ER visit.

Yep,you read the title correctly. Carly had to be taken to the ER today per our cardiologist. Remember my post from yesterday?? Well, the worry really kicked in today.

The day started off normal for a Tuesday. Carly was up and at 'em early this morning. Had toast and sausage for breakfast. Got cleaned up and dressed for school. We headed to the bust at 8:15. Off she went.

As the day went on. 11:30 to be exact. My phone rang. I looked at caller ID and realized it was the school. Oh wonderful. The school. What happened?? I answered and soon found out. My worst fear. Carly fell. Some dope, put her on a bike with training wheels and she fell off. Here's a smidgen of the conversation I had with the teacher over the phone:

teacher, "hi Joany"
me, "hi, what's up?"
teacher, "Carly was riding a bike at recess today and fell off"
---my heart skipped a beat at that moment
me, "she what?"
teacher, "um, she fell off a bike." "Did she have a loose tooth?"
me, "no"
teacher, "well, we're pretty sure she knocked a tooth out"
me, "I'm on my way"

I got to the school and found a couple of aides looking in the parking lot for Carly's tooth. I went into the classroom and thankfully squatted down to where Carly was looking at books. I looked into her mouth and discovered that the tooth was in fact still there. It was jammed into her gums. Let's just say, it's a good darn thing I was sitting down. I know I would have fainted dead away if I hadn't been. I sat for a minute thinking quickly. I needed to call cardiology and talk to them first. Carly has to have antibiotics before any dental procedures. I knew that. However, I never thought of her ever having a dental emergency.

Long story short. We were sent to the ER by cardiology. They wanted to be safe. They thought she may need oral surgery. So, off we went. We finally got to the ER around 2pm. Man, do they ever D R A G their feet. We sat and sat and sat and sat. Carly was suppose to have an antibiotic and pain meds as soon as we got there. Per cardie. That didn't happen. Matter of fact, no pain meds were give to Carly at all. Her antibiotic was brought in at 5pm. Except that we were down at the dental clinic having xrays of her teeth. We finally got back and tried getting the antibiotic down her. 4 tsp of the nastiest tasting medicine ever created. It was horrible. Carly gagged and barfed. The nurse said to hold on. She went and found a doctor. They then ordered a shot. The shot came at 6:40pm. It was in 2 syringes. Poor little girl had to get stuck in each thigh. Luckily, two nurses were in our room, one at each leg. So it was over quickly.



We were told soon after arriving at the ER that dental would come in and numb her up. Pull her tooth up to normal level and splint her bottom 3 front teeth. (I hadn't realized that two other teeth were loose.) Well, none of that sounded any fun to me. This was all per the ER doc. At this point, no one from the dental hospital had seen her yet.

Finally we got to see the dental doc., He said NO WAY to splinting a 7 year olds teeth. He said that's something you just do not do. He said that we were most likely looking at orthodontic work on the tooth that was jammed into the gum. Very likely, root canals on all three teeth. I about fell over. He then decided to get a set of xrays. As soon as he read them, he was thrilled. He said "oh this is good." Carly's roots had not closed completely up. This meaning, that the three teeth would likely be OK. The tooth that had been jammed had already started to come back up on it's own at this point. The doc said he was very optimistic that it would continue and get back into place.



The dental clinics verdict on her teeth. They say we lucked out. So far anyway. We are to watch that jammed tooth for 3 weeks. If it hasn't budged anymore. She will have to have a root canal on it for sure. The other 2 teeth should be OK. They should tighten back up on their own. His concern at this point was more for the jammed tooth. He was much more relaxed after seeing her roots were still open.

So, we need to take her to a dentist sometime this week. Have her watched for the next 3 weeks. And followed for a year. The dental doc said we were very lucky. He said this could have gotten very costly and time consuming. Not to mention, pure hell for Carly.

As for the school. Paul and I are very upset. At home, Carly is never alone on a bike with training wheels. Not even a trike. She can't even get on either one by herself, so we know that someone put her on the bike. No doubt, Carly was scared to death. Being on a bike with training wheels that teeters from side to side. As we all know they do. Not to mention, Carly doesn't have very good balance anyway. I know she was probably freaked completely out. No doubt, she was trying to get herself off of the bike. And took a tumble. Just what we DO NOT WANT or NEED!

She does have a few battle scars from the fall to go along with the teeth. She skinned her chin up pretty good. Her knee is torn up and her fingers on her left hand (the hand that doesn't work properly) are black now. Poor kid. She is staying home with me tomorrow. Guess I should have let her stay home today. She wanted to stay home and watch TV. She has a new favorite show, "Hi Five". She loves it and watches recorded episodes anytime she can get to the TV. The best part about that show, Carly says the name of the show. She walks around saying "hi five"!

Guess that's about it for tonight. I'm beat. We didn't get out of the ER until 7pm. Home at 8. Sure makes for a tired mama. I'm so thankful that Carly does so well with doctors. She just goes with whatever. She is happy and content in any hospital setting, as long as she has books to read!

Yes, the pictures were taken with my phone. I apologize again for the poor quality. Who thinks to grab a camera when going to the ER??? Not me, that's for sure.