On podcast episode 30 – Adventures of the Dentures – Zen Master Style – we had kicked off getting full dentures for Zen Master. This post continues our little adventure into toothlessness and uncharted dental territory.
October 9th was the big day. We’ve been anticipating and bracing for it. I’d make a comparison to having a baby but I won’t. I’d make a comparison to graduation day, but that seems a tad bit too light hearted.
I could always make a comparison to a wedding day but nope, not doing that either. Weddings mean getting together, a happy coupling, blah blah.
Getting extractions is removing teeth. I’d equate that to a divorce.
Ok, so I seriously digressed.
Focus, Sally, focus!
Prep Work for the Adventure of the full Dentures
The couple of weeks prior to the big day were relatively busy. Multiple calls to the insurance company to see if Ensure milk was covered because dude was going to be unable to chew food and still, you know, needed to eat.
The answer was yes, and the script needed to come from his primary care doctor as medically necessary. Multiple back and forth calls between his PCP and the insurance company, ranging from a few minutes to an hour & half.
And sprinkled in those conversations with the PCP was the need for her to sign a consent form for the extractions because Pop is a stroke survivor and needed to be off his blood thinners. So I got the forms signed from both the PCP and Cardiologist.
Hands Full of Dentures
While I had to deal with the PCP and insurance company in one hand, I had to handle Zen Master in the other. He was anxious about the blood thinners. (Because a couple of months ago, he had to have two teeth pulled and he bled for 5 days straight. Because of those darn blood thinners.)
Note to self at that time: stop taking blood thinners when you’re getting something pulled out of your head.
Lessons learned from that Note to Self: Stop taking blood thinners a few days before the big day.
So while he’d quiver on and off with anxiety and absentmindedness, I was calming him down and holding his hand all the way through. He got a bit more needier than normal, but I couldn’t blame him. Dude was getting ready to say good-bye to his teeth. Of course it’d be traumatic.
Lessons learned from this whole ordeal: PEOPLE, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH. GO VISIT YOUR DENTIST REGULARLY.
’nuff said.
Unexpected Nervous Bundle
So the day before, I get a phone call from the dentist, Dr. Tony. He was an anxious bundle that I had zero expectation of needing to handle. Dude admitted that he was worried because he never had to work on getting full dentures for a stroke survivor. And the patient would be off his blood thinners while he was sitting in the dental chair.
I stared at my cell phone as Dr. Tony rambled on so fast that I really didn’t know what he was saying.
Me: Can we start at the beginning, Dr. Tony? You lost me completely. (This was in the late afternoon/early evening when he called me. And keep in mind, I never speak directly with the dentists. Because they usually have their office correspond with me. Or that’s how it was in the past.)
Dr. Tony: ….ramble….ramble….off blood thinner…he had a stroke…ramble
Me: Everything’s going to be just fine. You just do good work and we’ll be in and out of there with no problems, all smooth sailing. As soon as the bleeding stops, Pop will be back on his blood thinners. Easy peasy. You cool with that?
Dr. Tony: (breathing better and slower) I just wanted to let you know my concerns. Ok. See you tomorrow.
Big Day Cometh
Dr. Tony had blocked out 3 hours (I think that’s what he said) and got us to show up a half hour earlier than originally scheduled. He had laid out bone grafts, stitches, and other what-nots for a truly worst case scenario.
But thank goodness that didn’t come to pass. Because it was really smooth sailing.
So with the help of his assistant as well as his own adult son who just graduated from dental school last year, Dr. Tony set about on Pop’s teeth.
We were in and out of there by 10:30 with neither hiccups nor top set of teeth. And we had walked away $8,000 heavier than when we had first walked in, the first 5 implants now on my Care Credit card.
Armed with a fistful of prescriptions, I drove us to the drugstore and then finally, home.
Zen Master was in good spirits when we got home. He was feeling good, but I really think it was because of the Novocaine. His mouth was still numb and more specifically, he wasn’t feeling any tooth aches at the moment.
Happy Zen Master = Relieved Sally in the Zen
We have three weeks to heal before our next appointment, when at that point, Dr. Tony will pull the bottom set of teeth out. Now Zen Mum and I have to ponder on liquid diet meal plans for our toothless diabetic stock surviving Zen Master.
To Be Continued.
