Monday evening, Damon had a coach's meeting after work. As the girls and I sat down for dinner, I noticed that the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the clouds. Now, I haven't learned much German, but I have learned that if you see the sun you must enjoy it. Those sunshine moments are fleeting, at least for now (come on summer ---- where are you??). We finished up our ham and beans (yum) and made from scratch cornbread (embarrassed to say --- it was gross! There is something to say about package made cornbread!!!) and we headed out. Our doggies were doing the potty dance so I brought them along. On the way across the parking lot we picked up two more children. Because our time was getting short I opted for the smaller playground closer to our apartment. Typically we don't go there. Since we have been here the padded ground covering has been peeling up. I am sure it has the help of the neighborhood children (yes, Air Force children are occasionally disobedient too!). There are typically chunks of the ground covering strewn across the playground. That night was no different. The girls took off toward the playground and I saw Carlee pull the gate shut (one bonus is that it does have a small fence around it to cage -- I mean contain -- the children). One of my dogs did something, I honestly don't remember what, so I looked down. Immediately I heard a scream that is indescribable. The girls started saying that Carlee fell. I thought surely she had to be okay, but as she ran toward me, I saw indeed I was wrong. She had blood pouring out of her mouth and her nose. I quickly got everyone together, gave the leashes to Courtney and we headed back. The blood was coming so fast that I had to cup my hands under her chin. Here I was the only adult with four children and two dogs.....UGH!! I sent the other girls home and we went inside. At first I thought she had just busted her lip. In my years as a teacher I have seen some busted lips that bled like geysers! Luckily I had been too lazy to put the paper towels away in the girl's bathroom after it was cleaned earlier that day. Yeah for being lazy --- right? There was about 1/2 a roll left.....and we used it ALL!! She screamed and screamed. I had Courtney get a cup so she could swish water. Finally 15-20 minutes later I had her cleaned up --- or so I thought. I called Damon to ask him when he'd be home....Carlee was STILL screaming. I told him what happened and he said they just had a few more minutes left. I go off the phone with him and noticed that Carlee had more blood around her top lip and on her teeth. I wet another paper towel with water and started to clean her lip. When I moved to her teeth I was shocked. Her right front tooth was crazy loose..... like it would be days before falling out on its own. I called Damon back (a matter of minutes after the first call) and said "come home NOW!!!". Then I called the emergency dentist line. I sent Courtney to a neighbor's house to see if they could watch her. She came back to say something to me. Damon was calling my cell phone. Carlee is STILL screaming (rightfully so). And the on-call dentist, no kidding, told me to "call back when I had the situation under control". WHAT?? That's pretty much what I yelled at him....I was ticked!! What kind of control do you expect in and EMERGENCY that involves a TWO year old? Did he expect her to say "Dude my tooth and lip hurt. Oh wow! I am covered in blood....neato!" So in my most sarcastic voice I told him I would calm her down IF I could and hung up! Oh I was MAD!! Still am.....will be until I report his butt to the patient advocate!!! I brought Carlee into the living room and rocked her in the recliner. I sang at the top of my lungs (so she could hear me). Then all of the sudden she was quiet. But she had this strange look in her eyes. It didn't register then because I was so anxious to call Dr.Butthead back. I spoke with him. He was reluctant to see her that evening. But since her tooth was loose, he didn't want her swallowing it, and he agreed to see her. Damon was on his way home (a 20 minute drive only takes 12 minutes when you drive over 100mph! Just FYI). So I just rocked her. I noticed that she was staring, but not at anything. Her pupils were getting large and small over and over. I said her name a couple of times, but she didn't respond. I simply didn't think about it then. I just wanted to get to the dentist, regardless of how cranky he was. Damon came home and we all left. Carlee had come out of her catatonic state and was hurting again. When we got to the dentist she had pretty much calmed down. He examined her. His assistant did x-rays. He took pictures. Courtney got a toy (huh? That's just wrong!!!). In all fairness Carlee got one too. As well as two toothbrushes. Bonus for blood and pain I guess! The x-ray