The Great Tooth Debacle

A couple of weeks ago, I clued you all in on the latest "Bonehead Move" HeeHaw had made, read here if you missed it. (You really need to read the back story). And yes, this all ACTUALLY happened. If I'm lyin I'm dyin.......Wait for it.

So let me fill you in on what has happened this week. As of Tuesday, the tooth had not been taken care of. Thursday of LAST week, Doodle was back to intense pain. I immediately called the dentist, asked for a refill on the Penicillin, and had it faxed to the pharmacy.

I had the kiddos all weekend, and I was all over the medication situation. She had a sleepover and we managed to get in all of her doses.

Doodle and Lil C go back to HeeHaw's on Sunday night. HeeHaw has been informed of the situation Friday morning. I in no uncertain terms let him know I would be making an appointment for her with the Endodontist as I was tired of waiting for HeeHaw to take care of this situation, AND having the final say in what was going to happen. Here is the response I get: "I do not agree to you taking her in, and will not be paying. I will take care of taking her in. You make it sound like a life and death situation. The only time her tooth hurts is when she is with you. Which leads me to believe you are feeding her information to scare her into going. I ask her quite often how her tooth is doing, and she says it doesn't hurt".

Are you kidding me? Where does he come up with this shit? And, who is he kidding? You "refuse to pay" and you want "to take care of taking her in"........ right. Like you managed to "take care of it" up until now? Well I made the appointment anyway. Hello, my kid is in pain. We had already waited 6 weeks. More than long enough.

The kiddo's went back to HeeHaw's Sunday night. No word for almost 2 days when Tuesday afternoon rolls in. I get a call from Doodle. She is calling from school and is sobbing. There is about 32 minutes left in her school day. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was in an intense amount of pain. Since it was still HeeHaw's day, I instructed her to call LL and see if she would come get her.

Doodle calls HeeHaw and LL is not able to come get her, and instead of calling me back to come pick her up, Doodle has to wait out the rest of the day. Walk the 2 blocks home, in pain. I call her almost as soon as she gets home.

I want to know why she is in so much pain. Has she been taking her medicine since she left my house? Well, noooo. Miss Doodle decided to "forget" her meds because she didn't like the way they upset her stomach. Really?

I tell Doodle what she can take, and anxiously await to pick her up at 6pm. Since it's a girl scout night I ask her if she wants to go. She does, and makes it through most of the evening. We quickly get her home after the meeting is over and give her the strongest pain meds I can. That takes the edge off but am I glad I made her an appointment for the next day (that I had made 2 days previous) to have her tooth taken care of.

I am up and down like a Jack-in-the-Box all night, making sure she is ok. Not in pain, and sleeping ok. Wednesday morning dawns and Doodle wakes up with a swollen cheek. She cant go to school. Not looking like she had swallowed 6 extra large marshmallows in a "chubby bunny" contest.

Thankfully, she is not in too much pain. Just mild discomfort at this point. We go to see the endodontist, and they take out all the decayed portion of the tooth, and tell me to watch her swelling and pain levels. I of course, pay for the procedure, minus what insurance has kicked in for.

Because, after all of HeeHaw's ridiculousness, I went around him to find the ever elusive dental insurance. The endodontist called to verify coverage for Doodle, as well as make sure they were on the preferred provider list, and the coverage was even better than we though. Saved $157.

Well, about 4 hours later, her cheek looks like this:

Seriously? So I call the dentist back on the emergency line, and he tells me to come in the next morning. They will take out the temporary filling they put in, and hopefully that will increase drainage of the tooth and reduce swelling. So back to the dentist we go.

Everything is all good, until we get home. 2 hours goes by, and I notice this spot on Doodle's cheek. What the hell? It's hot to the touch, and there is now a rash.......

I call the dentist back, and he tells me to increase her antibiotics to 4 times a day. This should reduce the swelling and redness. If it gets worse though, I am to call back because at that point? Doodle may have to be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.

So, I am freaking out. CHB suggests I mark the ends of the red spot to make sure I know if it getting bigger or not. So, now poor Doodle has pen mark all over her face. As if a swollen and red cheek were not enough?

HeeHaw and LL were to pick the kids up that night (Thursday) at 6pm. Right before HeeHaw comes to grab the kids I get a text message "thanking me for everything I did for Doodle this week". WTF? Am I being punked?

I ask HeeHaw to come in to see the medication schedule, get the dentist info, and warning signs to watch for. I watch as HeeHaw and LL nod their heads at what I am saying, not sure that they understand the gravity of the situation.

I tell HeeHaw, via email, after her has left, that I NEED a phone call from either him or LL the next morning to let me know the situation. I have the day off for attending to any of Doodle's needs if they need to go to work. Also, that IF emergency care is needed, LL is NOT authorized to make those types of decisions. She can call 9-1-1 with the best of them, however if they come to her with treatment options, she can NOT authorize any of them.

Well, of course, in pointing this out to HeeHaw I am met with the standard response of "LL having their best interests at heart" and how neither he nor LL are "taking away my parental rights" blah blah blah. Like I believe HeeHaw for a second.

What has he tried to do with EVERY girlfriend and now with his wife? Uhm yeah. Give those women more decision making capabilities than I as their own mother have. Have I mentioned today that I love my life?

Anyway, it is now Friday and the call comes in from HeeHaw. He and Doodle have talked and Doodle wants to go to school. I asked him if he was serious? The nurse would take one look at Doodle's cheek and send her home. And if we were lucky we wouldn't get reported to CPS for looking like we punched our kid.

It's a couple hours later, and Doodle calls me to tell me that both her father and LL have gone to work. Leaving her home alone. Ugh. Really? Maybe I am the only one freaking out about her tooth? I tell her to call me every single hour so I can check on her. The swelling has not gone down, and the red spot is still there.

I call the dentist again, and he said to give it another 24 hours. So, instead of driving to HeeHaw's house to still Doodle for the day, I decide to wait it out. The next day, I spoke with Doodle in the morning, and her swelling was finally going down, and the red spot was going away.

Saw Doodle again Sunday morning at soccer. Swelling all gone, same with the red spot. Thank goodness! That means that HeeHaw and LL have actually made sure Doodle was taking her meds.

While I am super relieved that Doodle's tooth is better, the swelling is gone and the red spot is gone, I am still racked with tons of guilt. I should have just taken Doodle in to get the filling done when I heard about it, regardless of what HeeHaw said. I have never felt like a worse mom than I did last Tuesday night.

There was no need to wait. And, trust me when I say this will NEVER EVER happen again. I will not be bullied one more time by HeeHaw saying he will refuse to pay this that or the other. This is no different than the countless other things he doesn't want to pay, hasn't paid for, or will likely EVER pay for.

I had to beg, borrow and damn near steal to get this root canal paid for. And believe you me, I would do it every time. I can not believe HeeHaw honestly thought this could wait any longer. Maybe it's just me? But I don't want to ever see my kids cry. Breaks my heart. So when Doodle was crying from extreme pain? I am ever so glad I grew a backbone last week and made the appointment for her.