So this morning we left the house at 7:30 am and headed into New York to get blood work and a physical done for E (three-yer-old). In our county we do not have a hospital so we usually travel into New York if we are in need of such an establishment. Sadly we have to use the hospital to have dental work done on E.
This all started this summer when I took K in for his regular check up and E for his first time at the dentist. K went first and came out the dentist said he has beautiful teeth and enough room for the adult teeth. I was beaming and relieved. I went with E, he sat on my lap in the dentists chair and what I saw on her flat screen TV was horrific. My lovely little middle son, with the deep brown eyes you melt into, eyelashes longer then should be legal and the most cuddliest son of three has HUGE holes in his teeth, chunks missing off sides of teeth. I felt a pit in my stomach, I felt queasy, heartbroken and like I failed my son. Yes, he owns a toothbrush and we use it daily with toothpaste. True E is more defiant then his brother ever was which makes for let's say a more interesting teeth brushing experience. He does not go down with juice, or a bottle but we do allow him to have a sippy of water next to his bed. All this rushing through my head I get a referral to the pediatric dentist because our dentist believes he would be less traumatized to be under general anesthesia to have the work done. GENERAL ANESTHESIA. I felt like I was about to lose the contents of my stomach.
I go home, call this pediatric dentist who could not get E in for another month. We set a date and wait as I watch my child's teeth rotting out of his mouth. I swear daily it looked like his teeth were getting worse but it could also be because I am a hypochondriac with the tendency to be melodramatic (well K comes by it honestly). We finally make it to that appointment and can I tell you I saw the man's mouth moving, but I hardly remember anything he said beyond; hospital, general anesthesia, crowns, caps, worse case baby root canal, 3 hours... I started tearing up, but did not want to freak my kid out so I did my best to act like a big girl instead of this sniveling ninny. The dentist said we could go elsewhere for second opinion (but I figure we got the same story from our dentist before we even got there so why go for yet another opinion). We agree to get on their list for dental work done in the hospital. They only do this once a month and only 2 kids get seen in one day. We get set for December 10th, that is our big day the day that I will probably be unable to eat (good because I can tell E I will forgo food until he is able to eat since he has to fast after midnight), I will cry myself to sleep the night before and have a permanent lump in my throat that will last a week.
The pediatric dentist has a phenomenal staff, they are sweet, and I can call them whenever I need to or ask any questions without getting the feeling that I am putting them out. They called my medical insurance to get a physical copy of an approval for coverage of the hospital and anesthesia. I have to say the medical insurance is a trip, when I called I was told that while there is nothing saying they will cover that, there is also nothing saying they would not cover the hospital and anesthesia. Let me just say for the record I had looked on-line at the benefits package to see what was covered and what was not and besides being pretty friggin' vague I was surprised to see that they DO cover sex change operations. I just want to get my baby's teeth fixed!
Today we had to go have blood work, urinalysis and a physical done because it is a week before the dental date. E was brave, he was such a big boy. We got to our blood work appointment and I went to do all the signing of ones life away that you have to do in these events. I get sent over to the blood work window and they hand me a urine specimen bottle and tell me the will draw his blood in a few minutes. I turn around and mister and E are no where to be seen. I walk into the other waiting room...nothing...I walk out of the door, down the hallway to look outside to see if they are by the truck...nothing. I walk back in, down the hall, into the office and I do not see them. I walk into the blood draw waiting room and finally I see them coming towards me. I told mister I had been looking all over for them, and he said they were in the bathroom, E had to go potty. Yes, mister took him to the bathroom and E went potty without getting a, ummm, sample. I handed him the specimen cup and said you will have to get a sample from him. We spent the next 10 minutes convincing E to drink his juice and the water from the bottled water dispenser. Then mister took E back into the bathroom and they were in there a while. The phlebotomist called E's name and I said that they were in the bathroom and decided to knock. Mister got him to pee in the bottle! He said he ran the sink and E peed, very little so they better be super careful and not spill. The blood draw was a little less exciting, mister restrained Evan as instructed and E barely cried, there were no tears. He got a sucker for being so good yes I thought that too...bad teeth, should he really be eating a sucker? Considering what an eventful appointment this was and we had one more to get through I could not see the harm. We answered a bunch of questions on family history and hopped into the truck to get to the doctors office because E had to have a physical from a doctor, not our pediatrician. The doctor visit went quickly and 2 weigh-ins, 2 height checks, 2 blood pressure readings and pulse checks later we got to go home and have lunch. The only thing left is to keep E healthy until next Friday, because he cannot undergo the dental work if he has a cold. This is easier said then done,
To Be Continued...
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