Our youngest girl had dental surgery yesterday. (By the way, that outfit on the baby doll belonged to her baby brother at one time). Early in the morning I took Jack out to stay with Nanny, and Papaw loaded up in the back of the car beside a very nervous little girl. We headed down to the children's hospital and went through admitting, and before long we were in a room. Her vitals looked great, although she was scared of having her blood pressure taken and wearing the pulse oximeter.
Before long they came and gave her Versed (or happy juice as they called it). She thought they'd said they were bringing apple juice, so she was a little disappointed when they showed up with the medication, lol. It took about 10 minutes for the happy juice to kick in, at which time they took us all upstairs. She was absolutely delighted by the fact that they wheeled her whole hospital crib onto the elevator.
My mom had sent her a present to occupy her, which turned out to be a little diary and pen set. She was feeling pretty darn relaxed by this point, so she was content to sit and draw me "a lovely rose". My dad was so attentive and loving with her, and quick to introduce himself as Papaw to every medical or dental professional who stopped by to talk with us. Of course he loves all our kids, but he tends to pay extra attention to Daisy because he's afraid that as the middle child she'll feel left out. Of course she's one of the cutest kids I've ever known, so there's not much chance of that happening!
After a while they wheeled her back and sent us to the surgical waiting lounge, and Dad went down to the cafeteria and bought breakfast for me and him. Because she was too frightened at her office visit to really let him do a thorough examination, the dentist was kind of guessing at what would need to be done. After about 45 minutes he called the lounge to speak to me, and it turned out that they needed to do work on 4 teeth they hadn't planned on touching. The only other option was to just pull them, definitely not the ideal solution because not only did they need to be there to maintain the shape of her dentition, but they were also her four upper front teeth!
There was also a financial issue - obviously there would be a charge to do this unanticipated work. But I really felt that we needed to get it all fixed, so I told him to go ahead and restore them and we would come up with the money somehow.
About an hour later he came out to let us know he was finished. He said that everything had gone well, and that she had done just great. And happily, there were a few teeth he had thought would have to be repaired that didn't need work after all, so it looks like rather than owing him more money, we may actually have some coming back to us! All in all though, it was still a lot of work - 3 pulpotomies and 10 crowns! And of course fillings under all the crowns.
We went back down to her room at this point to wait for them to bring her back from recovery. After about 45 minutes they wheeled her in, but she was sound asleep, although they did say she had come out of anesthesia before she fell asleep. By this time Robert had come by to see her.
They had warned us that she might be combative when she woke up, but that wasn't really our experience. She kept touching her teeth, especially the front ones because the crowns made them a little thicker, but mostly she was just tired and a little discontent. By the time we got to leave though she was happy to have a ride down in a wheelchair with a grape Popsicle in her hand.
My mom brought Jack back to our house along with a big pan of baked spaghetti for our dinner. Daisy has done great with pain management. She cried a little when Morgan helped her brush her teeth before bed, so we gave her the Tylenol with Codeine they prescribed, but she's only had to have it once since then. Today she got a Get Well card in the mail from an older couple at church and was over the moon excited. :)
Anyway, I'm so glad it's done!
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3 comments:
Glad to hear she's doing well after that! I could not imagine the pain for a child like that. I hate dental surgeries! I've had a few, and for a child - oh breaks my heart.
I know one of my gils will need a lot of work done soon, I hope she can do as well - only needing the tylenol with codine once? awesome!
Isn't it funny how much they love getting mail? Mine grabs it each day when she gets off the bus hoping there is something in there for her.
Take care!
So happy to hear this happened sooner rather than later and they she will soon be feeling better.
I worked on a pediatric floor as an RN, and sent numerous children to surgery. The majority of these surgeries were considered "minor". Many they do in out patient basis now. Anyway... I emphasized things such as "nothing by mouth" and told parents that it could cause serious problems in surgery if they didn't follow the rule. Other than that, I just really didn't worry too much. I felt sure that everything would be ok. Then was the day that I had a child going to surgery for a "minor" proceedure. As I signed the consent form, I felt that overwhelming concern for my child's welfare. It surprised me. why do I tell you this? Because I want you to know that I know that feeling. I know what it's like to be a mom, worring over her child going to surgery, worring about how she would do in recovery, and knowing how you wish you could feel her pain for her. I am so glad that your little one didn't have any complications. You are a good parent to be strong and have her go through this to prevent more problems later. I will pray that she will continue to recover quickly and easily, and that she will have better health because of it. I will pray that God will bless you and your family with all that you need, as you sacrificed for her to be healthier. The world needs more parents like y'all. God bless you and yours, -Belle L.
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