? They must have thought I was some type of really really stupid drug courier....even dumber than those idiots who stash pot in their boogie board covers and go to Bali!!!

Seeing my husband and kids again was fantastic, I missed them so badly and it was great to be back in their arms, even if I did look like a swamp monster....

And finally back to my house, and that was glorious, oh how I missed my home, my bed, my shower, MY DOG!!! The cat, yeah, well, not so much.....

Unpack, presents, photos, hugs and kisses - then the real pain hit me, my legs and feet were very very swollen, to the point that walking was too painful. I decided to elevate them and see what happened, naturally I goggled it and was reassured that this type of swelling is normal but to call an ambulance if I experience any chest pain. I felt no pain and fell asleep.

The next day I was still swollen and sore but not anywhere near as bad until about 5.30pm when I got a sharp stabbing pain under my shoulder blade, so I called the ambulance...

My vitals were such that I had to go to the hospital and I can barely believe what happened to me there...

I was about to discover there are even deeper caverns of hell and I was about to visit....

"Monkey Boxing", that's right, "Monkey Boxing"......

So now I had 3 more days to just enjoy Bangkok, maybe enjoy is not the right word, experience Bangkok may be a more appropriate term, not that I didn't love it there, I did, very very much..

I haven't really talked about the other amazing things I did and saw apart from the Floating Markets and The Lady Boys, but this was part medical treatment part holiday, and some of the things I saw blew my mind.

I also had the chance to go to Safari World, well, that place is one where you need to leave your Australian idea of animal ethics outside and accept that Thai people are different....

Firstly we saw "Monkey Boxing",that's right, "Monkey Boxing"......

They had Orangutans, my absolute favorite animal, dressed up, playing musical instruments  one was pretending to be a pole dancer !?!?!? and then having a boxing match...as much as I hate to admit it, it was entertaining, but I felt really bad watching it...That line from "Seinfeld" is very apt, Gross but strangely compelling.

We saw a seal show and an elephant show, I saw my first ever walrus, we feed some giraffes, I got chosen out of the crowd to kiss a dolphin, I got a kiss and a cuddle from an orangutan, I patted an elephant, and I held a baby tiger.

But the toughest thing I did was....I touched a BIRD!!!! Yes I did....it was too fast for a photo but I have witnesses to this event....I did this before my surgery, just to prove to myself I COULD DO ANYTHING!

I also visited Wat Pho, The Temple of the Reclining Buddha  and I found that place to be the most magical place I have ever been. The huge gold Buddha is a sight to behold, but the serenity and peace that is found in the secluded quiet gardens is beyond words, it was the most beautiful place I had ever sat, the surrounds and the energy were intoxicating. I visited there the day before my surgery and I dropped coins in the temple bowls and I was blessed by monks, it was so powerful I returned the morning of 29 January to say thank you.

I also visited Wat Arun, and got very sore legs as a result, but you must visit that place it so cool and old and I really liked it, you could feel the history. Nothing like Wat Pho, but still worth the sore legs and 50 baht.

I fell for the beggar bullshit pretty hard in the first few days then I decided to "Beggar Watch' instead of "People Watch", those people are making packets and they all seem to run to a dude every so often and give them loads of cash. Scammers. Dont get sucked in like me...thank you to a great Aussie Girl for helping me formulate a "Beggar Payment Plan", it saved me heaps!

The sex trade there is blatant and gross. I kind of thought I would feel that it was demeaning to the women but you know what, its not, its demeaning to the men. The dirty old western men. I don't really want to talk about it, it made me ashamed to be an Australian. It really did. And yes there were many many men with CHILDREN I do not believe were theirs... I did go and see  Ping Pong Show...and that is all Ill say...YUCK....but more disturbing were the offers of budgie and goldfish shows....I DON'T KNOW! DON'T ASK ME???? EEEEEWWWWWWW.....

Then of course there is the shopping, everything is cheap, and bargaining is fun, you will get lost and you will spend hours upon hours wandering the endless stalls...You can shop all day and get everything you want and still only spend a couple of hundred bucks, I'm talking 8 hours straight shopping!

Then there is the street food, the street stalls, the traffic, the tuk tuks, the scooters...its just an amazing place.

Not to mention the massages  I became a bit of a massage whore, but oh man, they were soooooo good and soooooo cheap...

There is also horrid poverty, disgusting pollution, stray dogs and cats by the thousands, not to mention the sex for sale and pickpockets.

My time in Bangkok has really changed me. It was confronting and scary but I triumphed and had an awesome time.

I got a tattoo to mark this adventure, it says "courage" in Thai....

I am so proud of myself.

"You Did It, Miss Susie Madam!!!"

