Hospitalization/General Anesthesia - Page 3

[Debbiemom]

Thank you for your reply; I have one more question...

You said normally novocaine would be used for pain relief; does this mean, for example, that morphine or some other drug given through his IV wouldn't have been sufficient for pain relief? Also, from what I remember novocaine injected in the mouth takes time to take effect, correct? If so then I am 100% certain he was not given novocaine because he simply wasn't out of my sight long enough.

And yes, I am pursuing getting the rest of the records. I fear they are being altered or have been altered, though, based on the way the receptionist spoke to me and the fact that they are being so uncooperative about getting them to me.

I'm sorry to bother you, but one more question. A friend suggested that I file a complaint to the state licensing board. How do I find out who to contact and how to go about doing that, if we do indeed decide to do so?

Thank you so much.

[Jazmommie]

VERCID

Is the name of the drug-they used it on my husband when he got a nail shot in his knee & they pulled it out.(he said "The war is starting again")I feel it put him in a hypnotic state of mind.
They wanted to use this on my child for putting on crowns-I threw a fit!They also have a policy to prescribe all kids a tranquilizer(Ativan I believe).
Vercid can have side effects that change breathing patterns-they should monitor the oxygen level in the blood.
We have switched dentists now-it took many months before my son would let the new dentist look in his mouth.

[Debbiemom]

Thank you Jazmommie; I got his records finally...

They say he was given Versed; also three others including Xylocaine. It doesn't say how any of them were given, though; I know the only thing I saw was the IV so I am not sure if xylocaine is given only locally or also by IV and I don't know how affective it would be for his teeth if given by IV.

The other two were Fentanyl and Brevital and I don't know what those do.

If anyone can help me decipher these records, I'd greatly appreciate it. I can post what they say if someone can help or I can email them to you.

Thanks again.

[Debbiemom]

Sorry it's been so long...

I just got back online after moving half-way across the country.

Thank you again for all your help.

His records say he was given "Xylocaine carp 3" The 3 is handwritten, the xylocaine carp is part of the form. What does carp mean? All the other drugs say "mg"

It says "start anesthesia 7:52, start surgery 7:53, finish surgery 7:55, R.V. 7:55" What does the R.V. stand for?

Under surgery notes it says "xo #a, j" What does that mean?

I read online that xylocaine when given as an injection takes anywhere from five to twenty minutes to take effect?

Debbie Frost

[Debbiemom]

I talked to another dentist yesterday

Unfortunately I forgot to take the actual records with me. Ricky's 6 year molars aren't low enough for spacers yet so I won't have another chance to show him the records.

We were discussing sedation options, which is difficult because of his corn intolerance, and he asked what had been done for the extractions. I told him I wasn't sure, that I knew they had given him an amnesia drug but that he had screamed the whole time. He interrupted me and asked "Didn't they give him any pain medication?" I told him I wasn't sure and all he would say after that was "I just don't understand that."

Smilemomma, I know you are busy but you could please tell me what the files mean in my post above? I would take them back to this dentist and ask him but I told him we couldn't use him because he refused to use anything but metal fillings. I don't really have anyone else to ask now.

Thank you for all your help,

Debbie Frost

[Debbiemom]

Thanks for your help

I understand about being busy & tired! I really appreciate all your help.

Honestly, I still have my doubts about how effective the xylocaine was; I used to work in a vet clinc and help with surgeries and other procedures and I know that different individuals have different reactions, and things aren't always as they seem, but when it's YOUR CHILD...it's different. Knowing that he was at least given something, though, is helping me get past that and deal with what really is the main issue, that he lied to me and misled me.

Oh, and about the spacers, the dentist told us yesterday that his 6 year molars are still too high for spacers and we'll have to watch them & probably wait until he is 5 or 5.5 to put them in.

Thanks again!

Debbie Frost

[Yaya & Kais mom]

BAD dental experience! VENT!

I should have posted this a few months ago, but somehow, I never did! Now I am writting a letter to the dentist and its all coming back! II will try to keep it short.
My 2 yo had discoloration on her front 4 teeth, a dental visit confirmed cavities on all 4 and one back tooth. Come back for caps and fillings. After doing some reading and talking to others about it, we did. We were miserable about it, general anisthesia (sp?) and all that, but, it seemed the right thing to do.

