Monday, February 18, 2008

I'm sitting here looking at two prescriptions, one for antibiotics and one for pain relief.

Neither one is for me. They are for Em, who will be having oral surgery on Wednesday.

She has one tooth that is refusing to come down and that is holding up progress with her braces. So the doctor dude will cut (*shudder*) into her gums (*shudder*) and maybe through some bone (*shudder*) and attach a chain to the tooth (*shudder*) that the orthodontist will use to pull (*shudder*) the tooth down. Ick!

I am a dent-o-phobe. When i was little and my dad was in the military we had some barbaric dental care. What does one do when one graduates last in one's class in dental school? One joins the military. I can barely stand to have my teeth cleaned. It's all i can do not to slap the hygenist.

So who is the idiot that opened her mouth at the ortho dentist dude's office and asked if maybe Em should have her wisdom teeth out while she's under?

That would be me.

She is having the tooth chain thing AND all four of her wisdom teeth out on Wednesday. It's a good idea because....there's no room for them in her mouth....she's young and will heal fast....they haven't developed roots yet.....blah blah blah.

I can barely stand the idea of my baby in surgery. At the appointment Em says, "Mommy you are more nervous than i am." True.

So i will be on milkshake duty Wednesday.

I wonder if the doctor would prescribe pain killers for me.

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh.. Poor lambs.. You AND Em.. I have been through this with both of my kids and it was harder on me both times. Many of my friends kids did not have their wisdom teeth out before braces and had trouble later.. Good call.. Get her a milkshake to spoonfeed her on the way home so she can take the meds asap without stomach upset.. Positive imaging for you. Riley.

QT said...

Ugh. My sister had the chain thing. Prepare yourself....perhaps you will have to rely on liquid painkillers.

Anonymous said...

poor sweet girl has no idea what her cheeks will look like afterwards! I hope you can get good pain meds for her.

tt said...

I had the same thing when I was younger. Only I had the wisdom teeth pulled the day after I graduated H.S. I didn't have enough room for all those teeth either...probably cuz I had to have room to 'run my mouth'....it still hasn't stopped. ;)
Yummy...milkshakes!
Better get you one too. It'll help your tummy too.
Such the good mommy you are!!!

flutter said...

I don't know babe, does the dentist have the ability to rx tranq darts? ;)

she'll come through roses, and so will you.

Mrs. Chili said...

Meno, no lie; I have to be SEDATED to even have my teeth cleaned. SED-DATE-ED. I found a dental anesthesiologist and I'm in love with him. I told him that if he ever retires, he'd better have trained a damned good replacement.

You really will be fine - both of you - it's just gonna suck for a while...

TTQ said...

Ha! I broke a tooth next to a wisdom tooth Thursday. So I'm on antiboitics and pain meds too. The wisdom teeth are coming out this year too. ugh

thailandchani said...

Ugh! Sounds dreadful!

Bob said...

the LAST thing I'm going to do is to relate woeful tales. You are right, she is young and will heal fast. At least SHE will have sedation and pain meds. You will have to be brave.

I have faith you both will come through this with flying colors.

Girlplustwo said...

i hate the dentist. poor em. poor you.

Anonymous said...

Can you get the prescrips filled before the dentist does the work? It sure is miserable waiting 20 minutes at the pharmacy afterwards when all you really want to do is go home.

Good Luck, this does seem like the best plan. Take a breath Mom, modern day medicine will not let Em hurt. If you need a val*um to get through this, have somebody else drive.

You'll both be ok, really.

meno said...

riley, thank you for the positive imaging. I am sort of scared.

qt, good idea. i better stock up!

my pool, i have two ice packs for her face. i am hoping that will help with the Chipmonk cheeks.

tt, she is excited about the milkshakes. Crazy kid.

flutter, i need one of those darts. Except for the fact that i am driving, i would take something first.

mrs.chili, god, i want your dentist. I could totally use some nitrous whenever i am at the dentist.

ttq, oh you poor thing! I'll send a milkshake.

chani, it is dreadful :(

bob, thank you for sparing me the tales. I have tales of my own.

jen, you ever feel sorry for dentists? I mean, who likes the dentist?

laurieb, i already have the meds. But only because i asked to have them first. You think they would have thought of that.

