Katrina's Ordeal

Two weeks ago I brought Katrina to the dentist. She was in terrible pain and the left side of her face was very swollen. She had started complaining of pain while we were camping in Idaho, where we attended Michelle's graduation (or, almost graduation, but that's another story). Doesn't it always seem these kind of problems happen on the weekend? I kept her on ibuprofen, but by Sunday evening, 600 mg wasn't even enough to keep the pain at bay, and every day the swelling got worse.

So, first thing Monday morning I tried to call the dentist's office. I got no answer, and I was feeling pretty desperate to get her tooth taken care of. I decided to do something that seemed selfish, but I believed, and still do, that it was the right thing to do. We went in without an appointment and sat in the waiting room until we were taken care of. Of course, since she looked so bad, and the situation truly was urgent, they took us right in and examined her.

Dr. Bateman said she needed immediate surgery to drain the abscess. An abscess is an infection that starts in the root of a tooth and continues up into the bone. Fortunately for us, Dr. Bateman's son is an oral surgeon, and his office is right across the hall from his father's practice. He summoned his son and they both rearranged their schedules so that, not only did she have the oral surgery, but she also was able to come back to Dr. Bateman's office for a root canal to complete the treatment.

Things went pretty smoothly. The younger Dr. Bateman told me that he cleaned out an area the size of a marble where the infection had eaten away the bone. He assured me that it will grow back.

Once I got Katrina home and on her pain medication and a very strong antibiotic, she was feeling much, much better. Still swollen, I managed to get a smile out of her, which she would not give me earlier that day.



Now, 14 days later, she is still just a tiny bit extra puffy on her left cheek. She has healed up nicely and is pretty much back to normal. We hope she never has to go through that kind of ordeal again!