So, we went. We are called the day b4 and asked if we can come in an hour earlier for our appointment. Sure. We get there at 8am. We wait, unspoken to, til 9am(original appointment time!)Dentist comes to talk, breifly. 9:30 we go back to talk to anesthesiologist and dentists. The anesth. desribes what will go on, he says "there will be a lot of screaming when we put the mask on probably, but that is good, they go under faster." there goes all the calm preparation I had done with my littl one! "I dont want to wwear the mask mommy" and she starts cryinig. he goes on speaking as if she isnt there. I want to scream, she is 2, not deaf! My husband has to take the baby out to the waiting room while I take her in to the "OR". I walk in carrying her and there are about 5 nurses/drs, etc standing in lab coats and w/ masks on. My daughter gets tense. I am trying to calm her and whisper to her and they start with "ok, now hurry and lay her on the table" I am trying to ask if I can holder, like I had requested, while they put the mask on. There is no chair, no place but my arms or the table, so I walk over and am about to sit on the table when they tell me I have to lay her down. I start to hold her laying on the table and she starts freaking. They tell me to move my arms and while I am trying to calm her down and talk to her, they hold her down and slap the mask on her face! I was trying to say something, but I froze and couldnt get my bearings and there she is crying for me, fighting the mask as she goes under, in tears and looking miserable. Then, before she is even quiet, the whip me ou tof the room. I was a mess. I felt violated and betrayed and scared to have my baby in there with them. The only thing that kept me out was that these people had come HIGHLY recommended from SEVERAL people I know and trust. So what had just happened? I think I cried in my husbands arms for an hour. I felt like i had really failed for my baby, and would she ever forgive me or recover from this?
We wait and wait, no one comes to say anything. Finally the 2 dentists come out, first thing out of his mouth "Can I beg you to stop nursing her?" Talk about blown away! I got my bearings, and since they still had my baby I very politely said "I am no longer night nursing her. I brush her teeth as often as I can and floss every night. I believe that so long as I am caring for her teeth the benifits of my nursing her far outweigh the possible risk of another cavity" They then tell me how it isnt neccessary for her anymore and is most likely more for me, yadayadayada. They then tell us all went well and she is on her way ou tof the OR. I asked could I go back with her "No, we will let you know when she wakes" I say "But I would like to be there as she is waking" They say "She will be so disoriented for the 1st 10-20 minutes she wont know if it is you or not there" I explain that I dont care, if she wakes and there is a possibilty she is aware, I want to be there. I then said that she will ask to nurse as soon as she is aware, how soon could I nurse her "Oh, she wont care abou tthat, that is more for you then for her" If I had had a heavy blunt object.... SO I nicely asked again, just incase she asked.
Finally I go back, there she is, crying, laying on her side with tubes inher mouth and nose and dried blood caked on her face, pale and sickly looking. 3 nurses in the room and NONE of them speaking to her or touching her. She was calling "momma" and responded to my voice. I ran to her and was trying to hold her when they say "dont pick her up she still might throw up". I said I would risk it, but they diodnt want it on their chair, so held her in the table and then eventually, when one of them helped me witht he IV bag,move to the chaor. She was crying for "bobos" (nursing) almost immediatly, so much for disorientation! The nurse asked if she would want water or juice, I said she would rather nurse 1st and she said that wasnt ok. I insisted and she asked the anesthesiologist and they eventually agreed, mpre to shut me up than anything else. Why is juice ok and not BM? She was in good spirits for the most part, once she had a bit of the boob. We took her out of there quickly, vowing never to return and to tell EVERYONE about them, and she did quite well the rest of the day.

She bounced back iincredeibly well, we talked about what happened and I apologized to her for them, and she has done ok. We brought her to another dentist for her follow up, and she wasnt afraid, thank god.

It was awful. I oculdnt believe it. And there were several other children in there while we were. I hope they werent treated as badly. I could have screamed, I dont know why I didnt. I get so intimidated by Drs!!!! It infuriates me! Never again will I let one do that to one of my babies! I am still so mad!
Thanks for lettingn me vent!

[daylily]

Your story makes me so sad, Yaya and Kais mom. What an awful experience. This is just typical of our society. Mothers and babies are supposed to be separated as soon as possible, following our instincts of nursing and cuddling our babies is seen as selfish and needy, the feelings and needs of children are dismissed. I hope your letter blasts them. Tell everyone you know how insensitive these people are.

[SquirelNutkin]

Puttin a 3 year old under

Hi-
So, my dentist has calmly been working at my daughters 7 cavities. The dentist was never pushy, alwsy gave prizes, in general was great- but we ahd too many caviteis, that were too deep and went to the dentist too often for my childs comfort level.

Anyhow, we made the descion to put her under. And then get sealiants, too.

Do you have any advice? I konw little about the drugs used, there possible affects, or even how to prepare my 2.5 year old for this whole procedure.

Any advice or stories would be great,

thanks
b

[Hera]

I am crying, reading your story. What horrible people! I wouldn't want my pet dog to be treated that way! That is so so sad. I wish there was some sort of monitoring board, like the Better Business Bureau for dentists, that you could write to get them a citation. That's just terrible.

