In the extended entry there is a very, very long post of my side of a conversation that would have taken place had I not had lots of committments going on yesterday, which prevented me from calling and thanking you personally. We did not get home till very late and I didn't call at 10:30pm because I know you had an equally long day and needed as much rest as I did. I really hope you understand. Dear Blog-Sis:

I just want to take a moment to thank you for all your help, and for putting up with my high level of anxiety these past 24 hrs. Just knowing you guys were trying to help was enough to help me from going over the edge. When the first Dr. mentioned surgery I tried not to freak but I couldn't help some of it oozing out of me. My son had surgery jut 7 weeks ago and though the procedure was routine, the recovery was not. In fact he's still underweight and the Pediatrician and I are doing everything we can to get some meat on those little bones of his. So when the word surgery came up, sirens started going off in my head, gut instincts started kicking in and prayer chains were activated.

At hearing the word "surgery" sirens went off because I thought it was a drastic move, without even explaining to me why no other measure would work. She did explain why surgery was the best option and the sooner it was scheduled the better. Having worked at a major health insurance company, I know a lot of stats on the percentages of unnecessary surgeries performed annually, etc. I have a policy, no one cuts anyone I love open for anything without a 2nd and possibly a 3rd opinion. My dental plan doesn't cover 2nd opinions but I didn't care. I was finding someone else and someone very qualified to give me their opinion if it killed me. So I did a mass email, called everyone I didn't have emails for and covered everyone on my contact list whether they had kids or not to get names of Pediatric Oral Surgeons. Out of all that effort I netted 7 names. Yep, just 7. Did I mention that my Outlook contact list is over 900 people. Yes, it is! And out of the 7 Dr's I contacted, only one was not on vacation... AND lucky me she was taking new patients. Woohooo! Still, I needed a 2nd name just in case surgery was recommended again. Especially, since the first Doc (the one who reccommended the surgery in the first place) was not a pediatric oral surgeon. Go Figure?

Anyway, being the concerned parent (read: anxious) that I am I was at their office at 1:00pm for a 1:30 appt. I knew there would be paperwork to fill out and what better way to gage any medical practice than by hanging out in the waiting room. Believe me, you learn a lot about a doctor and their staff by hanging out in their waiting room. Unfortunately, when we get there the office is closed. Okay I say to myself, don't panic. it's a small office so maybe they're out to lunch. So we sit on a bench outside the office to wait and kill time by watching people go bye. Shortly afterwards a beautiful smokin' Harley (1100cc) pulls up. The dude on the bike definitely got my attention with his awesome leather chaps, matching leather gloves and fierce helmet. I'm thinking definitely gay, as he has another guy on the back of the bike. The men get off the bike and the driver stands on the sidewalk and takes off the beautiful sleek black helmet to reveal long silvery hair pulled back in a pony tail. Setting his helmet on the seat he proceeds to start unsnapping the top of his chaps, which by then I noticed accentuated his bum rather nicely. With one swift fluid motion he unsnaped the remainder of his snaps and easily took his chaps off while standing spread eagle looking at us sitting on the bench. Somehow it was reminiscent of a movie scene from Full Monty but I couldn't be sure.

In any other city, this man would have garnered enough attention to stop traffic. Since it was the East Village, nothing surprised or stopped anyone in their tracks. Having both finished their stripping routine in public, they headed towards the door of the dental office and unlocked it. I immediately went over and spoke to them letting them know who I was and why I was there. They invited me in asked us to take a seat in the waiting room and said someone would be with me shortly.

As I waited in front of the receptionist station my son walked around the office to examen the art work on the walls. There he found beautiful bright watercolors with scenes from Dr. Seuss picture books and incredible photographs of animals, rivers and park scenes I was intimitely familiar with. As I pointed out the statue of Alice in Wonderland & Hans Christian Anderson that are located in Central Park, Chaps returned with forms in hand, and joined in our discussion of photography & Central Park scenes. While I was filling out the forms the dental assistant walked in, and checked in with us and left us to our wonderful paperwork. While we were there a 3rd gentleman came in and went straight to the back chastising the other 2 guys for leaving him in the dust. Well, that's what happens when you ride a lowly kamakaze bike as opposed to a powerful cool Harley.

