Walking in the door from work the other day, I found Scarlett hauled up on the couch, sucking on a piece of ice. With a frightened look on her face and a bloody paper towel in her hand she proceeds to tell me that "it's been bleeding since she ate chips." After listening to her story and examining her mouth we found out Scarlett had her first loose tooth. An exciting milestone for most children. But one we were dreading for fear of the unknown. Mouth bleeds are one of the biggest issues with people with Platelet Storage Pool Disorder and we were uncertain how losing her baby teeth was going to go.
Because of the rarity of our disorder we didn't know if the meds would work and how much blood we should expect. When I was a child, I remember some instances where there was a large amount of bleeding after a loose tooth, and we tend to use my history as a resource on what to expect with Scarlett. But after comparing stories with my Mom, we think all the bleeding instances I remember from childhood, occurred when the dentist had to pull a tooth out and that any time I lost it naturally, there wasn't too much blood.
I'll never forget when I got my first set of wisdom teeth pulled. I was in my early 20's, living with my boyfriend and had gone to a dentist in my neighboring town. I hadn't been diagnosed with PSPD yet but had warned the dentist of prior oral bleeding. Shortly after they extracted my teeth, one piece of gauze in each hole, (some extra for later) and a list of things to prevent getting dry sockets And they sent me on my merry way. By the time I had gotten home I had bleed through the extra gauze they gave me and every napkin, tissue paper, and paper towel I could find in my car. 15 minutes later I pulled into the driveway. With a pile fool of bloody tissues on my passenger seat, I ran into the house, locked myself in the bathroom and called my Mom.
I remember feeling scared, embarrassed that my then boyfriend would find this repulsive. My Mom finally got to my house in what seemed forever (@20 minutes later) and I literally had soaked through a whole roll of paper towels. My Mom describes it as looking "like a blood bath." They're was blood everywhere. . . In the sink. On the floor. In the toilet. All over my clothes and face. . it looked like a picture out of a horror scene.
My Mom immediately rushed me back to the dentist to which I bled through almost another whole roll of paper towels. Because I had no bleeding disorder diagnosis, I wasn't given any proper medication and they just had to kind of wait it out. After hours of sitting around in the dentist chair they felt it had slowed down enough to pack and sew up my holes. I was sent home again. . . and needless to say. . . I haven't gotten the other side of wisdom teeth pulled because the first set was so traumatic.
We were hoping and praying Scarlett's experiences would be nothing like this and that loosing her first tooth would be a somewhat joyous and exciting experience, like it should be for every 5 year old. However the week of tooth bleeds, almost every time she ate, had me wondering how smooth this first tooth loss really would be and quite honestly, had me a little worried.
We were going on vacation on the second week her tooth was loose and I just knew she was going to lose it when we were up North, 6 hours from her nearest Dr. So I filled her prescription for her amicar. . . (Always such a comforting experience when the pharmacist and Dr. on site have never heard of the medicine that's getting prescribed and that I had to tell them what it was used for) . . .and hoped for the best.
Several days into the trip, while sitting in a restaurant, I look over to see Scarlett's mouth covered in blood and a tooth hanging on by a thread. I calmly looked over to my husband and suggested it was time to go back to his Mom's house and take this tooth out. We politely rushed out of the restaurant, explaining the whole way home the steps we were going to take, to ensure Scarlett that this was going to be an easy and painless experience.
We picked up some ice cream on the way home. . .partial treat, partial bribing technique. I instantly gave her the meds and told her what side effects to look for (dizziness, nausea), while she ate some ice cream and watched one of her favorite shows. While she was watching I sat next to her while her Grandma GiGi held her tight and I simply just wiggled it out. It came out perfectly and only bled slowly for about an hour or so. She was ecstatic for the tooth fairy to come and is no longer scared of losing her teeth. All in all, we were very pleased with this huge milestone in our lives and we know now that Scarlett has medicine that helps with her mouth bleeds.
