Thursday, October 16, 2008

Hannah's Dental Experience

First off, I want to say that I have been without a computer for almost 2 weeks. That is why you haven't heard from me. Gardner was adding a anti-virus program to my computer when my computer decided it didn't like it. Late last night, Gardner was able to get my computer back up and running. I don't have all my programs back on the computer yet, but at least I have internet access again.

Yesterday, Hannah had an appointment with the dentist. It is where she was asleep with anesthesia. She had 5 teeth that had cavities. They didn't know what they were going to find when they got in there. He didn't know if they were going to be so bad where they would have to be pulled or not.

Hannah and I had talked about it before hand. I thought perhaps three would have to be pulled and Hannah thought maybe two.

The appointment started out where we got there 10 minutes late. We were the first patient of the day. We hit major traffic that I had not planned on at 7:30 in the morning. Anyway, the first thing they do is give the kids some kind of medicine to help them become tired. That way they don't fight so much when it is time to put them to sleep. But Hannah refused to drink this stuff. And that was ok. I knew she was a bit tougher than some of the other kids.

It was time to go in the room and she started to fight. She didn't want to go in. I got her to sit on my lap and they wanted to give her the gas mask to help her go to sleep instead of the IV because she is so young. But Hannah was having none of that. She was screaming and freaking out big time. She finally said, "I want the needle". That is what I had prepped her for and I know she usually handles needles pretty well. The dentist was like, oh no, you don't want that. And then the anesthesist was like, let's just do it. And I agreed, just start poking her. She calmed down real fast. Didn't even flinch when they put the iv in her arm.

Within a minute, she was asleep. I ran outside to my car because my wallet was missing from my purse and they needed the insurance card. Sure enough, the wallet fell out of my purse and was sitting on a seat.

I got back and they wanted me to go back to the room where Hannah was. The dentist was telling me that there were three cavities that were so bad they had gone all the way through her teeth. So they were going to pull them. Then there was another one they could of filled, but he wanted to pull it to help give her more room on the bottom because it is so crammed. I agreed and left the room.

Frantically, an assistant came into the waiting room asking me to come back again. I hurried back there to have him tell me he was going to pull a fifth tooth of Hannah's. She had a lose tooth and he wanted to pull it for her because of where it was located.

Hannah woke up before I got back there again. I could hear her crying. She cried for a very long time. I just held her when they finally let me back to her. She complained that her mouth hurt and her throat hurt. She said she couldn't breathe. I knew it was from having a tube down her throat while she was sleeping.

After an hour of recovery, me constantly wiping blood from her face, and holding her and loving her, we got the ok to leave.

As we were walking to our car, we went past a store that had a barbie in the window with a sign of 10 Euros on it. Hannah saw it and said she really wanted it. I told her it was in my budget this day. She went home with 5 teeth in a container and a barbie. She couldn't of been happier about that purchase.

She spent the day at home yesterday and also today. She was so nervous about what the kids at school would say. She has almost no teeth on her right side of her mouth and on her top front teeth. It looks weird and She talks a bit funny.

This afternoon, she went to her friends house to play with a few of her friends. Normally, when the kids stay home from school, they are not allowed to go anywhere. But, this was a different situation. This time, I went looking for a place for her to play so she could be around a small group of kids so she would feel comfortable to go to school. This was a group of 3 of her best friends. They were so good to her. And then they all went to Gymnastics together this afternoon. Everyone was curious about Hannah's mouth and what happened to all her teeth. one Girl even called her a Grandma who has no teeth. But Hannah only thought that was funny instead of mean.

It was a good experience for Hannah this afternoon and now she is ready to go to school tomorrow. I can't wait for her to come home afterwards to hear how things went.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

A Day In Cologne

We spent the day in Cologne today. Not only does Cologne have one of the most amazing Cathedrals around, it also has a chocolate museum. We took a train from where we live out there. Then once in Cologne, we took a bus, then walked. And some of the family took a tour train back to the Cathedral. Gardner and I walked back with Ian. I need to mention the weather today was the worst we have had since Gardner's parents have arrived. It was rainy and cold. And oh my, the wind in Cologne was strong. We finally put the umbrellas away and just got wet.

Here are some pictures I took of our day today.


























March 2007