A day in the jungle

Where to start? I know I'm long past due for an update so here is an update about my adventures of just today:

Jessica has strep. Poor kid is miserable but is on antibiotics so hopefully she will get to feeling a bit better soon. She had a hard time getting to sleep last night and we both ended up in tears. Jess finally got settled in at about 4am and then Justen's alarm went off at 4:30. Thank goodness Jess didn't wake up but Karl and I did! I don't think I got to sleep until after 5am. I was a freaking lunatic when I woke up. I have got to get in to see my doctor... the antidepressant is NOT working and my anxiety is way up. After sobbing for a few minutes I pulled myself together and called my doc and set up an appointment but I can't get in until the 23rd. Great. BUT the gal I talked to told me that if things get worse then I can call her sooner. My doctor doesn't work every day - only M, W & F and I found out that she is leaving the area. Double great. I had to really pull myself together and get ready for the day.

I had to wake Jess up at noon to give her the Carafate (otherwise known as IHATEcarafate around here). She was not feeling very well but she ate some of her lunch an hour later and took her antibiotics along with her other 2039485747 meds. Jess told me, "something feels weird right here" and pointed to the space between her two front top teeth. Her gums there are red dark purple and her two teeth are a little bit loose. I wanted to cry (again). This poor kid goes through so much every single day - why can't just ONE THING be easy? Her diuretics are making her mouth very dry and causing gingivitis. (We can't take her off her diuretics because she is in congestive heart failure and her lungs and body will fill with fluid.) Anyway, I told her to try not to pick at her teeth and to try to bite things with her other teeth. I also reminded her that she needs to brush her teeth every day. She said OK.

Karl came home early and brought us some lunch. I had to wolf down my hamburger and rush off to the dentist. First thing I did was mention Jessica's gum/front teeth problem to the dentist and he said to get an appointment - he should see her. This dentist we go to volunteers at a clinic for children with congenital defects/problems and that's where we first met him. He was so good with Jessica that we found out what insurance he accepted and then during our next open enrollment with Karl's job, we switched and we've taken the whole family to him ever since. He's a good guy and his whole staff - and his dental partner - are awesome. So... I need to get her an appointment at the clinic - hopefully next week.

Anyway... I had to have a crown placed on the lower left side of my mouth (I already had a temp crown on there) and I had to have a cavity filled on the lower right side of my mouth. An old filling had broken off and I needed to have it fixed. The crown went on without a hitch and we didn't even need to numb the area. *whew* I told the dentist to not hurt me - I was not in the mood to be hurt after not getting much sleep with Jess being ill. Well.... I've never had this happen before, but as he was numbing the area on the right side of my mouth, the needle touched a nerve - it felt like my jaw exploded! I apparently jolted and remember seeing something squirting out of my mouth - it was the last of the stuff from the needle - I had jumped so bad it popped out of my mouth! The dentist said, "oh no.. where did you feel it?" I was still stunned, I guess, and I just made the motion with my hand like and explosion. He said that he must have touched a nerve. He tried to explain how the nerves spread out and are invisible... blah, blah, blah... as I was trying to regain my whereabouts. He said I probably had enough of the medicine to numb the area and I thought, "there's no way in hell you are putting that thing back in my mouth, buddy!" He told me to relax and get numb. Relax? I was fighting back the tears again. Crap! Why did this have to happen today? I was already an emotional basket case. *deep breath* Fortunately the dental assistant got me a cup of water when I asked for it and we joked that it was a test. If I couldn't drink the water without spilling it all over then I was numb enough for them to do the filling. The rest of the filling was uneventful - thank goodness! My jaw, tongue and lip were tingly for quite some time and it was quite amusing for me to try to talk to Karl and Jess on the cell phone.

Then it was time for me to go pick up Brandon from school. Karl had taken the truck to go to the city to get a permit for us to enclose our carport and Jessica had an aide at home with her. On the way to get Brandon I was thinking about how desperately he needed shoes. He had shown me a huge gash in his shoes and said that it gets filled with dirt every day that he has to run in PE. I also had promised Justen to buy him some clothes for church and work as his birthday gift (last month!)... Justen had just gotten off of work and didn't have anything (productive) planned for the rest of the day. I remembered that Austin needed shoes too. So after picking up Brandon I went home and gathered up the other two boys and we all went to Walmart. I'm sure some people there may have thought I was either drunk or mentally challenged since my speech was slurred and I kept dabbing up the drool from the right side of my mouth. (Although most people probably would have been right about the mentally challenged part - who in their right mind would take 3 boys young men to go shopping after having such a bad night and then horrible dental appointment?) Do you want to know the best part? We had a good time! It was nice to get out with my sons and they joked around and got a long really well! I think the last time I took all 3 of my boys out shopping together was when either one or two of them were in carseats! I try to spend time with them either one or two at a time but it was fun taking all 3. We bought a dvd and a coloring book for Jessica so she was pretty happy too. We brought home McDonalds for everyone and when Karl got home he said we have been approved for the permit and we can FINALLY START WORKING ON THE CRAFTROOM!!!!

yay.