On a cold January morning you could find me doing the thing you least thought of. I was sitting on my kitchen floor eating everything I could. I could feel myself getting full of food like a car getting full on gasoline. 15 minutes after I had started eating, my mother came down to the kitchen.

“It’s time,” my mom proclaimed. I took a glass from the counter and filled it up with water. She handed me the pills and I swallowed them in one big gulp. Now it was final, I couldn’t eat for a full 12 hours. How was I going to last? Would I be able to make it until tomorrow? My teeth chattered at the thought that tomorrow I would have my wisdom teeth pulled out. I went to bed, but little did I know that it would be my last time sleeping comfortably for a long time.

I went to the doctor and same as the day before, I took more pills. I saw a girl come out from behind the doors and she didn’t look fine. Her cheeks were as big as marshmallows and a nurse was holding her by her sides so she wouldn’t fall. This is what I’ll look like in 6 hours, I reminded myself. My parents and I went to a small office, when we entered the room; a nurse also came in and shut the door behind her.

“Her neck is going to be sore after the surgery and she is not going to be able to eat solid foods.” the nurse informed us as she took a look at my x-rays. “It’s time for you to go,” the nurse insisted as she gave me a blue gown and more pills to take. She took me to the bathroom and made me change into the blue gown. Using it I felt like an old woman at a hospital. After that, the nurse gave me water to drink the pills and she took me to the surgery room. Before I even got there, I could feel a droplet of sweat drizzling across my cheek.
Everywhere I looked I saw a type of machine with a spiky end. “Go ahead and lie down on the bed” the doctor stated and I did as I was told. The doctor put a tube in my mouth and said that it was a tube for the anesthesia. He turned it on and I started to smell something really weird. I started to feel ants in my mouth and then on my arms and legs. Then, I felt like I was on a very big Ferris wheel that never stopped. All of a sudden, I saw black and I knew that the surgery was about to start.
“Saida, Saida,” one nurse sang.

“No that’s not her name,” the other retorted. I opened my eyes.

“See, I told you it was” the first nurse responded. I couldn’t feel my mouth as I tried to say something. I couldn’t even feel my lips or my cheeks. I opened my eyes and I saw that I was in a completely different room than I had remembered. I had needles stuck to my arms and they led to a weird looking machine. A nurse moved me from the surgery bed to another one and took me to another room. In the new room that I was in, I could see my family watching me, and my little brother making disgusted faces at me. The next thing I knew was that I was dreaming again. The sound of my mother praying the rosary woke me up. I pointed to my hand so she would tell me the time.

“It’s 4 o’clock,” my mother said. I had been in the doctors’ since 8 in the morning so that had to mean that I had been at the doctor’s a total of 8 hours. “I have been here since the surgery started and I haven’t eaten anything.” My mom said. “Are you feeling okay?”

I managed to nod my head. On the way home, I saw myself in the mirror and almost cried. My face looked horrible! I had some type of tape all around my face and a blue strap around my head.
Will I look like this when I get to school? I thought as I touched my cheeks that were as huge as a chipmunk’s.
When got home, I went straight to my bed. I slept for another hour and then my mom brought me soup to eat because I wouldn’t be able to chew until one week after the surgery.
“Open your mouth,” insisted my mother. “I can’t get the food in.”
“I can’t!” I argued. My mouth was very numb because of the surgery and I couldn’t feel half of my face. Later that night, it was time to go to bed. The position in which I had to sleep was really uncomfortable. I had to have 4 pillows on my back so I wouldn’t turn over. It was the worst thing that I had experienced in my life! When I woke up the next day, my neck hurt a lot and I had back pain.

“There’s someone at the door here to see you!” shouted my mother from downstairs.

“You can’t walk alone, remember!” said my brother worried as he saw me trying to walk towards my door. He put my hands on his shoulders and took me downstairs. I opened the door and saw Sophie.

“Hey!” I said eagerly. It had been such a long time since I saw my friends and now one of them was here!
“I brought you ice cream so you can feel better.” she said to me. I put some ice cream on a plate and I started eating it. “This is amazing!” I said as I stuffed more and more into my mouth. It was fun eating ice cream but the worst thing was yet to come. I had to sleep, again. The next day, Marifer came to my house and gave me ice cream and a balloon. The first thing I did with the balloon was put it beside my bed and then, I then served ice cream on a plate and ate most of it with my brother while we were watching TV. My eyes beamed with joy that night as I thought, Wow, I am pretty lucky to have these friends. I didn’t care about sleeping uncomfortably that night because I realized that this would have needed to happen sooner or later and with my friend’s support, suddenly everything felt much better.

After the surgery I wished something I never imagined, I would wish for in my life. I wished to be able to brush my teeth. Before the surgery, I only brushed my teeth when my parents told me to but after the surgery, I realized that I wanted what I had before. I wanted to be able to brush my teeth easily and not pay attention to where I brushed. I could only eat food cut into tiny pieces and it was difficult to chew. 3 weeks after the surgery I was still struggling to eat and it was the time that I learned my lesson. The lesson was not only about teeth but also about life; it was to appreciate what I have. When I was recovering from the surgery, it was difficult for me to talk so I chose not to. This taught me to really listen to what others are saying and take their words into consideration. I have lived my life differently ever since the surgery by listening to what others are saying and appreciating what I have.