Monday, July 5 I had to go pick Sarah up from school and take her back to the orthodontist. I gave her the numbing pill as soon as I saw her. You know, cuz they made such a big deal out of it last time, and she had thrown up without it. Well guess what? Just as we were pulling into the parking lot at the doctor's, she threw up from the horrible taste of the pill! I felt so bad for Sarah, but also slightly justified in taking the stance I had last time. It doesn't matter if she has the pill, or not. She has a super sensitive gag reflex, as a super strong aversion to certain tastes, and is pretty much going to throw up every time we go to the orthodontist unless they can figure out a different way of handling it. I suggested gas to the doctor during the last visit, not to completely knock her out, but make her so relaxed and sleepy that she doesn't freak out and gag. He was totally against it. Said it was way to aggressive for such a minor problem. Okay, well, your staff doesn't think it's minor, and neither does Sarah.
So I comforted Sarah as best I could, and as we walked into the office, I asked if they had something she could change into while I tried to wash her shirt out in the sink. I mean, the poor girl had to go back to school afterward. I couldn't let her go with that on her clothes. In hindsight, I should have just taken her home first and had her put on a clean shirt, but I wasn't thinking clearly right then. I was in panic mode, and just reacting to the situation, not thinking it through. One of the nice assistants found a t-shirt from who knows where that fit Sarah almost perfectly, and they let her keep it until our next visit. So nice.
She needed to be slightly numb because they were attaching the metal rings of the palette extender on her back molars. It covers pretty much the entire roof of her mouth, making talking, chewing, even just swallowing, difficult. She was in a bit of pain already, and I was feeling so bad for her. Then the assistant tells me I need to crank this thing open wider every morning and every night for the next 10 days. Oh my poor baby. They showed me how to do it in the office, and Sarah just cringed, because it hurt so bad. I took her back to school, knowing I would see her at lunch, and hoping she wouldn't have too rough a time of it.
When she arrived home for lunch along with all the other kids, I could tell it wasn't as bad as I feared. She was smiling a bit, and not in tears. But she could only lick the soup off her spoon, it hurt too much for her to eat it normally. And then she only managed a few spoonfuls before the effort was too much and she gave up. :( And then, of course, that night, I had to inflict even more pain and crank the thing open wider. It hurt so bad, she actually asked for some pain medication. She NEVER does that, so I knew it must have been pretty awful. She was finally able to sleep, after the drugs kicked in, but then of course, the next morning, I had to crank it some more. It was torture for us both. But I just kept telling both of us, that her teeth were going to look so pretty when it was all through, and that this was the worst part of the whole thing. By the end of the first week, she was able to eat more food, although still not everything, and she didn't seem to be in much pain anymore, either. She is my tough, brave little girl for putting up with all that. Good job, Sarah!