First Dentist Appointment

This morning I planned to stop at Walmart (to fill 2 week's worth of Pulmicort for Ian) and Fashion Bug (to use a $10 off $25 coupon that will be expiring in a few days) en route to gymnastics (to make up for the class we missed last week). Then I planned to go straight from gymnastics to the dentist for Nadia's first appointment. Well things didn't go as smoothly as planned. First we left a few minutes later than I wanted to. Then it took a long time for them to enter Ian's information because we've never had an Rx filled there. She said it would be ready in 15 minutes. We picked up a few items in the store and came back about 20 minutes later. They said they hadn't even started working on it yet because they didn't realize we were waiting for it. What?!? We didn't have 15 more minutes to spare so we left without the Pulmicort and headed to Fashion Bug. I thought I'd dash in and grab something and dash out a few minutes later. I did pick out a few tops really quickly, but although there were 2 employees standing behind the counter, only one was working and she was having a gabfest with the woman in line in front of me. I waited a few minutes and then realized we were going to be late for gymnastics so we left without buying anything. I was 0-2 at that point! We got to gymnastics exactly at 11:15, which is when the class is supposed to start. I was really confused when the substitute ended the class at 11:30. It turns out they started the class 15 minutes early today. We missed half of the class. I was really regretting having spent any time in Fashion Bug at that moment as then we wouldn't have missed as much of the class. The upside of being dismissed from the gym 15 minutes early was this made it possible for me to stop at Walmart to get Ian's prescription and still get to the dentist appointment on time.

Nadia did really, really well. She waltzed right back with the hygienist and was extremely cooperative and shed not one tear. The only thing she said she didn't like was the flossing (which the hygienist said I should start doing with her 2-3 times a week). She was an angel during the xray of the tooth that turned gray, the cleaning and flouride treatment by the hygienist, and the exam by the dentist. I was pleasantly surprised! They gave her a HUGE fish balloon (it actually featured one large fish and three small fish plus some bubbles). As soon as Ian saw it he wanted it. So they went and blew up a Bob the Builder balloon for him which was even bigger than Nadia's balloon (MUCH bigger than Ian). Unfortunately it only lasted for about one minute as while we were en route to our car it collided with a parking sign and popped. I felt horrible, but then I reminded myself that I was carrying Ian, my purse, the diaper bag, two large balloons, and Nadia's hand so that we could cross the street safely. I was just trying to make sure the balloons didn't go up in the sky. It didn't cross my mind to worry about what they might come in contact with. Next time I'll be more careful. The dentist said she has a bit of a cross bite but otherwise everything looks fine (aside from a gray tooth from falling). Nadia gave the hygienist a hug at the end. I was very relieved as I pictured it being a much more difficult experience than it was.

I don't think I ever shared the results of Paul's tongue biopsy. It was negative thankfully. Unfortunately our dental insurance wouldn't pay for any of it. We had to pay $94 for the dentist to use a steel brush on Paul's tongue. I think that's highway robbery. They said our medical insurance will pay for the laboratory part of the biopsy. However since Paul hasn't been to a doctor yet this year, that will mean we'll need to pay his $75 deductible. So we're going to be paying about $170 for a biopsy that my gut tells me wasn't necessary. I could be 100% wrong, but my feeling is that since they never need to do fillings or crowns or anything on Paul, they did a tongue biopsy. I guess I'm just not very trusting of this dentist. Maybe I'm wrong to feel that way. Maybe everything they've done has truly been necessary.

As for Ian's medications, I mailed an application to the Allergist so he can sign it and send it to Merck and it seems we qualify to receive Singulair for free. PTL! I am praying the application will be processed and our first shipment will arrive before we run out of the free samples we received on Tuesday. I am also in the lengthier process of applying to AstraZeneca to receive the Pulmicort for free. I believe we also will qualify. I am praying that the first shipment will arrive within 2 weeks as I only filled 2 weeks worth today at Walmart ($174). It's a blessing to know that these companies will give away medication to those without prescription drug coverage who make under a certain amount of $$. Regina, have you looked into this with the medications your children are on? The company which makes Prevacid doesn't have such a program. The Allergist faxed a letter to our health insurance. Hopefully they'll pay for the EleCare because it took less than 3 days for Ian to polish off one can. Yikes.