Today was another leftover vacation day. It wasn't quite as fun as yesterday.
- I spent about two hours this morning at the eye doctors.
- I found out I'm getting glasses. Not bad because I'll pick out the coolest frames I can find.
- I discovered that my pterygium had grown larger on my right eye. The result of getting liquid bleach (not diluted) in my eyes many years ago. It is now scooting to close to my pupil which would then mess up my vision.
- I was told that I needed to carve out a couple weeks of time when I'm not busy to have this ptergyium sliced off my eye. Hello!!!!!! I said sliced off my eye!!! FREAKY! and then they will graft some sort of amniotic (just wondering what that is all about) tissue onto my eye to replace the tissue they cut off!!!!!
- I was given a prescription for expensive eye drops. They are EXPENSIVE! I'll be using those for three months.
- I found out I get to visit my eye doctor (she was super helpful in explaining things to me, I had a hard time getting past the slice part) next month, in 6 months, then again in a year.
- I'm supposed to wear sunglasses anytime I go outdoors so if you see me wearing shades just pretend I'm really cool.
- I ate a super lovely Sonic lunch with my family in Currituck on the way to Ty's dental appointment in Va. Beach. A little cleaning and the dentist was going to take a look-see.
- We got there way early drove around to kill time.
- When they called Ty back the nurse stopped us behind the door and asked us to wait in the lobby while they brushed his teeth and got him prepped because they were crowded back there. They would come get us when the doctor was looking at Ty.
- Ty's 3 and a half and he is not going with a stranger anywhere for any kind of medical stuffs at all without mom in tow.
- Meanwhile some kid is screaming at the top of his lungs as he is being tortured, I mean worked on.
- We let the nurse know that we were going with him or he wasn't going at all.
- They didn't budge on their "policy" and we didn't budge either as his parents, we are responsible to protect him. Plus a 3 year old can't explain to you what happened back there in the exam room.
- We walked out. A wasted trip to Va Beach. Now we have to find a good pediatric dentist.
- He lost us as paying patients for the next number of years.
- He will be getting a letter of complaint from me and an invoice for 5 hours of wasted time in my life and my gas costs to travel to Va Beach and back. It won't accomplish anything but it will make me feel good.
- I'll be rating him on Yahoo. They have a rating thing for dentists. Yahoooooo!
- We thought we would go to Lens Crafters to get my glasses while up there. Discovered that glasses are cheaper here at my eye doctors office.
- Hindsight is 20/20
40 comments:
well, if Ty has his cousin's teeth, you don't need to take him to the dentist anyway. Have I ever told you about my perfect teeth?
But it wasn't wasted time...it was family time, right?
Well we were together but the time would have been more fun at home or somewhere fun besides the trailblazer and the waiting room.
Sonic was fun!
I know about ptyrgiums...my dad just had one SLICED off his eye 2 weeks ago. It wasn't a walk in the park, but it wasn't too bad. They put him under light sedation and did the amnionic graft. He's had to put gunky stuff in his eye for a couple of weeks, and sleep with a patch, but his vision is good (except for 30 min after the gunky stuff) and it doesn't hurt after a day or two. Right now you wouldn't want to look, because a totally unrelated blook vessal broke and his eye looks HORRIBLE, but the graft is fine and is healing nicely. See, it pays to have friends like me to set your mind at ease;)
that's BLOOD vessel, not Blook vessal...sorry, my bad.
oh, I guess I also mispelled pterygium (I also misspelled mispellled, but didn't know if you would catch it)
I never mispell. :)
I think the pain issue has a lot to do with pain tolerance. I have zero pain tolerance.
did your dad get the surgery locally?
Andy
Just so you know, that is a very common practice at pediatric dentist offices.
Let me know if you find one that will let you back there the whole time...
you get to wear a patch...for real!?! Lucky!
This type of surgery can be done at The Outer Banks Hospital depending on if your eye doctor has priveleges there - plus you get the extra special treatment of church family members there to pray for you and make sure your registration goes smoothly - :)
Welcome to the club. All the coolest people wear glasses.
He did have surgery at the OBX hospital. Denise checked us in, Joanne came and got us, Wade checked in on us, and Cindy was one of the prep room nurses. Now, I'd say that was service with a smile from the members of NHC...they were representing!
Just to set your mind at ease, he has little pain tolerance, either. The first day his eye was scratchy, like he had sand in it. It burned, and ran a lot (body's natural reaction) No surgery is pleasant, but this one had a fairly quick turn over period where his discomfort affected his day to day life.
