OK so don't freak out. This is not Henry. But this very well could have been Henry. The day started out with Henry jumping off the bed and as he did he must have tweaked his back because as he headed up the stairs he was crying. When Mommy came down to help him up he lost his footing and his feet came out from under him and he started howling in pain. The next 20 minutes he shook as he had spasms in his back. Now we are all too familiar with back problems because Henry was hospitalized a few years ago when he did something similar. It can be very serious and if not treated immeadiately with surgery dachshunds can have permanent damage to their backs/spines and lose the use of their back legs. Knowing all this, Mommy started bawling and Daddy told her to let Henry rest for an hour and see how he was doing. After an hour, Henry was walking gingerly around the house so Daddy said he would make an appointment for him at the vet in the evening to get him checked out.With that excitement out of the way it was on to the next health issue of the day. This morning was my appointment at the Primary Children's dental clinic. My parents knew this was not going to have a happy ending but it needed to happen. Grandma and Mommy and I drove to PCMC in a pretty good rain storm but easily found parking and got into the building without too much difficulty. Right off the bat there was a nice man there who was handing out stickers - perfect! Once we made it up to the third floor we had a little bit of a wait before the office opened. About the time it did, though, I had a messy diaper and Mommy was horrified to realize there were no diapers in the diaper bag! Now my diaper bag is about 30 pounds because it also is considered my medical bag so it probably isn't a big surprise that the fact that there were no diapers was not noticed. Thank goodness for being in a pediatric hospital because they were able to give Mommy some diapers to stock her back up - whew!
It didn't take long to get back into the room and before the dentist had a chance to come in the room the office manager came by to introduce herself. They are starting a program of "rounding" on patients to ask them about their experience - what is working well and what isn't. Since Mommy is brand new to PCMC she had a few questions and got some great answers. Mommy also gave her some feedback on some areas that didn't go as smoothly (pre-registration, welcome packet).
When the dentist came in, Mommy gave him a quick update on my unfortunate dental history. Then it was time for the exam so Mommy laid me down on her lap and put my head on the dentist's lap. While Mommy held down my hands, the dentist did an exam. I was not a happy camper and there were lots of tears. Unfortunately, my parents were right and there is more dental work in my future. I have at least two crowns and probably one root canal that need to be done. The dentist is also considering crowning more teeth that are at risk for future root canals.
After the exam (while I soothed myself with a new stuffed animal) Mommy and the dentist talked about all the reasons I am at risk for dental problems and the limited things my parents can do to compensate. Basically, in a perfect world I would never eat anything by mouth. But because I like to eat and at some point I want to get my g tube out it creates some real problems. With very little saliva flow in my mouth after I eat it is best that my parents have me drink a good amount of water to wash out my mouth. The dentist is also ordering in some special newborn brushes to help with making my brushing easier with the limited ability to open my mouth. On the way out, Mommy scheduled my OR time to get all my dental work done in July.
We arrived home and found Henry feeling a little perkier which made Mommy feel better. Later in the evening, Mommy, Henry and I headed to the vet appointment. Daddy was running late and had to meet us there. Mommy struggled to hold Henry and get me across the busy parking lot. Once inside, Mommy had to navigate both of us past the big dog (normally Henry would take it on but he was shaking like a leaf). While still trying to hold Henry and keep me from running around the reception area, Mommy was asked to fill out some paperwork since I am new to the office. About that time the receptionist wisely suggested putting us in an exam room so Mommy could concentrate. Thankfully, Daddy showed up shortly afterward. It didn't take long before the vet came in as well and she did a short exam on Henry up on the exam table. I thought it was pretty funny to see Henry being manipulated in lots of different ways and kept up a steady stream of cackling. The vet felt like Henry probably tweaked his back but didn't blow it out completely. She decided to start him on some Prednisone to help with the inflammation and just keep an eye on him. My parents were very relieved and got ready to pack up and head home. About that time, I got pretty ticked off and demanded that I have an exam as well. This is a sad commentary on my life that anytime I see someone in scrubs with a stethescope that I expect to be the patient and when I am not I am pissed that I am not the center of attention! My anger only increased when Henry got a "treat" (to give him the meds) and I didn't! The vet wasn't quite sure what to do with this situation except to say she wasn't used to treating cute little girls so she didn't have any cute little girl treats to offer.
Peyton Nicole Smith
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