Miss M's Dental Appointment

Miss M had a cavity in one of her front teeth (the eye tooth, I think) and we ended up having her put to sleep to have it filled. A little worrying, since you never know for sure how a person will react to anesthesia. There's always a small risk of complications.

She did fine, thanks to some prayers from friends. When she went in, they had her get up on the bed and put on the hospital gown. She was very chatty and friendly and cooperative. She drank the "giggle juice" very willingly, but then got upset because it made her tongue feel funny. She kept trying to spit it out, but it was too late; she'd already swallowed it. When it took effect, she got giggly and happy. She gushed about how much she loved the wall, and the opposite wall, too. She was floppy and rolling around on the bed, so I carried her to the room where they were going to do the anesthesia and dental work. I was afraid she'd fall off the bed! She was one wild, happy girl!

After the dental work, she woke up fretful and crying, but she was allowed to nurse right away and that put her right to sleep. The orderly who was keeping an eye on the recovering patients went on and on about how well-behaved she was (he wouldn't have thought so if she hadn't been allowed to nurse!) He said you could always tell which kids had never been reigned in because they had a hard time with rules like keeping the IV in, or staying in the recovery room for one hour - he said they always "freak out." The little girl recovering in the area next to us was upset, I felt bad for her, and there was nothing her mother could do for her except to say, 'I'm sorry you feel bad , honey, I wish I could take it for you, but I can't.' I was really glad I had nursing as a comforting tool because nothing else would have helped.

Miss M started getting upset when her hour was up - she felt sick and cranky. I asked her if she'd like to go home and she shook her head, then I asked if she'd like to go home and watch Dumbo, and she immediately perked up, opened her eyes wide, nodded "yes," and demanded that I put her shoes on so we could go. And it brought to mind another benefit of not watching much TV. Miss M watches only ballet videos or Mister Rogers (and Lassie sometimes), she's only seen Dumbo three times in her life (but she doesn't remember the first time). So, since she rarely watches cartoons, they work great as occasional babysitters. On the rare occasion when I really need her to be occupied, I can count on a movie to keep her entertained.

She slept on the way home and has been off-and-on cranky, dozing, fretful, picking at food, and (mostly) zoning out in front of Dumbo as if she's in a trance. They said it would take all day for the effects of the anesthesia to fully work its way out of her system. L just brought out his train set to set up for her, and that perked her up. Now she's giggling and helping him set the cars on the track.

Oh - a side effect of her dental appointment: last night she fell and hit her mouth on the treadmill. She's been complaining about it ever since, she said her tooth hurt, but when I looked at it and felt it, it seemed normal. But I mentioned it to the dentist before he started working so he'd know it might be sore and be careful of it. Well - he felt it, and it wiggled, and he said it was fractured and would have to come out! So she had her tooth pulled while she was under the anesthesia!

And another side effect - she's not allowed to have any hard or crunchy food today. So, on this, National Potato Chip Day, she's not allowed to have any potato chips.