Last week (plus a few days) Forrest came down with a pretty serious tooth ache. Yes, I said tooth ache. A measley old pain in his mouth. After a few dentist appointments, he started swelling up. A lot. I mean A LOT a lot. The kind of swelling that made it look like he had a baseball in his cheek. Poor guy. He saw some specialists and had a root canal done. We thought that would fix it. Ha! Like I said, we were immature and inexperienced back then. He went back to the specialist every other day for a while to get it checked out. Still no improvement. Then on Saturday morning it got pretty bad, so he woke up and called his brother to take him to the ER. How I wish I could have gone with him - but someone had to stay home with the twins.
I was a nervous wreck while he was gone. He couldn't really talk because it was difficult to open his mouth, so he was texting me all the while telling me what the doctors were saying. Basically, the oral surgeon came in, took one look at him, and told him he was about a hair away from this becoming a life threatening situation. Seriously?! From a tooth. Life threatening. Ya I was terrified.
They debated over whether or not to keep him in the hospital over the weekend until he could have surgery Monday morning (today), but the doctor felt comfortable enough to send him home with in-home health care for the weekend. Believe it or not, that's a little bit cheaper than staying in the hospital. So he came home on Saturday afternoon with a nurse and a bunch of IV equipment in tow. The nurse taught me how to administer the antibiotic via the IV every 8 hours, and then left us to it. Seriously, we looked (and still do) like a pharmacy. Between the IV, equipment, pain killers, antibiotics, anti-nausea meds... it's crazy.
Poor guy hasn't had a real meal in over a week. Everything he consumes is through a straw. Soup, cream of wheat, pudding, ice cream, and smoothies. That's about it. So the four of us have basically camped out in our bedroom or the living room all week. I moved the twins' high chairs into the living room so that during meal time I could care for all 3 at once. Feeding them hasn't been too different though.. I puree everything for the twins, so now I just make an extra serving of whatever they're eating and give it to Forrest with a straw. For some reason he refused to eat tonight's dinner or pureed chicken and green beans though... weird.
This morning he was able to go in to get his tooth surgically removed and get some of the infection drained out. He was in a lot of pain afterward but I think the swelling is actually going down some. The oral surgeon is hopeful that he will be all healed up, infection free and ready for an implant in the next two weeks. Fingers crossed!
During all of this we have been so blessed to have such wonderful family and a fantastic ward who have helped with babysitting, providing meals, and coming to lend a hand around the house. Basically we have the best family and friends ever. And I have learned what it is really like to be in survival mode. At least, for me. (I know many people go through much, much worse.) So what will I do with my newfound experience and maturity, you ask? Be grateful for the days when I only have two little people who are completely dependent on me. And always always always go to the dentist at the first sign of a toothache.
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