Again. Oral Surgery...

Derek had a dentist appointment this morning.  I dread dentist appointments with every fiber of my being.  Why?  Because in February of 2010, Derek fell.  He fell and landed on his face, hitting his front tooth.  A few weeks later, the tooth turned an unusual shade of grey.  So I took him to his very first dentist appointment and we discovered that the tooth was not only "dead," but would have to be pulled so that the root would not get infected and mess up his other teeth. 

In October of 2010, Derek had surgery to have his tooth removed.  While they were in there, they cleaned all of his teeth and fixed all the cavities he had as well.  The entire experience was, well...a nightmare.  He had to fast from midnight on, we had to be at the hospital bright and early, and I had to listen to my child scream.  He had no language at that point.  He couldn't tell me he was hungry, or scared, or tired.  He couldn't tell me that he hated having the ID bracelet around his wrist.  He just scratched at it over and over again and screamed.  Then, when the anesthesiologist came in, and took my baby out of my arms, I had to hear him scream bloody murder and I had to watch him, with his arms out-stretched and terror in his eyes, get taken out of the room. 

About an hour later, Derek came back to me a groggy, crying mess.  He wouldn't let go of me.  I heard he ripped the IV out of his arm.  Interesting, but not altogether surprising.  Then, in the car on the way home, he started vomiting.  Blood.  Everywhere...

So yes, I hate dentist appointments.  My son is terrified of having anything and everything in his mouth.  Toothbrushes are evil.  He clamps down and fights having his teeth brushed.  I knew going in today that he probably had at least one cavity.  *shudder*

Today, I sat with him in my lap--my legs clamped around his; my arms wrapped around his chest, keeping his arms down.  He still managed to escape several times--the kid is STRONG.  It took two other technicians and the dentist to get X-rays of his teeth.  He has at least 6 cavities.  Probably more--they couldn't tell for sure because the X-rays were a little out of focus.  So Derek has to go back to the hospital and be put under.  Again.  They didn't even bother trying to clean his teeth today.  They said it would be easier when he was under, and there was no reason to stress him out more than necessary today.  They are going to put crowns on, in an attempt to ward off more cavities.  Sigh...

So I've been a mess all morning.  Memories of the screaming, the terror-filled eyes, and the bloody vomit are haunting me.  I don't want to do this again.  I don't want to make my son go through this nightmare AGAIN.  And part of me keeps wondering if this is going to be a semi-annual procedure?  Am I going to be blogging about this again in another 2 years?  Forget about me--I can handle whatever is thrown at me.  But Derek?  How much can a 4 year old be expected to take?  He's gone through more in his 4 years than most people go through in a lifetime.  And he's STILL smiling most of the time...