Oh, Annie ... My Sweet, Crazy Girl ... Yet Another Hill

I have been planning to update the blog since before Christmas, but the only news I really had to relate was the same old, same old of life with a two year old. Well, not any two year old. Annie is a force unto herself! She is funny, engaging, crazy, ill-tempered, goofy, bright -- and that was all in the last five minutes.

So, in the meantime, we've had a little something come up. Once again, I am turning to a blog entry to help me make some sense of it. I always feel better after I order my thoughts (somewhat ordered -- harder to do when Annie is awake, as she is now) and get them out on the blog. I would venture to guess that the ethernet-era feeling of being connected to everyone who worries about Annie along with us has something to do with that, too.

I know it's not heart-related, but I am still feeling whalloped. Maybe it's because we are not in touch with the overwhelming fear we felt initially with her heart condition, or maybe we have learned to live with a constant "status quo" level of worry while forgetting to arm ourselves against the possibililty of new challenges. For whatever reason, realized or unrealized, my heart isn't listening to my brain when it repeats the "it's not a heart transplant" mantra that has gotten us through so many of Annie's other issues. I am feeling done. Wiped out. I can't wrap my brain around it ....

We have been taking Annie to the dentist regularly since she was just a year old. With a heart condition, it is even more important that we stay on top of anything going on in her mouth and guard against infections that could enter her bloodstream and impact her heart. We saw the dentist -- who is Harvard- and Boston Children's-trained -- in September of last year and he noted the start of some decay on one of Annie's teeth. He wanted to see Annie back in four months instead of six so we could stay on top of it. We have known that decay may be an issue for Annie all along. She doesn't swallow properly, so her milk and anything else tends to sit in her mouth for long periods. The medications compound that problem, as does our need to thicken her milk with rice cereal. And if that isn't enough, the fact that she is not supposed to have any thin liquids, including water, is the icing on top of this dental conundrum.

Meanwhile, Annie chipped one of her front teeth shortly before her second birthday. With all of the climbing, carousing, and general mischief-making that is the backdrop for Annie's life, I commented to folks that I really was quite proud that we got Annie to her second birthday with "only" a chipped tooth -- no stitches or broken bones or ER visits for accidents. (Yes, I like to live life dangerously and taunt fate. Apparently.) Lately, though, the edge of the chip seemed to be quite sharp and I had decided to call the dentist this week to see if we should come in and have it smoothed off. That made me think about Annie's teeth in general, especially since we have been talking about her jaw construction a lot lately with the Speech Therapist and Physical Therapist. (Annie's mouth just doesn't open very wide.) So I finally took a good look ... and good grief. I knew we had a problem.

It looked like she had crazy build-up on her back molars and I could feel spots on her front, bottom teeth that didn't seem quite right to me either. It feels like all this had happened to her teeth overnight -- it's not like I don't see her front teeth constantly! The spots aren't dark, though, and who knows? Well, my brain thinks it knows and I am kicking myself that we didn't brush better, check more, SOMETHING! Still, I figured (and hoped) we were headed to a serious cleaning and maybe a filling or two ... nothing drastic.

We were able to get in with Jamie's dentist but not the dentist who has seen Annie in the past. We chatted about the Catch-22 of Annie's feeding/nutrition versus dental health existence. After a few minutes of chatting, she took a good look in Annie's mouth. Yep, all cavities. Moderate to severe decay. Everything -- even the x-rays that will tell us more about what we are dealing with -- will have to be done under ... ugh ... general anesthesia. The repairs on the cavities on her front teeth (top and bottom) are tricky because they are at the gumline, so it's more than likely they will have to pull all of those baby teeth. The molars will be around until she is ten years old or so, but they can't repair them -- they are too far gone. So our little two year old is going to get four silver crowns. (As to it happening so quickly -- there is some thought that children develop the bacteria that cause cavities sometime between 18 months and 24 months, so that might be why it happened so suddenly and took everyone -- even the dentist -- by surprise.)

We are being referred to the Dental Department at Children's Hospital in Boston because, of course, there is no other place anyone is willing to sedate Annie. (Obviously, we're totally on board with that!) The dentist who saw Annie trained under the head of the department, so she is referring us to her. We don't know how quickly we will be able to get an appointment, but we will know more in about a week or so (hopefully). I'll call Dr. Smoot today and chat with her about this ... stuff.

Huh. I do feel a bit better. It helps to keep the brain occupied and focused a bit. Of course, I have saved ELEVEN (yes, I really counted) items from being chewed by Cora while I was writing this and I now have a wee bit of Play-Doh spread across the dining room table .... But that's just a normal 10 minutes around here anyway! (I am living the book/movie Marley and Me -- holy cow, these labs like to CHEW everything!!)

On the bright side: IT'S NOT HER HEART. She can live without teeth, not so much her heart. She's still too young to know what's coming. She won't be bothered about how she looks without teeth for four years. Hey, it's not like she chews anything anyway, right?!? Book club tonight, where laughs and a good time are guaranteed. Puppy fostering this weekend that will keep me too busy to think about it very much. Ok, I'm out ....

On the down side: I'm sure you can ascertain the negatives on your own. To those obvious ones, I have two more to add. Item number 12 did not survive Cora and I just had to throw a lovely pair of shoes away. The formatting on blogger is giving me grief that I just don't need right now. Grrrr!!!

As always, thank you for your thoughts and prayers for Annie. Throw in one or two for her parents' sanity, would you? Thanks.

Photos, top to bottom: Christmas, Jamie holding Annie one time after she had fallen, Annie with one of the rescue pups we had picked up off the transport truck from the south, Cora kissing Annie, Jamie on Christmas morning, Annie with a barrette -- a rare sighting!, Mam let Annie play in the sink at the hotel!, Jamie, What else would you do with a blanket besides wrap it around your head?, "I took two minutes to send an e-mail and this is all my two year old could do?!?", and Annie's first adventure bowling (ten pin -- great for the kids!).

And now ... See? We brush her teeth ... er, let the Kindergartner brush her teeth ... in hindsight, hmmm .... :-) (Or, alternate title: A brief second of sibling love. Brief, I tell you, brief.)

Sometimes, Annie even dresses up to brush her teeth. Can she rock the diaper/leg warmers look or what?!?