On Thursday, September 22nd, David and I took Noah to CHKD to have all 4 of his wisdom teeth removed. It has taken me a while to write about it, for it was a procedure racked with some difficulty and weeks of healing. Noah has been a champion, I think I needed more healing than he did after the surgery.
At Noah's last dentist appointment, we were told that Noah had one wisdom tooth growing TOWARD his back teeth, and would have to be removed. After consulting the recommended oral surgeon, he suggested that we have all four teeth removed so Noah would not have to undergo surgery and anesthesia another time for these teeth. We agreed with his advice and his office set up an appointment with CHKD to have them all removed. We arrived at 8am...the surgery finally happened at about 11am...was over by a little after 12pm...and we left the hospital at 2:30pm. The whole recovery time was a bit upsetting ...Noah was on pain meds, but we could tell he did NOT feel well at all and because of his inability to keep his mouth closed for the required clotting time, his teeth were bleeding a lot. How did we know this, you ask? No, blood was not coming out of his mouth, but when I suctioned his g-tube for gas bubbles before going home and for the next number of days, there was A LOT of blood in his stomach!! I wound up intermittently putting rolled up gauze in his mouth for the next few days, and that seemed to help, but I had to vent his g-tube at least every hour for gas and to make sure the bleeding was subsiding and emptying his stomach when things got bad.. Gross...huh?? He ran a fever for about a day, but the bleeding was the most difficult part.
Well, I'd love to say that it all ended after a few days, but occasional bleeding spells happened for the next week and a half...a loosened blog clot....sneezing that made the bleeding start(he finally got on an antihistamine which REALLY helped!!)...it was a tough couple weeks.
It was so hard to watch Noah be so uncomfortable. He didn't smile or laugh for days after the surgery...it's funny how even with Noah's limited abilities...when he doesn't smile or laugh...you know he isn't feeling well, and the sounds of his laughter and his beautiful smile are very missed!! I gave him LOTS of juice bars crushed up and containers of ice cream during the first week...he LOVED IT and ate and ate!! There is one interesting thing that happened the second day after the surgery that let me know that I would put his food on hold for another day.
The second morning after surgery, I came over to Noah's food pump and was going to start his feeding, when I noticed him looking up at the food with a furrowed brow. I continued hooking everything up...Noah HAD to have some food(with surgery and the 1st day after, I had not fed him much at all!). Again, Noah looked up at his food bag and machine, and furrowed his brow. I stood there and thought...you know, if I had had surgery, I probably would not be hungry for chicken, peas and cranberries(that's whats in his food)...so I turned the pump off. I fed him bowls of ice cream twice that day and bowls of crushed juice bars just as many, and he didn't hesitate once to eat every last bite, not another furrowed brow that day...THAT is how I listen and hear what Noah is saying by sometimes just watching his face!
We are now a month removed, and all is well in Noah's mouth once again...happiness is once again a part of his countenance...and ice cream and crushed juice bars are still a part of the daily menu:)!! WHEW!!
Blessings to you all!!!
At Noah's last dentist appointment, we were told that Noah had one wisdom tooth growing TOWARD his back teeth, and would have to be removed. After consulting the recommended oral surgeon, he suggested that we have all four teeth removed so Noah would not have to undergo surgery and anesthesia another time for these teeth. We agreed with his advice and his office set up an appointment with CHKD to have them all removed. We arrived at 8am...the surgery finally happened at about 11am...was over by a little after 12pm...and we left the hospital at 2:30pm. The whole recovery time was a bit upsetting ...Noah was on pain meds, but we could tell he did NOT feel well at all and because of his inability to keep his mouth closed for the required clotting time, his teeth were bleeding a lot. How did we know this, you ask? No, blood was not coming out of his mouth, but when I suctioned his g-tube for gas bubbles before going home and for the next number of days, there was A LOT of blood in his stomach!! I wound up intermittently putting rolled up gauze in his mouth for the next few days, and that seemed to help, but I had to vent his g-tube at least every hour for gas and to make sure the bleeding was subsiding and emptying his stomach when things got bad.. Gross...huh?? He ran a fever for about a day, but the bleeding was the most difficult part.
Well, I'd love to say that it all ended after a few days, but occasional bleeding spells happened for the next week and a half...a loosened blog clot....sneezing that made the bleeding start(he finally got on an antihistamine which REALLY helped!!)...it was a tough couple weeks.
It was so hard to watch Noah be so uncomfortable. He didn't smile or laugh for days after the surgery...it's funny how even with Noah's limited abilities...when he doesn't smile or laugh...you know he isn't feeling well, and the sounds of his laughter and his beautiful smile are very missed!! I gave him LOTS of juice bars crushed up and containers of ice cream during the first week...he LOVED IT and ate and ate!! There is one interesting thing that happened the second day after the surgery that let me know that I would put his food on hold for another day.
The second morning after surgery, I came over to Noah's food pump and was going to start his feeding, when I noticed him looking up at the food with a furrowed brow. I continued hooking everything up...Noah HAD to have some food(with surgery and the 1st day after, I had not fed him much at all!). Again, Noah looked up at his food bag and machine, and furrowed his brow. I stood there and thought...you know, if I had had surgery, I probably would not be hungry for chicken, peas and cranberries(that's whats in his food)...so I turned the pump off. I fed him bowls of ice cream twice that day and bowls of crushed juice bars just as many, and he didn't hesitate once to eat every last bite, not another furrowed brow that day...THAT is how I listen and hear what Noah is saying by sometimes just watching his face!
We are now a month removed, and all is well in Noah's mouth once again...happiness is once again a part of his countenance...and ice cream and crushed juice bars are still a part of the daily menu:)!! WHEW!!
Blessings to you all!!!
I'm glad the wisdom teeth ordeal is over for you all. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for you. Ice cream and juice bars sounds like a good solution to that furrowed brow. :-)
ReplyDeleteWOW! That sounded like an ordeal.. I now repent of being so upset at Logan (14yrs old) getting braces! and complaining about how hard it was or going to be.. I am Blessed.. and so are you ! We know God's Mercy New & fresh everyday.. and we get thru it dont we !! :-)
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