Liv said...

what would you like me to overnight to you?

i, too, am a phobic when it comes to people sticking their hands and tools in my mouth.

(no jokes, please)

Anonymous said...

Okay, before everyone gets too excited about the milkshakes, I must tell you that STRAWS ARE A NO-NO after wisdom teeth surgery, so yes, use a spoon! (The suction used to slurp a straw can suction out a blog clot, and believe me, you DON't want that.) We went through the wisdom tooth thing this past summer with our son, who ended up with the dreaded "dry socket." Dry socket is NOT your friend. I should also advise you that even if you do everything they tell you, she could still end up with dry socket (my son had it in three sites), and that is pure torure on a mother, so I'll keep you in my prayers. Watch her closely afterward; I believe that if you are going to get dry socket, the main symptom is pain that increases on the 2nd or 3rd day (rather than dimishing). NOt trying to freak you out; I just want you to know, because I didn't, and The Boy suffered one day longer than necessary.

I'm rooting for you both :)

Anonymous said...

At least she'll be asleep while they're doing all this pulling of teeth out by their roots, with chains, stuff. Maybe you could get some Ativan for the mummy.

Hope it all goes well.

Diane Mandy said...

Oh I so relate. I need "the oxide" for a routine cleaning. Poor Em! I'll be thinking of her.

Anonymous said...

Yikes. That sounds exceedingly brutal. Hoping it goes as smooth as a milkshake.

Anonymous said...

your poor things. you'll both be in my thoughts tomorrow.

Lynnea said...

Poor thing. Its so much scarier to have to be in the waiting room for your kid isn't it? She'll be fine though and smiling big toofy grins in no time.
As for the milkshakes - variety baby! Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry get boring after awhile.

Anonymous said...

Oh my dears! I won't relate my childhood stories of woe either, but rest assured I had to endure the same military dentists. No wonder they call it "a practice." Even this far away from that foolishness I still have to be heavily sedated to have even things as simple as cleanings done. How I survived having braces for four years is beyond me.

Be strong, dear. We're with you.

gary rith said...

bleh...I mean, eating is a pleasure, but teeth sure are troublesome, aren't they?

furiousBall said...

oh I'm very sorry for Em, I'm still healing from my own dental fun. they are satan. seriously.

Susanne said...

She will be fine. And so will you.

(I just read through a bunch of your posts, I'm totally behind with everything. Again.)

But I'm not behind with thinking of people.

meno said...

liv, can you overnight some good thoughts? That's all i need. I would never joke about that, because i am right there with you.

mrs4444, yes, i remember all that from when i had mine out, including the dry socket thing. (Lucky me) Part of why i am so freaked. Your poor son. :( Thanks for the advice!

deb, i'm thinking of it. If i didn't have to drive, i might.

diane, i wonder how i could convince my dentist to give me the nitrous?

de, i hope so too. I had a nightmare about it last night.

holly, thank you. That means a lot to me.

maggie, i will be nervous as a cat, and not even People magazine will help.

irrelephant, so you understand! I swear those guys were butchers!

gary, yeah, teeth pretty much suck, except when they don't.

furious, i know, i haven't told her as she is already nervous, but i know.

susanne, well excuse you for having a life! I think she'll be fine too. But.... there's always the but.

ms chica said...

If I had read this yesterday, I would have fedex-ed box of liquid courage.

Prudent thinking on your part about having the wisdom teeth extracted at the same time. I think it is easier to recover when you're a teenager. Mine weren't removed until I was twenty-six...I did okay, but the Mister was a mess. I'm not such a great patient after anesthesia...Apparently I think I'm God or something.

