August Decisions and Dentist Adventure

8/27/2010

Mom’s blood pressure finally is normal. It has been normal long enough for me to stop one of her blood pressure medications (with her cardiologist’s approval). Mom is now a bit more alert and she moves around a little bit faster. She also seems to comprehend what is said and join in on conversations. She still can’t remember squat most of the time, but at least I see some improvement. I take her out to lunch at least twice a week, grocery shopping and just errand running. She bought a new purse and doesn’t remember why, but heck that’s okay too.

I know I’ve put off going to El Paso long enough. I’m finally feeling ready to tackle the house clean up. The heat has lowered in El Paso and I hope Laura has managed to hire a repair man to get the air conditioner up and working. I feel the pressure to move on it as Lynn’s birthday is in October and his daughter and family are coming for a visit. If I keep delaying this thing and it will be Christmas. So September is it. I will rent a SUV or van or something and drive to El Paso, roll up my sleeves and get cracking. I will bring back some of mom’s plants that she misses, pictures and whatever else I think she might like to surround herself with. I hope to meet with a real estate agent (one that her friend Ruth used to sell her house) and plan the future.

I know I’ve asked before BUT PLEASE SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH YOUR REQUESTS OF KEEPSAKES. I would prefer to send them to you from there rather than cart them back. I don’t know if I’ll finish it all, but at least I will get as much done as possible.

Attn: Marfa and Tucson folks if you want anything like furniture, fabric, electrical appliances – just show up and it’s yours.

I will let you all know the dates I’m there as soon as I round up all the loose ends here. I have to get someone to take care of mom while Lynn is at work, shop, feed, etc.  And umpteen other details.

9/3/2010

It’s time to share another fun filled adventure. This time it’s our visit this morning to Mom’s new dentist here in Phoenix. As a background note, mom had a dentist in El Paso; actually he is the one that first found the cancer under her tongue. She has visited him for many years having him clean her teeth and do other work. I was with her in May 2009 when she had her teeth cleaned and he again strongly suggested that we have someone evaluate the spots under her tongue.

She had her cancer removed in March and I had hesitated to start a new dentist, what with all her other “stuff” teeth were not high on the necessary list. Well anyway, about a month ago she began to ask to see a dentist. She told me she had a tooth she wanted him to remove. When I asked her why she wanted it removed she would always reply the same way, “Because it has been bothering me for a long time”. I asked her if it hurt, no, does the gum bleed around it when you brush, no. Well, one day two weeks ago on the way home from seeing her cardiologist she asked again in a loud rather persistent tone, “when was I going to let her see a dentist!”? I immediately called my dentist and made an appointment. She sat there and glared at me because she had to wait two weeks before she could see him. Everyday since then she has asked me when she was going to see the dentist so he could pull out her tooth. I gave up explaining that he would not remove her tooth unless it was absolutely necessary. He would either do a root canal or a crown, but that dentists did not just routinely remove teeth.

Today was the dentist day. The dentist wanted to do a panoramic x-ray of her mouth. That didn’t work since she is short and cannot straighten her neck. The machine would have hit her shoulder and not gone around her face. They had to do individual x-rays of her mouth, about 8 or 9 of them. She got very cranky and didn’t know what the fuss was all about; after all she just wanted a tooth pulled. The x-rays showed extreme tartar growth between and at the base of her teeth. She had one growth of tartar on her back molar that was so large it looked like a small deformed tooth!!! Rather gross I would admit. The dentist would not have believed that she had seen a dentist and had her teeth cleaned 14 months ago if I had not said I was with her when she went.

To make a longer story short, one x-ray showed she had a broken tooth. The tooth she wanted pulled had broken almost totally off the root at the gum line. Without giving you the full gross details it was very clear on the x-ray that that tooth had been broken/cracked for a long, long time. She got half her wish. He removed the broken tooth off the root. He could not remove the root because it was deeply embedded and would require an oral surgeon to remove it. So mom is happy. I have trouble making her understand that the root is still in her mouth and that we have to have it removed. She doesn’t care. It doesn’t hurt anymore when she bites so she is content to leave the root where it is. The hygienist had to break the tartar off in 4 pieces to remove it and she also gave her an ultra sonic cleaning. The hygienist showed mom the chunks of tartar she had removed and mom was so proud. I’m not sure why she was proud, but that is the only way to describe her reaction. The dentist, hygienist and I all agreed that having her come in and have a quadrant deep cleaned every two weeks would be more than she (me, actually) could tolerate. We compromised and decided I’d take her back every 3 months and they would gradually get the remaining tartar removed and her gums healthy.

I had warned the dentist that mom always got what she wanted and after this episode he is a full believer. I brought her home, fed her and she went to sleep like a contented baby. She got up about 2 hours later and just wanted a drink of Dr. Pepper, no pain, no Tylenol. Go figure.

Truth is stranger than fiction, especially in our family.