I woke up early REALLY early, I think I did that deliberately so I could torment myself with fear and and thoughts of agonising pain for just a few more hours, suffice to say when my driver and two angels arrived to collect me I was a crying, sobbing, shaking mess.

I took 2 Xanax, it didn't do anything to calm me down. The trip to the hospital took a while, and I sat in silence with tears flowing sending prayers to the universe that I would be OK....I wanted my husband with me badly. I felt like such an idiot for trying to do this on my own....

Then we arrive at the hospital. 

At this stage I had two Guardian Angels with me Non, who was the dental implant assistant and Ruby. My beautiful Ruby, this woman has become my friend I will always owe her a great debt that I will never be able to repay. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for all that she did for me. I love that woman and she will always hold a special place in my heart. 

We are taken immediately to my room, and OH MY GOODNESS!!! I was confused for a second "Is this a 5 star hotel or is this a hospital?"

I had a room larger than my hotel room, 2 balconies one north facing one east facing, I was on the 12 floor, the views were great, It had a separate bathroom, a  sofa bed, a dining table, fridge, microwave and a big screen HDTV all included! The hospital was clean and the nurses were so cute, their uniforms were straight out of the 1950's right down to those crazy old fashioned nurse hats! I had no reservations about having the procedure done there. It crapped all over any hospital I had ever seen in Australia, hands down. You would panic going into an Aussie hospital if you were used to Thai ones!

While we were waiting to be taken to surgery 2 more of Dr Sunil's staff turned up to be with us. So there I was this stupid crying woman in a beautiful hospital with 4 people there to support me. Non and the other two nurses were there to assist in the surgery, Ruby was there to be my advocate.

They gave me my pre-op medication, Im thinking it was more Xanax because I was off with the fairies and the last thing I remember in that room was Ruby telling me that she would not leave my side and that when I woke up in recovery it would be her face that I would see first... 

I remember being in the theatre, them squirting something up my nose then giving me some gas.......

Then I saw Ruby smiling at me "YOU DID IT Miss Susie Madam! All done!"

Seeing her face was awesome...I didn't die on the table! They DID IT!!! Those ugly ugly things were out of my head forever, I was waiting for the pain to hit me....waiting.....waiting......blackout again....

I wake up back in my room, again, Ruby is there holding my hand smiling at me and all 3 of the other nurses were there too.

My face was swollen, swollen beyond all recognition, I looked like the elephant woman who had been beaten badly in a Muay Thai match, it was scary, big black bruising under my eyes and lips that were no longer recognisable as lips. Naturally if your skin is stretched almost to tearing point its uncomfortable but the actual dental work was fine, I just had over 20 teeth extracted and the implants put in and I had zero pain in my mouth and gums. In the end I did not need a bone graft or a sinus lift but I'm sure if I had the pain would have been the same and that is NOT THERE AT ALL.

Then the food came, this is one area where Australian Hospitals have it all over the Thai ones, and that's saying something, but the food was utter shit. They told me that I needed to eat something and gave me what they called "Rice Soup"..."Rice Soup' is the water that they use to boil rice in. I think I offended them when I told them I was not eating that and that I consider rice water to be garbage that should be poured down the sink and it is most certainly NOT food.  They fussed a bit but in 5 minutes I had chicken soup, much better....

Once my little support team were satisfied that I had eaten and that I was ok 3 of them left and Ruby stayed by my side.

I don't remember too much about the rest of the day, I remember being given more slop that should again just be thrown in the bin and not consumed by humans, Ruby understood, I asked her to try the food and she too thought is was crap warmed up pretending to be edible..so she asked what I would like. I wanted a hot Milo, so my Ruby hunted me down some Milo and began to make it then I saw she was about to use Soy Milk....OH NO.....I told Ruby I need cows milk and that there was no way I was having a Milo with Soy Milk, so off she goes, 10 minutes later she has returned with cows milk and Orange Juice, apparently I had been going on about orange juice too, I don't remember that.

Anything and everything I needed Ruby helped me with, she helped me go to the toilet, she helped be get some sleeping pills and she helped me get a nice fat shot of morphine, OK, so when they asked me what my pain level was I said 7 cause I knew it would get  me the good drugs, it was probably at 3, but who doesn't like being whacked on free hospital drugs...Ok, that was bad, but I had fun..

The morphine actually perked me up for a few hours and I had a wonderful time getting to know this lady who has given up 36 straight hours of her life to look after me, a complete stranger. Ruby and I shared lots of secrets and stories about out lives, she is from India and had an arranged marriage, so she got the third degree from me all about that...

When I was trying to go to sleep Ruby massaged my head, my hands my feet to help me fall asleep, I don't know how many hot Milo's she made me but it made her happy when I drank it, I think I am all Miloed out now...

