Doctor Appts, Dentist Appt, and Surgery - Oh My!

During Tater's 9 month checkup appointment the doctor noted that the hydrocele he was born with has not resolved itself. Basically he has extra fluid around his te$ticles and possibly a hernia. We were told when he was born that these typically resolve themselves by 1 year old but in Tater's case it doesn't seem to be improving. So we got a referral to see a general surgeon.

Today I took Tater in to see the surgeon and he diagnosed him as having a inguinal hernia along with the hydrocele. At this time it is not causing him any issues but it will not resolve itself and we would have to have it surgically repaired. I'm not a fan of putting thing like this off so I told the doctor to go ahead and schedule it as soon as possible. I was a little shocked when he told me they could do it Monday morning at the outpatient surgery center at my local clinic. We did a little schedule reworking with my family and got my Mom to agree to come down and stay with Bear while we take Tater in Monday morning. It is a quick in and out surgery that should take an hour or so but it is still a little scary when they have to put your child under anethesia.

I will be glad to have this over with though and move on. Speaking of things I put off I finally took Bear in for his first dentist visit this week. Which ended up being a complete and total waste of time. When I first mentioned to the dentist last year that I thought it was time to bring Bear in he didn't seem to think it was pressing. I thought it was a little odd but I figured I would just wait until Bear was a little bigger so he would be better able to deal with him. So I waited a year and scheduled the appointment for this week. On Tuesday I dropped Tater off at Mother's Day Out and take Bear across town to the dentist.

When we get there they took us back and tried to get him to stand at one of those x-ray machines that does the panaramic view where you bite down and the machine circles your head. You can see where this is obviously not going to work on a nervous 3 year old. So the dental assistant said we will hold off on the x-rays for now. Then she has me sit in the dental chair with Bear and the dentist comes in. He asks me if I have seen any brown spots or anything that concerns me. I told him that I saw nothing obvious but its not like I have little dental mirrors in his mouth every evening looking for cavities. So he has Bear smile and him and says his teeth look good and he will see us again in a year. SERIOUSLY!!!

He did not touch Bear's mouth. Did not even get closer than 2 foot away. I know he isn't a pediatric dentist but he is what is covered by our insurance and we don't have a lot of options here to choose from. I was beyond pissed. If he wasn't comfortable handling children as patients then he should just say that instead of having me waste my time coming in and billing my insurance for a visit. So I will have to wait 6 months and try to find someone my insurance covers that can handle children. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect but I at least expected someone to look at all of his teeth and maybe talk to him about brushing his teeth and such.

So I drive back across town to drop off Bear at Mother's Day Out and the teacher remarked on how quick the appointment went. I told her what happened and who my dentist was and she said she had the exact same deal happen with him. She took in her 4 year old with an obvious cavity on a top front tooth and he dentist looked at her and pronounced she looked fine. The teacher had to show him the cavity and even then he was very reluctant to fill it. The teacher explained that he is the only dentist covered by her insurance in this area and she can't afford to go to another dentist so he did do it but not willingly. Grrr...I never had a problem with him as my dentist but it would be nice to find someone who could do the whole family at one place.