Thursday, April 28, 2011

Depressing

Last week Justin had a bad cold. Luckily I didn't get it and we kept hoping our girls wouldn't. Well Alison picked up a bad cough a few days ago. Yesterday my mom commented on how bad it sounded so I called and talked to a nurse. She said they would want to see her since they've still seen some rsv going around and there is some pertussis going around too. And it didn't help that she has a history of rsv.

So I took her in and they tested her oxygen levels which really weren't bad. I know because I got to watch the monitor last year when she had rsv! Anyway, the doctor came in and I told her she had been wheezing while coughing, and breathing a bit hard. So she listened and said, oh yeah, she is wheezing! So we did a breathing treatment. Have you done one before? Essentially you have to hold up a mask to their face that blows out a mist/vapor that they are supposed to breathe. At first she was all interested and excited at this new toy. Well about one minute later she was pushing it away, crying, trying to get it away from her! So we did this for about 2 more minutes. The doctor said they usually do this about 3 times on average and then they sometimes send you home with one. I think they call it a nebulizer.

After one time the doctor said she was much better and we didn't have to do again! Wahoo! But she did send us home with kind of an inhaler contraption with a mask. We have to give her 2 puffs every four hours as she needs it. So not too bad! We picked up the inhaler/medicine thing from the pharmacy and did it this morning and it went quite well! I'm just glad we didn't have to do the other kind like at the office. Last night she slept better with much less coughing and she's better today too. Yay for that!

As for me, I went to the dentist today. The last time I went was when I was pregnant with Alison. I was on full Medicaid so it was all covered. I'm on partial medicaid now since I'm no longer pregnant. Justin is not covered but the girls are fully covered (huge blessing!). I recently found a groupon for a local dentist, so Justin went last week and I went today. It was for a cleaning and x-rays and a great deal! Justin has bad teeth unfortunately, so I assumed he would come home with bad news and he did. All of his stuff together was around $2,000!!! Um yeah, we don't have that kind of money floating around! Who does?! He's funny about it, so I don't know if he'll do anything.

Well I generally have pretty good teeth so I wasn't too worried. WRONG! They said I have 9, yes, NINE cavities! What? I don't have a total of nine cavities in my mouth now! Of course a few are little ones they said. I was kind of outraged to be honest! I said out loud, I have never had 9 cavities in my life! The dentist said, well, they have been building up for a long time. After you take care of these, you probably won't have another one for 10 years. Needless to say, I'm kind of frustrated and bummed. They told me there are 3 that they are first concerned about and I can have these done over an extended amount of time, so we'll see. I think I will slowly take care of the 3, but past that I'm not so sure.

You have any good dental stories? Please don't tell me you have none. That's not what I'm going for! :) I guess I should be grateful I don't have any root canals or crowns. At least not yet! Geez, life is expensive isn't it? The end of my ranting is here. If you read all this, congrats!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I feel your pain. I come from the same genese as Justin and we are cavity prone.

Also, the girls got RSV again this week so they are on the nebulizer again! So I know what you mean, no fun to have to keep them sitting for the 15 minute treatment. Carly's pretty good with it though. Anyway, I feel like we are going through the same thing this week! Isn't it supposed to be spring and all the colds magically disappear this time of the year?

erinmalia said...

DUDE. the care repair place and the dentist---my two least favorite places ever.

once i went to a really sketchy dentist who took three visits just for a teeth cleaning and then they told me that i grind my teeth and needed thousands of dollars of work. WHAT!? so then i went to a real dentist (one who didn't take my insurance, but rather a family friend of the in-laws) who said that first dentist was full of it. phew.

i'm sorry yours didn't turn out as well.

Karen said...

I had like 12 cavities one visit when i was little! Luckily they were all baby teeth! But I still have horrible teeth. Bryce has the good teeth in our family.

emily said...

man sick kids and cavitites - some of my all-time least favorite things. blech. so sorry! but glad the nebulizer helped and you don't have to do it again too soon. hopefully she'll get better fast. so not fun for either of you.

i had tons of cavities after lucy was born - about 6? cost me about $650 - AFTER insurance. our insurance was crap and so now we have none. i always have had bad teeth, but pregnancy always seems to do a doozy to my mouth. someone once told me that pregnancy sucks out minerals from your teeth. then my last dentist said no way. (but i still somewhat believe it. . .) he did mention that perhaps it could be a result of eating small amts. more frequently. so i don't know. but i do feel your pain and it sucks. :(

Meg said...