I don't think she slept because every time I woke up she was by my side asking if I needed anything, she took me to the toilet and would not even let me flush it myself or tie up the hospital pants they make you wear when I was done. Your own mother would not have cared for you as well as this woman cared for me.

Morning came and if I thought I was swollen after the surgery well I learned that there was a whole other level of swollen that I had not been aware of. Now I was sore, I would not say pain but very very sore. 

Chicken soup and more Milo for breakfast, a visit from the doctor and at 1pm I was discharged. My face was so hideous that I wore a surgical mask to leave the hospital lest all the Thai kids who saw me would have nightmares about the big western lady monster they saw.

I was delivered back to my hotel into the hands of the GHT nurses...

The hardest scariest bit was done, I was swollen, drugged and tired but it was done....and through all the haze I was beginning to feel the joy rising in my soul.... 

Monday 28 January 2013 at 6.15pm

So the next few days were utterly crappy.

I was not in pain, not at all, and if Abe reckons it hurts more than a hang over he must get some pretty bad hangovers...but the swelling was nothing short of grotesque.

Those of you who know me have seen some of the facial swelling I get as a result of my chronic illness, they were minor league. My eyes were little slits, you could barely distinguish my cheeks from you nose, my lips looked like they were suffering the worlds worst case of collagen overload, it sucked, it sucked BIG TIME!

Loverly, the wonderful nurse from Global Health Travel, checked up on me a couple of times a day, she was available to me 24hrs a day and always answered my calls. The housekeeper, Leah, made me special fruit smoothies that were yummy and cold and just what I needed.

I'm one of those lucky people who can decide to go to sleep and when I am unwell its even easier, I basically did nothing between returning to the hotel on Friday until Monday night, except visit the dentist, which I did on Saturday night at 7pm...that type of appointment time is completely unheard of in Australia, well so is the patient collection from hotel and return for each appointment, and on Monday at 6pm.

And it so it was that Monday 28 January 2013, at 6.15pm I saw myself with beautiful teeth again....long time no see....

All I could think was "AHHHHHHH, Get them out! Get them out! It hurts!!!!!!!", all that came out was incoherent moaning and more tears,  then they put a mirror there.

And through the tears and the pain, I saw a new me....so guess what I did...cried even harder and almost choked on the bloody denture.

I was numb, what do I do? What do I say?

"Am I infected"...Dr Sunil responds with "No, you are healing well".....

OK.....I was spinning out.....

I was told not to wear the denture for at least 2 weeks, to try not to wear them at all if I can, and told me how to attach them, I was told to wash my mouth with salty water, and to come back in no less than 6 months to get the permanent teeth fixed....

OK...

He also told me we were done for this visit, that I didn't need to see him again until my next trip when I will need to be in Bangkok for at least 10 days......

OMG! Did he just say it was DONE for now???????

I think I said thank you about a hundred times....I couldn't think of anything else to say..

Back to the waiting room...I loved that waiting room, always full of Aussies, always happy to talk and always encouraging before you go in and proud of you when you come out, just like the staff and just like The Main Man Dr Sunil.

Given another X-ray to take home...then given he guarantee...and get this Aussie rip off dentists....

If anything goes wrong in the next 3 years the repairs are free....YES....3 years all work free of charge.....if anything goes wrong after that its 50% off.....YES...50% off FOREVER!!!!! Naturally, its on workmanship and hardware, so say, I move to Thailand and take up Muay Thai and get kicked in the head it wont apply, but how awesome is that?

Then I had to say "See you later" to Ruby...it wasn't Goodbye because I'm coming back in a few months, but still...that was sad, I did manage to go out and buy her some flowers and some Tim Tams, she mentioned she loves biscuits, I really didn't know what to say to her. So I did something really unusual well, not really....I cried....and so did Ruby....

Then Miss Wendy told me the driver was ready to take me back to my hotel, I didn't take my camera, I so wish I had a photo of Ruby and I....next time....

And that was it....

I went back to my hotel and just sat...I couldn't talk, it was hard to breathe, I could not believe that the scariest part of all of this was over...I didn't know what to do or say or think or feel, it was a moment of overwhelming emotion that we do not have a word, well none that I know.....

Dr Sunil told me I could have 1 cocktail to celebrate...Ok well I asked him and he said "Hmmmmm, maybe one"

So I did and I watched a movie and I ate Mashed Potato and Gravy...and then I remember thinking as I fell asleep "Tomorrow really is going to be a new day.....

I was starting to feel the adrenaline  the ugly teeth are gone the implants are in, I have no infections, I have my temporary teeth......

I think you may call it joyous bliss.

I slept well that night... the best I have in months.