Thank heavens I had a vacation before my son’s dentist appointment - the day started off rough and just got worse. My husband and I had a great time in Vegas and got back Monday afternoon - we met my parents and the kiddos at dinner. After dinner we headed back to the house for a relaxing evening. Alexander was not to take anything for sleep - no melatonin, no clonidine, nothing. Ugh. Not only did he have a hard time falling asleep, he had a difficult time staying asleep. Then morning comes with a surprise accident in bed, he hasn’t done that in ages and we don’t have a waterproof cover. So our day started about 1.5 hours early. Not good because not only can he not eat or drink, we can’t give him his morning medicine (ADHD/aggression meds).
So the time comes for daddy to go to the airport for a business trip that he couldn’t cancel and for me to drop off my daughter with my mom. We got to the dentist’s office about ten minutes early and Alexander was just as chipper as could be. He didn’t seem nervous and was in a fantastic mood. The dentist came to talk to me and told me what was going to happen then they went ahead and checked Alexander’s lungs, pulse, and blood pressure. Everything checked out and per his weight he was to have 3.7 of Versed (I think mls) but they chose to give him less - 3.5.
We were taken to a little room with a chair, TV playing Cars, and a little mat, pillow and blanket for Alexander. He was given the Versed. At five minutes in the dentist checked and he was still acting normal. At six minutes in the giggling started. At seven minutes in he said he was missing a finger. At eight minutes he wanted to lay down on the mat and at nine minutes he said his hands felt funny. Ten minutes in I was in tears from laughing so hard and he was just giggling. Someone came and picked him up and carried him back to the treatment room.
About 15 minutes later the front desk calls me up and says that the tooth ended up being the “worst-case scenario” - he needed to have it removed. I gave the go-ahead and then after about ten more minutes he was done. I settled up the account and the dentist came to talk to me. He said that all of the rest of Alexander’s teeth look great - his enamel is good, no cavities etc. He said that this was an anomaly as usually with a cavity to this extent there are other problem teeth. He said Alexander did great and giggled throughout and would pause to say “what the heck?” - yup that’s my boy.
I then went back to the little room and Alexander was on the mat with cotton in his mouth. The dental assistant told me they were trying to keep him from chewing his cheek and tongue. I took over duties and ended up picking him up and holding him in my lap. He was still giddy and I had to take a picture of him to show him that his lip/tongue looked normal even though they felt weird. About 15 minutes later, all hell broke loose. The Versed started to wear off and Alexander became more aware of the numb lip feeling. For a sensory-defensive child, especially one who is orally defensive, this was not a pleasant sensation. He started his banshee screams and the mommy abuse began. I could get him distracted for short periods of time but not long. The dentist and assistants all came to help distract him as well. After an hour he passed the test to go home - the ability to stand up, take a few steps, and blood pressure/pulse were OK.
Thankfully I had the foresight to engage the childproof lock on the car door. The ride home was a nightmare. Alexander kicked and screamed and generally thrashed about. I even managed to get kicked in the head while driving 65 mph down the freeway. Thank heavens he’s a stickler for the seat belt because he never unbuckled. He started off telling me he was leaving me and moving in with Auntie. Then started the “I want to kick your butt, no really I want to kick your butt” which was followed by “No, I’m going to kill you.” After awhile that changed to “I just want to be dead.” Alexander has never said anything like this before so I knew it was the medicine.
Once we got home I had to deal with a few more hours of these random outbursts/meltdowns. He wasn’t able to just eat right away - I had to start with clear liquids and then move up to soft foods. Once it faded off I kind of casually asked about his day and he’s one of the lucky winners who don’t have an amnesiac effect from the drug. He remembered everything - from being carried to the chair to all of the things he said to me. He said the leg straps felt weird but that he didn’t freak out. He’d get this real sheepish look when I mentioned the car ride home.
Around dinner time he brings me a note that says “I love you mommy, sorry for attacking you.” My heart swelled, I felt so bad that he had to feel like this. I gave him a big hug and kiss and told him that not only was it mommy’s job to be attacked but that he wasn’t doing it, the medicine was. He reassured me that he didn’t want to move in with Auntie, kill me, or be dead. I told him that I knew that Alex wasn’t saying those words, that the Versed was.
The day ended with Alex and I cuddling in my bed. He bounced back quickly and was at school yesterday. I told my husband that if Alexander needs something like this again that I was not going alone - no way can I go through that again, it was physically and emotionally draining. I’m not even the one that had to go through the tooth extraction!
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