Moments with Mom 2

 Last Thursday I took Mom to an oral surgeon in Springfield to have one of her back teeth removed. Our dentist, Dr. Woodbury, didn't want to extract the tooth himself because it was broken and he was concerned that it would need cut out. So, we went to the place he referred Mom to. The night before Mom had informed me that she was not going. I'm not certain if it was my insistence or the occasional, attention-grabbing pain that convinced her otherwise. Anyway, we were sitting in the waiting room, just waitin' and looking around. I felt that the oral surgeon must have a decent sized ego because every bit of decor contained at least one picture of him. Most from successful hunting trips. Anyhow, Mom was more than a little nervous as she looked around. She was looking around wide eyed, with a slightly horrified expression, when she leaned over to me and whispered to me, "He kills things." Ever the conversationalist, I replied, "Yep, he does." Mom looks me dead in the eye (sorry, couldn't resist!) and says, "That is not comforting." Of course, staunch supporter that I am, I couldn't help but chuckle. We see the Dr. come out and pester the receptionist for a minute. Ever the keen observer, Mom leans over to me and whispers, "He's old." "I know." I replied. Ever serious, she replies, "That is not comforting." Again, I couldn't help but laugh! Mom felt a little better when she saw a piece of wall decor showing pictures of the Dr. making lights and such from antlers and such. She felt that if he had a bit of artistic flair and a steady enough hand for that, her tooth shouldn't be too bad. Still, she remained pretty uneasy. And then she realized his shirt wasn't tucked in. Mom leaned over and whispered, "He didn't even tuck his shirt in!" "Yeah, I don't think that is very professional." I answered. Mom told me that after she went back, she saw three of his certificates on the wall, all extremely yellowed with age. Mom said that she did not find that very comforting and wondered if he was past the point of old. She also told me that the assistant checked his BP and he checked hers to show her the finer points of auscultating a blood pressure. Mom found it concerning that his BP needed checked prior to working on her tooth. Mom also was concerned when no one checked her BP, especially since they was using nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Mom remembered Kirst saying that they should always check the pt's BP first (Kirst is a dental assistant- she just happens to work as a bank teller instead.). Then, she saw that his hands resembled a deceased person's more than any living person's hands that she has ever met- very not comforting indeed! Mom made it through just fine. When the oral surgeon asked the assistant if he could make his raunchy remarks (the two had been discussing the differences between him and his wife and the assistant had commented that opposites attract- the oral surgeon disagreed and wanted to list a different reason for why they were married), Mom definitely was not impressed. Neither am I for that matter! Fortunately, the assistant told him that he could not. Mom made it through without incident while I entertained family that we was going to meet afterwards. When Mom came out, she looked at me and said, "I feel happy!" Unfortunately, when the nitrous oxide wore off and she took one of the prescribed pain pills, it was not her friend. I was afraid she was going to pass out. She did end up vomiting on the way home. Thankfully, she is much better now!
I played around with my "
The Bee" WIP from Mulberry Folk Art. I needed a break from cross stitching. I'll try to post a picture of it in a bit. I'm hoping to get some more stitched on it once I finish this post. Unfortunately, we are up for call right now. Both of the other trucks went on a 3 car MVC (motor vehicle collision). Things got kinda busy this morning. Minion and I took a transfer from Local Hospital to Big City Hospital. She is a 39 yo alcoholic. Sadly for her, she has esophageal varices and ascites (likely from her cirrhosis- both of today's diagnoses go hand in hand with alcoholism). She took meth, opiates, and oxycodone prior to going to the ER at o'dark thirty this morning. Not to be mean, but she definitely looked like she had taken all of the above when I saw her. Its sad, she's so young and has a ton of health problems because of her life choices. She was also very, very annoying. As soon as Minion put the truck in drive, she started asking for pain meds. Since she had "self medicated" with all of the above, and, for some strange reason, the hospital had given her 50 of fentanyl 20 mins or so before we got her, I told her no. I remained the heartless jerk for the remainder of the transport. She snored in between pain medication requests. I wasn't totally heartless; I did adjust the back of cot when she requested. And gave her zofran when she said she was going to vomit. I love zofran. Its the "don't-puke-on-my-boots-juice." Pretty sure its one of my best friends!  Oh, I also made her cry (unintentionally). She asked if she could have a sip of water from her water bottle. I  told her that I wasn't allowed to let her have anything to drink during the trip. Then she started crying. Apparently, her thirst was greater than pain. She didn't cry any of the many, many times I told her I couldn't give her pain meds. I think she was probably too high to remember any of our time together.
 Well, a transfer for a LDT (long distance transfer) just dropped. If I found the right address, it is about 4 hours one way. Aaaaannnnnddd we can't go on it until one of the trucks clear. One is headed to Springfield; I don't know what the other is doing. Well, at least I can try to eat supper really quick. I doubt I'll get to stitch now. :( So much for that plan...
 Here's hoping youns have a much happier stitching time right now!
 Emmy