Because of the rarity of our disorder we didn't know if the meds would work and how much blood we should expect. When I was a child, I remember some instances where there was a large amount of bleeding after a loose tooth, and we tend to use my history as a resource on what to expect with Scarlett. But after comparing stories with my Mom, we think all the bleeding instances I remember from childhood, occurred when the dentist had to pull a tooth out and that any time I lost it naturally, there wasn't too much blood.
I'll never forget when I got my first set of wisdom teeth pulled. I was in my early 20's, living with my boyfriend and had gone to a dentist in my neighboring town. I hadn't been diagnosed with PSPD yet but had warned the dentist of prior oral bleeding. Shortly after they extracted my teeth, one piece of gauze in each hole, (some extra for later) and a list of things to prevent getting dry sockets And they sent me on my merry way. By the time I had gotten home I had bleed through the extra gauze they gave me and every napkin, tissue paper, and paper towel I could find in my car. 15 minutes later I pulled into the driveway. With a pile fool of bloody tissues on my passenger seat, I ran into the house, locked myself in the bathroom and called my Mom.
I remember feeling scared, embarrassed that my then boyfriend would find this repulsive. My Mom finally got to my house in what seemed forever (@20 minutes later) and I literally had soaked through a whole roll of paper towels. My Mom describes it as looking "like a blood bath." They're was blood everywhere. . . In the sink. On the floor. In the toilet. All over my clothes and face. . it looked like a picture out of a horror scene.
My Mom immediately rushed me back to the dentist to which I bled through almost another whole roll of paper towels. Because I had no bleeding disorder diagnosis, I wasn't given any proper medication and they just had to kind of wait it out. After hours of sitting around in the dentist chair they felt it had slowed down enough to pack and sew up my holes. I was sent home again. . . and needless to say. . . I haven't gotten the other side of wisdom teeth pulled because the first set was so traumatic.
We were hoping and praying Scarlett's experiences would be nothing like this and that loosing her first tooth would be a somewhat joyous and exciting experience, like it should be for every 5 year old. However the week of tooth bleeds, almost every time she ate, had me wondering how smooth this first tooth loss really would be and quite honestly, had me a little worried.We were going on vacation on the second week her tooth was loose and I just knew she was going to lose it when we were up North, 6 hours from her nearest Dr. So I filled her prescription for her amicar. . . (Always such a comforting experience when the pharmacist and Dr. on site have never heard of the medicine that's getting prescribed and that I had to tell them what it was used for) . . .and hoped for the best.
Several days into the trip, while sitting in a restaurant, I look over to see Scarlett's mouth covered in blood and a tooth hanging on by a thread. I calmly looked over to my husband and suggested it was time to go back to his Mom's house and take this tooth out. We politely rushed out of the restaurant, explaining the whole way home the steps we were going to take, to ensure Scarlett that this was going to be an easy and painless experience. We picked up some ice cream on the way home. . .partial treat, partial bribing technique. I instantly gave her the meds and told her what side effects to look for (dizziness, nausea), while she ate some ice cream and watched one of her favorite shows. While she was watching I sat next to her while her Grandma GiGi held her tight and I simply just wiggled it out. It came out perfectly and only bled slowly for about an hour or so. She was ecstatic for the tooth fairy to come and is no longer scared of losing her teeth. All in all, we were very pleased with this huge milestone in our lives and we know now that Scarlett has medicine that helps with her mouth bleeds.
Written by,
Kari Peepe
©KariPeepe/atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
For more stories about getting Scarlett tested, injuries and her health please check out:
- Like a Needle to my Heart: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/09/like-needle-to-my-heart.html
- Scarlett bumps her her chin going down the slide: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-just-another-day-at-park.html
- Birthday party, Play date, etc: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/birthday-parties-play-dates-and.html
- Scarlett's little brother takes a bite: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
Written by,
Kari Peepe
©KariPeepe/atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
For more stories about getting Scarlett tested, injuries and her health please check out:
- Like a Needle to my Heart: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/09/like-needle-to-my-heart.html
- Scarlett bumps her her chin going down the slide: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-just-another-day-at-park.html
- Birthday party, Play date, etc: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/birthday-parties-play-dates-and.html
- Scarlett's little brother takes a bite: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
Comments