To put people at ease

I know most people say this, and it might not help (it did not help me), but the anxiety is certainly the worst part about getting your wisdom teeth out. I was not anxious about the procedure/pain itself but the nitrous oxide and anesthesia, as I really hate feeling out of control. I’m not sure if the mask wasn’t on properly or what, but I did not feel the nitrous at all and all I could focus on was my rapid heart rate beeping loudly as the nurse and I waited for the surgeon to come in - she was super nice and assured me it was normal to be so nervous, and she tried her best to talk about other things and keep my mind off it. The surgeon did the same when he came in and I admitted I was freaking out. They talked about my interests, put the IV in so quickly while talking to me about me going to grad school in the fall, and the last thing I remembered was the nurse showing me a mouth guard. I woke up mid-sentence saying the gauze was choking me (which was the most uncomfortable part - I wasn’t choking, but the roof of my mouth was so dry and numb that the gauze was making me gag). The moment I realized that I was awake and it was over, I was completely lucid and aware of what was happening. I was certainly somewhat out of it and panicking slightly about the numbness and had to drink (then spit out) water in the parking lot, but I was completely okay otherwise. I had some discomfort in the following days, but I had impacted teeth so only one actually grew in, but they all felt entirely healed at the surface level within a week. I’m two weeks post-op now and I cannot see any evidence of the surgery - I still feel a tiny bit of soreness every once in a while, but I stopped needing pain meds after a week. I only needed the high strength ibuprofen alternating with Tylenol for a week, and even then it was just to be sure I wasn’t feeling true pain but only mild discomfort. I know this isn’t everyone’s experience, but I hope I can provide some comfort as someone who was truly haunted by this for months if not years coming up to this surgery. It is so routine and common, and it was purely waiting that hurt me.