[chevy974]

My 17 mo is going under next week and I am scared SILLY. I have such anxiety over this i could scream. they are blaming my DD on nursing to

[emmaline]

squirrel my son had several fillings under GA just after his 3rd birthday (also blamed on night nursing )

we were told no bf from midnight before the procedure but I have read here that others have been advised shorter times because breastmilk is so readily absorbed

it was very scarey to watch him suddenly become unconscious but the staff handled it really well

he was admitted first thing in the morning into a special cubicle made kidfriendly with books and toys, not made to wait too long, and I went with him to the theatre and sat next to him while the anaesthetist put him under

he had played with a mask at home heaps (my older son uses a nebuliser for asthma so we had a spare) and wasn't frightened of the mask being put on his face

no IV was inserted till he was unconscious

when he came around in recovery I was right there

he was not allowed to bf until the nurse thought he was awake enough to swallow safely but then it was OK - he didn't ask for an hour or so, we just lay there cuddling

typically, he was offered jelly and icecream!!!! and I got the lecture about nightnursing!! but the icecream was such a novelty he was thrilled

the dentist had injected local anaesthetic around one tooth that had to be removed so his mouth didn't hurt

I made sure we could have plenty of time at home to rest and recuperate and he was fine

we talked about it a lot afterwards (we had beforehand too) and the whole story has gone into family mythology, like all the other big incidents we chew over from time to time


sorry I have no info about the drugs used

I hope all goes well for you and yr daughter

[chevy974]

Gosh i wish theyd let me go with her when they put her under I cant be there IA m getting more aprehensive the closer this day comes but I know she has to have it done her teeth are sooooo badd.

[emmaline]

chevy do they have a decent reason for not letting you in while the anaesthetic is happening? wouldn't it be in everyone's best interests to have a calm baby with mother close by?

[chevy974]

well thats what i said so we will jsut see thursday when she is frantic what they do then

[chevy974]

doing the dental surgery tomorrow

Well all we are going in the am for the dental work. Please be praying for us and i will update when we get back

[chevy974]

ALL went well and her teeth are BEAUTIFUL she hadled the GA great she took a 2 hour nap and has been playing all day and eating lol she is full of energy and i am sooooooooo tired. thanks all for all the support

[snugglemama]

general anesthesia for a one year old

Okay, I posted this in health and healing several days ago, but haven't gotten any responses yet, so thought I'd try it here. It is not a dental question, but I think some of you mamas have had experience with anesthesia, so here's my question.........

My 13 mo. old ds has a skin tag on his ear, which we think we would like to have removed. I consulted the doctor (ENT) today about it and she said it would require general anesthesia. She told me it is very safe and he would be recovered by the next day (it is an outpatient procedure). She said we could have this done anytime, now or years from now. She made it sound like general anesthesia was perfectly safe and nothing to worry about. However on these boards I have heard people try to avoid it. I don't know what the down side is. Can anyone point me in a good direction to read up on this? What are the risks of general anesthesia for a toddler? Thank you!

[gauge14iv]

We are facing the same thing next week for our 7 mo old for a clipping of the frenulum under his tongue...I asked the doc about concious sedation but he said it would be done under general. I was actually going to pose the same question to smilemomma this morning!

The benefit to general as opposed to heavy sedation in my thinking (which could be flawed!) is that with general you have a protected airway and no risk of them waking up in the middle of it. I don't like the idea of them going under general, but then when I think about the fact that drugs and dosage used for sedation are not as controllable and rapidly reversible as anesthesia drugs, general makes more sense.

There ARE risks! Don't let them pooh-pooh those, but done by an experienced pediatric anesthesioligist, they are less likely to occur than if done by an anesth who doesn't work with too many kids. Also find out if your anesth will be staying in the room or handing off to an assistant. In some states/areas it is common practice for the anesth to induce and then leave an assistant to monitor and maintain.

Smilemomma - any answers? Any thoughts?

[~member~]

Hello!
Both my ds and dd had to have major surgery and be put under general anesthesia. I didn't have internet at the time so, i ran around st. paul and mpls harrassing all the dentists and dr.s. The major risk is when your child is not monitored by a professional and they quit breathing. I was told that is the number one cause of death. The lungs are so sedated they quit.

I found a Dr. who was very understanding and competent. She gave me no grief about my requests.
Request:
1. no students in room, no 'extras' that could distract the Dr.s work.
2. Anesthesioligist MUST stay entire time, along with an assistant anesthesioligist.
3. Entire operation videotaped (i believed it would make them more conscientious about doing their job)
4. Even tho I wanted to be with my babies, I didn't cuz I thought I might distract the Dr.s, so instead I requested that as soon as surgery was over that i be with them and a nurse to stay in the recovery room with me, as I am not trained to recognize any distress that follows surgery.

Both my babies are fine. It is a very emotional experience, so I would suggest you bring along a support person. I was alone and cried when they wheeled by baby away. Thankfully, there was another mom and so we held each other and cried.

Good luck and hope you the best