Haley had her last sealant appointment. The dentist suggested that we do each section of her teeth separately so it wouldn't be too big of a deal for her. I think it helped. She had done so well on the previous one that I wasn't worried about this one at all.
I thought everything would go so smoothly.
Little did I know.
Her appointment was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on a Friday. She also was scheduled to go to Yoga that Friday at 5:30 p.m. My plan was to take her to the dentist and then bring her home. Our cat had recently had some surgery and I had made an appointment for him to get the sutures out at 5:00 p.m.
I was going to take the cat in to the vet and Haley's Dad was going to take her to Yoga.
Just before Haley got home from school I went upstairs to talk to her Dad. We decided that I should have plenty of time to do everything I had planned, but if worse came to worse he could take the cat to the vet. After Haley got off the bus I gave her a drink and a snack. When she was done I explained to her that she had a dentist appointment and then we brushed her teeth and headed out the door.
We got to the dentist's office a little early. Haley went straight for the the big button on the wall that allows her to operate the train that runs around the ceiling of the waiting room She loves that train and she loves that big red button. I checked her in with the front desk and took a seat. There were a couple of other kids and their parents in the waiting room.
Those kids were called in one by one. I didn't really pay attention to the time, but it did seem that there was a lot of time between each kid. Eventually I decided to look at the time. We had been waiting for almost an hour. I could tell that Haley was getting impatient. Actually truth be told she was being amazingly patient, considering. I walked over to her and talked to her about some of the things on the shelves. A movie had been playing since we walked in to the office.
The movie was over.
I started to investigate. To see if I could get the movie started again. The nurse came out and apologized and said it would be another twenty minutes. I texted my husband that we were not in yet and that it was looking like he might have to take the cat to the vet.
Finally Haley was called in. The hygienist asked her if she wanted to watch Spirit, she remembered that was the movie she had chosen the time before. Haley said "Yeah." She handed her the case with the DVDs in it and Haley dutifully turned each page until she found the Spirit DVD. After that the hygienist got the video glasses and headphones all set up and laid Haley back in the seat to watch.
We waited some more.
The dentist was obviously busy in another part of the office. I could hear a little kid screaming and crying. I hoped that Haley didn't hear it over the sound of her video.
Finally the dentist came in and greeted us. She laid Haley back some more and Haley opened her mouth. She got right to work - again without the "happy air" that she used the first time. After a few minutes she stopped and looked up at me "She has a cavity, we are going to have to fill it." I nodded. She showed me the whole in Haley's tooth. Haley got a shot of Novocain. She didn't even flinch. The hygentist offered her a popsicle. They told me to watch her. They didn't want her to bite her cheek. So we sat there and waited for her to get numb. I realized that this was going to be a long one.
I texted my husband "Plan B - Go!"
After a while the hygienist came in and then left again. I heard her talking to the dentist in the hall. She was pleading our case. I heard her say "They have been here a long time."
No kidding!
So the dentist came in. She put one of those rubber dam things in Haley's mouth and then got to work. She showed me the space that she had made for the filling. I had never seen that before, it was interesting. Then she filled the tooth. Haley was perfect. She sat so still. She was gripping the arms of the seat throughout the whole procedure. I patted her hand and occasionally rubbed her leg. I felt her legs tense up a couple of times, but that was the extent of her reaction. When they were done they took the rubber dam out of her mouth and as they sat her up she put up both of her hands for High Fives.
I looked at the clock on my phone. She had had that rubber dam in her mouth for forty five minutes. Not only did my husband need to take the cat to the vet. We were going to be late for Yoga. I tried to text my husband, but he wasn't answering. I realized that my phone battery was going to die. I sent an email to the Yoga instructor. Between the slow internet connection I had and the fact that my phone was dying I didn't think that she would get it.
We left the dentist's office at 5:30 p.m. I drove straight to Yoga. Haley was making funny sounds from the back seat. I looked in the rear view mirror and realized that she was not liking the way that her face felt. She was touching her face and whining. I tried to explain to her that it would get better soon. She started crying.
I looked in the rear view mirror again and it was quite a sight. She had her mouth open crying, but half of her face was slack. It was disturbing. I realized that between the funny feeling in her face and the panic I was projecting about being late, she didn't know how to react. I tried to talk calmly. I told her that we would soon be at Yoga. I reminded her how much fun Yoga is. She calmed down a little.
When we drove up the Yoga instructor looked up and smiled. When we walked in she told me that my husband had called and that she got my email. I was amazed. I explained the situation to her and she said that she would take it easy on Haley. She removed the hardest Yoga poses from Haley's schedule, especially the ones where Haley would have to be upside down.
She told me that once she had done Yoga after a dentist appointment and that she had had an anxiety attack. Her instructor had told her that Yoga causes increased blood flow throughout the body and that the Novocain that was shooting through her system caused her anxiety.
So Haley had a very laid back relaxing Yoga session, by the end of it she seemed to be feeling a lot better. I asked her if her face felt better. She said "Yeah."
When we got home I made her a smoothie.
No comments:
Post a Comment