Anonymous said...

Here from De. Can you get him to prescribe a martini for you?

Unknown said...

Almost a year ago I was scheduled to have all four of my wisdom teeth out. Still haven't done it. I'm a huge chicken. HUGE.

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Kudos to you for asking about the wisdom teeth. You are doing her a favor. I had mine removed in my late 20s and it was MISERABLE.

Still - I cannot imagine anyone coming near my babies with a sharp object. Do you think they could prescribe you some painkillers along with Em's?

Hang in there. :-)

100 Thoughts of Love said...

well at least we know the majority of us are scared of the dentist....hope it all goes/went well! She well be A-ok after a day or two!

sari said...

just wanted to say i had all four wisdom teeth out and was fine, no chipmunk cheeks or nothing, so hope for the best, it may happen!

Maddy said...

Oooo dear me. Dental woes are the worst at any age!

Have lots of those ice pack / warm packs ready, liquid painkillers, nutritious tasty soup and lots of hugs.

By the way I tagged you over here.



Wishing you both better soon.

meno said...

ms. chica, liquid courage. If only i could be happy drinking it at 11 am.

wheels, i love de. i might prescribe my own martini!

wng, i put it off for years, as i was convinced i would die from it. But i still had to have it done. Shit.

cagey, thank you for that. I had mine done at 44. That SUCKED! I am worried about my baby.

pat, i hope you are right. I think you will be right. But i still worry.

sari, oh good. That's good to know.

maddy, i have the ice packs. But we were told nothing hot for a while. You gave me an award. that was nice.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I know what you're going through and I wish you and Em the easiest time possible.

You could probably steal a few of Em's painkillers. She'll be too out of it to know.

Good luck, girls.

Unknown said...

My jaws are now clenched! Hope it all goes smoothly...

Scott from Oregon said...

After I had my four wisdoms removed, I went home, got in bed and then vomited about a pint of blood all across the room.

Weeeeeeeeeee!

peevish said...

Do not, I repeat, do not give her a milkshake, or anything else, for at least 6 hours. Unless you like cleaning up vomit. The anesthesia, you know.

Tink said...

Well that's really great Scott, just scare the shit out of her whydontcha? *Sticks out tongue*

She'll be great. Hoop just got all four of his wisdom teeth out less than a month ago and he was just fine. And he's a big pussy!

Ortizzle said...

Eeeeeewwwww. I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled in one go. But not the tooth chain thing. You are in for some long milk shake duty. ;-)

Mermaid Melanie said...

maybe some anti anxiety pills are all you need.

:hugs:

Anonymous said...

I've tried to comment on this post three times, but every time I look at it my teeth clench and words fail.

I have serious love/hate issues with the dentist.

Hope Em is feeling well. And you too!

peevish said...

Howzit going? I'm dying to know.
The great thing about teenagers is how quickly they recover from these things.

Irish Goddess said...

Oh my god. I feel for her. I had so much orthodontic work done to me over the years (including oral surgery to attach "hooks" on my teeth with which the orthodonist could attach rubber bands to PULLLLL them down, AND four impacted wisdom teeth pulled out at the same time.) I hate the dentist. I still cannot go, even for a simple cleaning, without gripping the arms of the chair until my knuckles are white. Take good care of her, poor thing. I recommend pudding and baby food.

Andrea Frazer said...

Late to the game as usual, but I hope everything went okay.

amusing said...

Oh, you totally know that chain thing is going to be the next cool fashion thing.

"Mom! The other girls all have tooth chains! Can't I get one too? Puh-leez?"

luckyzmom said...

My heart is wrenching for you remembering when I went through my son's oral surgery twice, trying to get a tooth to come down. It eventually had to come out all together anyway. I was a wreck. Hope Em has a good outcome.

PS-I experienced excellent dental care in the military when it was available.

crazymumma said...

oh poor thing. I hope she milks it for all it is worth.