confirmed the worst. Her tooth was fractured at the root. It had to come out. She had also torn the flap between the teeth that holds your lip to your gums. We were scheduled for the next morning and sent home. We gave her ibuprofen and melatonin so she could sleep. I was smart enough to change her sheets to something I didn't mind getting messed up. The next morning her pillow and sheets were covered in blood. We ran errands in the early morning that I had to take care of (like enrolling Courtney in school for next year!!). When we got to the periodontist he reviewed her case. He asked 101 questions about how it happened. He said that it takes a BIG hit to fracture the root of the tooth. Because he was working her in, he asked that we come back in an hour (not so bad, since we live across the street!). I called the housing office when I got home to report the playground. The inspector asked that I send him an official complaint by email so he could forward it to his supervision. Maybe with an incident like this, a fire could be lit under the pants of whomever forks over the money to fix it. After a couple of episodes of Caillou we went back across the street to the dental clinic. For whatever reason, they would not give her anything more than a local anesthetic. They strapped her on a papoose board and had me hold her hands. She screamed.....it was a scream I had never heard. She was terrified, she was hurting. It was 45 minutes of pure hell. I tried to fight back the tears. I buried my head in my arm, held tight to her hands, and prayed. I begged God to carry her through it all. Once it was all done, I got her out of that room and took her back to the waiting room (no worries, it was empty --- wouldn't that be a shocker for some kid there to get their teeth cleaned!!). I rocked her and sang to her. In less than 5 minutes she was out of my lap and playing with the toys. All was well until the dentist came back in.....then she was on me like butter on toast! He gave me a few directions --- no brushing, swish and spit often, only cold soft foods. He noticed that the adjacent tooth sustained damage and it too may have to be removed (won't that be CUTE!). He was concerned about her nose. It continued to bleed off and on. It was swollen and bruised around her eyes. He asked me to have it seen about soon. We hit Burger King up for a strawberry shake. She was in Heaven! She doesn't get that too often. While she napped I got her an appointment for later that day. The doctor was concerned. She had a bruising pattern that was indicative of either a broken nose or an intracranial bleed. She told me to head to the hospital (40 minutes away) ASAP. I wasn't about to take both girls on my own. And Damon wasn't about to let us go without him, so we swung by his office and picked him up. Essentially, he told his supervisor what had happened and then said "I'm outta here!" I asked him if that was okay....he said if it's not he'd hear about it, but he didn't care. After about 2 1/2 hours at the hospital it was the humble opinion of the local docs that she was okay and no tests were done. We were sent home to watch her for 72 hours for any sign of concussion. During this time we were to keep her quiet (really? did they not see her in her not as energetic stage and think she was "very active"? keep her quiet? FUN!). Damon had Wednesday off anyhow, so we laid low.
It's Saturday and she is MUCH better. You can't see much, if anything, on her lip. Her gums are healing well. It's amazing how fast our mouth heals. She is back to her "usual" self....and Damon and I are tired from chasing her all over.
She whistles when she says the /s/ sound. And she learned that she can put straws and sucker sticks through that hole. My biggest concerns are over the aesthetics of a missing tooth. She won't get her permanent tooth for another 4-6 years...that's a LONG time! And I am very concerned about her ability to correctly learn phonemes. How can you learn the sounds and blends when you can't say them??? According to the military dentist there is nothing that can be put in it's place....Google disagrees! I plan to research more before we come to the states sometime. I am sure there is someone in the OKC area who can put something in the place of that tooth (or teeth ---the other one still can be pulled!). For now it's okay....kinda cute...in an overalls and straw hat kind of way.
So that was our overly dramatic week!! I am hoping for NOTHING next week...or the week after. Shoot after that...I am gonna say the next 52 weeks need to be uneventful! And we are going to stay away from water.....because that's another one of those nightmare situations!
Pictures below --- warning there is blood!
about 45 minutes after the incident...
Friday, MUCH better:
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