Um, maybe you should get a second opinion. Once after we first got married I went to a new dentist and he told me I had 7 cavities--I cried and had them filled and when I went back 6 months later he told me I had 8 more. I had never had ONE cavity before going to this dentist so I decided to get a second opinion. I did, and it turned out I didn't have any?? go figure! The new dentist also said the ones he filled were too small they probably weren't even real. Duh! Always get a second opinion:)If you need a name of a good dentist let me know! I got one.

Megan said...

I agree on getting a second opinion. Long story, but I actually just got similar news (from a dentist I trust, though). She said I have like 8 or 9 cavities in my mouth, 3 of which need to be filled now. The rest we can just watch....forever if I'm careful. They won't grow any bigger if I take good care of my teeth. I asked my friend (who is a dental assistant) just to be sure I wasn't crazy, and she said this is true. Most people have multiple small cavities in their mouth that never need to be filled, so dentists won't even tell you they're there. I felt better after that.

I feel your pain....I drink soda pop, so I'm more cavity prone. Good luck!

Pendletons said...

Oh that is such a bummer! I'm sorry! I've heard that a lot of people have really good teeth until after they have kids, and then they just go horrible! I'm so not looking forward to that!

Christine said...

So sorry about Miss Alison. My nephew Liam has to do breathing treatments all winter long. glad she is doing better.

Also so sorry about the dentist! good heavens. $2000 is kind of a lot of money. the problem is, if he waits will it get worse? and sorry about your 9 cavities. that does seem a little crazy!

Brooke said...

I had perfect teeth with no cavities before I had kids; but after each kid I get a cavity it's SO annoying!
But 9 really does suck, but you wait too long to take care of it and you will be paying twice that for a root canal. That's what happened to Ryan a few months ago! So we bought some Dental insurance

Karen said...

So sorry about your 'cavities', Nicole. I would get a 2nd opinion too. I have a great dentist story. Once I was getting a cavity filled and the Dr. put the shot needle in my mouth to numb me and stuck the needle in my tongue! I had a numb tongue for 6 months! Needless to say, I didn't go back to that dentist again.

Glad Alison is feeling better.

Emily said...

Look at you and your 10 comments :) This makes me terrified to go see a dentist!! Ay yi yi. I probably have at least nine. I can see some dark spots in my mouth that don't hurt but they are probably cavities. How do you know when it's bad enough that you'd need a root canal? Probably when they hurt?? Geez! I guess if I were you I'd get a second opinion....Poor Dr. Black!! I wish I could see him again. He always told us we were perfect. Do you remember that? What a nice guy! Maybe just take care of the 3 for now? And who knew that having kids ruins your teeth? Reading all these comments has totally enlightened me!

Wendy said...

Ugh. I totally agree--these are two of my least favorite things to deal with! Both my girls have asthma so we have a nebulizer and have to do breathing treatments anytime they get a cold. It's not so bad when they get older, cause I can usually distract them by reading with them or letting them watch tv while doing it. Breathing treatments with babies is another story! I usually have to hold them tight and let them scream for the ten minutes it takes. The good news is, the medicine really gets into their lungs that way!

And I would probably get a second opinion too. BJ went to a dentist a few years ago and had like $5,000 worth of work he supposedly needed done. He went to another guy and it was half as much. And I always have cavities after having babies too--I'm worried that I'll need major work after this twin pregnancy! P.S. Sorry for the novel--I didn't realize I had so much to say on the topic!!! :)

Niederfam said...

You are KIDDING me........maybe seek a second opinion???? WOW........I would probably fix the three and sleep on it, but then you wonder if you should fix em all before they get bigger/worse. NIGHTMARE. So so so sorry.

My teeth went straight downhill since pregnancy, first cavity ever with Mitt. They really do a DOOZY on he body, right???? Incuding teeth. Good thing they are worth it.

Glad Ali is doing better!!! ;) Can't wait for the sleepover this weekend. YAY.