He couldn't drive for 3 days, and had to be careful not to bend down for a few days. The patch isn't so cool looking...but you only wear it at night to keep from gouging the graft out in your sleep.
I, personally, would be bummed about the glasses...I find myself becoming more dependent on them..and if I lay them down somewhere I can't find them (Mr. Magoo!) When you open a pot, they steam up, when you run into trees in the jungle, they smash into your face, and if they're dirty, all the lights from oncoming traffic look like laser light shows..not cool if you have trouble finding the white line. There's my word of encouragement for the day.
You need to write a post about how you got bleach in your eye. Does that have anything to do w/ the fact that you lived in an attic? Just curious...
We take Elizabeth to Dr Bobby and she loves them- we all go back and she gets to wear very cool sunglasses so the light does not bother her eyes and she absolutely loves the boat with built in tv in the waiting room.
http://virginia-beach.doctoroogle.com/reviews/viewdentist.cfm/pageID/8/dentistID/106938/chesapeake_orthodontist/dr_gail_plauka
I agree with having to be back there too :0)
http://virginia-beach.doctoroogle.com/reviews/viewdentist.cfm/pageID/8/dentistID/106938/chesapeake_orthodontist/dr_gail_plauka
this is the full link
Good for you guys and for Ty! I refuse to leave my children anywhere alone with strangers, also. Why do dentists think they can do that? If it hadn't been for my horrible experience ~ when left alone ~ with a cruel dentist at the age of 10 years, I might not would push the subject though. I encourage all parents to NEVER leave your children alone with a dentist/dr. or whatever, no matter how sweet they appear to be.
Been reading your blog for a few days. You are pretty funny!
Holly
I forgot to say that I think glasses are way cool. They were one of the first things that attracted me to my hubby!
Holly
They should allow you guys back there with Ty. That is just WRONG. I think it's because of that that I have an extraordinary fear of dentists. I think they must have done something terrifying when I was a kid.
I had an appt today and it went smoothly. Of course, I was SEDATED .. so of course it was a piece of cake. They allowed my husband back with me until they got the IV in. Then I said he could leave.
Man! We have to take kids to the dentist too?! Shesh. As if annual well visits aren't enough. ;)
glasses make one look smart; not that you needed to look smarter than you already do, but hey, a little extra help never hurts.
on another positive note, be thankful you don't still live in oklahoma (the land of my fathers); in oklahoma, ophthalmologists still remove pterygia will their pocket knives! and i doubt they have moved up to amniotic membrane grafts yet...they are probably still slathering on some cow udder balm.
I am so sorry that you guys had to go through that horrible dentist experience. Before we started taking our kids to their new dentist, our current dentist had moved away, we had heard rumors about the dentist we wanted to go to; that he didn't allow parents to go back with their kids. Well, I wasn't going to go for that. My husband ensured me that they would be fine. We got there and my husband heard a child in the back crying like you did - crying for his daddy. So when they called our son to go, my husband and I got up to go too. They said they same thing - if we would to have a seat out in the waiting room and when the dentist finished, he would bring the kids back out and talk with us. My husband said "NO! I'm not letting my son go back to a total strange doctor by himself." I was so proud of him. We walked out that day too, but that afternoon, the dentist called our house and completely apologized for what had happened. He said that he didn't start the practice, that this had always been the policy there, so he didn't change it. He also said that he had had several complaints, but no one had ever walked out and that was devastating for him. We went back the next day, went in back with Nicholas, and we loved him. Of course the kids wanted to go back by themselves after that. We waited a little while, but they have been going back alone ever since. We live in Rocky Mount. The dentist is Dr. Courts. Great pediatric dentist. Yeah I know, that's kindof far. Just thought I would share.
Robin
It's cool they can use amniotic grafts.
but it's amniotic, I'm just saying . . .
my dentist, here on the beach, has done my children since they were young. I don't think he's a "pediactric dentist" but he does kids, and I went back with them for as long as the kids needed/wanted me.
When my kids were little, they always went with me to the dentist. I'm pretty laid back, so they saw that it wasn't going to be scary. My daughter, Suzanne, would sit on my lap and look in my mouth as the dentist was cleaning my teeth. He must have had the patience of Job. When she was three she couldn't wait to have her turn in the dentist's chair. They always went to our dentist instead of a pediatric dentist, but we didn't have any problems with them being afraid. Our dentist never minded one of us going back with them. I can certainly understand not wanting to send your child back alone with a total stranger. I would think that could potentially lead to lawsuits for the dental practice.