At exactly 1:30pm we were called in and found Chaps sitting in scrubs & matching crocs in a vibrant purple that screamed: "I'm gay." The scene before me immediately made me think of a Monty Python skit, so I couldn't help but smile broadly. So as he sat there and engaged my son in a conversation, I looked around the room and found some really beautiful pictures and some really interesting things hanging from the ceilings. Both of them eventually followed my gaze and my son said: How cool mommy, he's got ????? hanging from the ceiling." I don't know what these gooey, stretchy, ugly creepy crawlers are supposed to be, but they are hanging all over his ceilings. As he explained, instead of sugar free candy or a gumball (as in his last dentist office), he gets these thingy's to throw at the ceiling or to take home if he's a good helper & cooperated during the examination (that's in addition to a balloon).

As he examined the thing growing in the roof of his mouth he confirmed to us it was in fact a tooth and not cancer. Then he asked my son and I permission to do a bit of "show and tell" with his teeth to his colleagues in the other room, he explained they were Oral Surgeons that were early in their practice and could benefit from this examination. Suddenly I had 3 oral surgeons in the room with Chaps taking the lead and asking (whom I thought was his boyfriend) and other guest for what they thought but it was done more in a way to test their knowledge, than to consult them. My son was asked to go throw gooey things at the ceiling in the waiting room while everyone looked at the pictures of his teeth to see which one they liked most and then they'd give that tooth a prize, a special substance that would temporarily turn it a different color. Chaps said it was a great hit with all the boys in his care. I was amazed at how good this guy was with my son, calling him buddy and involving him in everything and telling him a little stories behind what he was doing and why.

While examing the Xrays, the docs discussed what Chaps was told by Dr. Middle and then the 2 younger guys gave their assessment and prognosis, while Chaps smiled seemingly proud. It turned out these were former students of Chaps. Wow, what are the odds that you will get a 2nd, 3rd, & 4th opinion for the price of one consult? In short, only when prayers are being answered. Chaps then discussed with me the options we had to deal with my son's medical issue, but he said if none of those things worked then the measure of last resort would be surgery. Because surgery causes to much initial physical trauma on someone so young they usually don't reccommend it as the first approach; especially while he's so underweight.

Without me asking, he told me how many previous similar cases he had treated, how many were successful with the first suggested mode of treatment, how many with the 2nd and 3rd, and how many surgeries he had performed. (all without complications). It was as if he was reading the questions as they emerged in my mind. Unbelievable! He told me the Dr. J in his practice, had transferred the case to him because he had handled many more of these cases and she was 8 months pregnant and didn't want to go on maternity leave in the middle of a new case.

So when my son returned to the examining room he pronounced to all his feelings about Chaps as I'll now call him?

"Mom, this guy has a cool office, neat toys, a nice staff, AND He Rides a motorcycle... I LOVE this Guy! I vote we come back here.

ME: And that we will do, sweetie, after all, What's not to like!

In 10 - 12 weeks we have a follow up visit scheduled. In the meantime, we'll be following the doc's orders. There were only 2 down sides to the whole viist: he doesn't accept any type of insurance AND I had to pay $200 by credit card because he only takes cash or cards, nothing else. But believe me, the relief I felt at hearing surgery was the last resort, was well worth the cost. And that long exhale you heard going around the world was me, sighing finally out of relief of finding someone wonderful that I was going to stick with for the duration of my son's life.

Thank you all for private messages of support and concern. I just hope I can have a nice long stretch of dullness and hum drum living before the next crisis begins.

Posted by: Michele at 01:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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