BTW I'm about ready for you to post a new picture. Your pterygium is gross. :P
Enjoy the ptergyium picture!
Its intersting the ptergy is latin for wing and that is the reason why they call it a ptergyium. Just look at my eye and you can see the wing shape. Crazy!
Good for you. Get a pediatric dentist. I have a 17 year old and still go back with him and have since he was 4. You are the parent.
I know you weren't asking but...wanted to jump on here and recommend a dentist for your son. Dr. Maner. He's not a pediatric dentist but he's local and both of my godsons really like him (6 and 3 years old) and I'm taking my daughter (3) in June...all of these kids previously went to a ped dentist in Va.
Hey there, coming over from Nate's blog but I had to post to you!
The first pair of glasses (since you need 'em now - duh!) get from where ever BUT (and this is a BIG secret!) The best place to buy glasses is www.39dollarglasses.com I get all of my rx glasses there and they are AWESOME! It doesn't take long to get them and they are perfect! They really are $39 for frames and lenses together, and that is a fantastic deal! Make sure you get a copy of your RX from your eye Dr and order away! I promise you the quality can't be beat! I've been using them for years! If you want I can e-mail you some pics of my glasses. I recommend them to everyone I know and everyone I've told has been completely satisfied!
I'd like to talk to you a little about some religious questions too. I know you have a life and you're busy though, so I understand if you don't have time.
That's my contribution to helping you save a buck or $100!
Also, completely normal on the dentist thing. Most are going to that now. I don't like it either but it took me a long time to find a dentist for my kiddos that would allow me back with them. I'm on the hunt again as we've moved from Cleveland to Pittsburgh in September and the kids are all due for a cleaning. Sigh, such is life :0)
Jeni - mom to Hannah 9 1/2, Megan 6, and Jack 3 1/2
jfelberx5@yahoo.com
What's wrong with spending a litte quality time in the trailblazer?
I rather injoyed it.
Mike H
Spelling ....Shmelling...
What an over rated custom.
Next time don't drive so far without first inquiring about their parental policies. Just so you know, most dentists do not allow parents back with patients..there just is not enough room for everyone in the small room, plus the kids usually end up reaching for the parents and its hard to complete the exam. The kids behave much better without their parents standing there.
Dental assistant
This was our second visit and last time we were taken back with him and every child back there had a parent with them. Ty did great with us back there and wasn't afraid, didn't reach for us or anything like that.
I don't let Ty go into his pediatrician alone so why would I do that with a dentist? 3 year olds can't explain what happened.
He changed his policy without letting his patients know which means he is losing business.
Dental asst.
But what about the dentist's behavior? We, as parents, have the God-given right and responsibility to protect our children. We call the shots. Once they are harmed it is too late. Just so you know the dentist I saw at 10 years old didn't give me anything for pain or give me antibiotics to clear up the infection in my abscessed tooth before he proceeded to do a root canal. It was our first time to see him. I was in terrible pain with that tooth. He was so sweet when my mom was with me and then he got really mean when I started to squirm from the pain. I was taught to obey my elders and I tried to do what he said and didn't make a sound. My mom had to make me tell her what was wrong when we got in the car because she could tell I was terribly upset. A medical doctor never asks you to leave your children for an exam, etc. and they have some pretty small rooms. I know there are some great dentists and they all allow at least one parent to come back.
Holly
oh wow...I see the insensitive people (or person for now) have infected your blog as well...so sorry.
seriously, I hope you saw my comment about the cheesy...
Beachbug,
I am sorry for posting MY experience on your blog. It is just that all parents need to realize how easily their children can fall prey. I appreciate you sharing your experiences with all of us and allowing the Lord to use you.
Holly
Wow! I didn't realize my opinion about an ignorant policy would stir things up.
I didn't even get to see or talk with the dentist.
I'm the parent and what I say goes when it comes to my son.
No, I don't trust a dentist who has a problem with a parent coming back with their child. Especially one who won't come talk with the paying customer about it.
No 3 year old on the face of this planet can clearly articulate what a dentist has done because no 3 year old has enough experience of sitting in the dentist chair to explain what instrument was used or what exactly was going on in there.
Smile and Delete, Smile and Delete...
Welcome to the real world of blogging...
:(
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