Uncommon Curiosity

8:05 am – Raced out the door, lunch boxes and homework in tow.  We were running a few minutes late, so I hadn’t had time to finish the dishes or even get a sip of coffee.  I figured I’d drop the kids off at school, go pray to the god of sweat for a while, and then get home with plenty of time to eat a little breakfast and sort out what was left of the house when we left.

8:10 am – Riding my bike behind my daughter, I saw her clip a bush and go down in slow motion.  I got off my bike quickly, figuring I’d dust her off and check for bruises, and then we could be on our way.  As I got over to her, she looked up at me and asked why her mouth hurt and I was horrified to see one permanent tooth missing and another slashed in half.  She said she was feeling dizzy and the world looked red, so I helped her lie down on the sidewalk and called my husband, who had been planning to meet us at the school.

8:11 am – I tried to calmly ask my son to ride the remaining few blocks to school alone without alarming him, and realized that he was actually thrilled.  Foolish me – I’d forgotten he’d been trying to talk me into that very thing for MONTHS.  Prayed that this would not give him ideas.

8:11:02 am – I got back to my daughter and started looking for blood, at the same time trying to decide whether it would be better to call an ambulance or try to get back to our house, where the car was, on foot.  Swore at the gods as I realized that, despite my ability to stay calm and strong in the presence of buckets of blood, I was gonna lose my lunch if I looked at those little broken teeth stumps anymore.  Resolved to look only at my daughter’s head.

8:12 am – My husband arrived on the scene with our car.  We put my daughter and her bike into the car and he rode my bike home, picked up his car and drove to the school to check on our son.  I got in the car to drive her to the hospital.

8:14 am – Had

8:15 am – to

8:16 am – stop

8:17 am – at

8:18 am – every

8:19 am – mother

8:20 am – loving

8:21 am – stop

8:22 am – light

8:23 am – Resolved to invent a “I have to kill you if you get between me and the hospital” flashing light for minivans.

8:30 am – Stuck in traffic.  Cursed every driver I could see, plus a few I knew were up ahead of me somewhere, just fucking with us.

8:40 am – Still stuck in traffic.  Starting to question my decision not to call the ambulance, but my daughter was acting cheerful, so I calmed down a bit and didn’t feel quite so bad about not being able to switch to “flying car” mode.

8:42 am – Still stuck in traffic, imagining the usual 2-hour wait at the ER and starting to wonder what I was thinking.

8:45 am – Called my mom (using my bluetooth ear thingy), who gave me the best advice ever:  “Go to the dentist first, because they’ll be able to see you right away, and they’ll tell you if you should go to the E.R.”

8:46 am – Called the kids’ dentist (bluetooth again) and warned them we were coming.  The incredibly awesome nurse said, “ok, come now, we’re ready for you.”  Most perfect answer in the whole history of the universe.

8:50 am – Arrived at the dentist where my daughter proceeded to show off her stumps to anyone who would look, and a few who wouldn’t.

9:00 am – The dentist saw us, took x-rays, said something about an “exposed nerve” as he pointed to pink goo protruding from one of the stumps (and I *didn’t* lose my lunch, for which I deserve a giant mom medal) and arranged for a day full of appointments with specialists (have I mentioned how awesome he is?)  First stop – the endodontist.

10:00 am – Raced across two cities to the endodontist.

10:30 am to noon – 4 more x-rays later, a root canal and tooth reconstruction were called for.  I held her hand while the doctor and her assistant worked for over an hour on my poor little broken baby.  I think the most terrible thing in the universe is hearing your child cry and not being able to do anything except hold her hand.  Thankfully, the doctor was good, and the crying was minimal.

Noon to 1:00 – We found a Jamba Juice so she could get something to eat and then raced home.  I had a little breakfast and showered (my first shower in nearly 3 days – don’t ask.) and then we were off again, this time to the oral surgeon.

1:30 to 2 pm – The oral surgeon took a look at the x-rays, examined her and exclaimed in surprise that she had managed to miss breaking anything.  Apparently children in these sorts of falls tend to warp or break the cartilage in their jaw – a painful and difficult-to-treat condition.  He looked so happy I thought he was gonna kiss her.

2 pm to 3:10 – We were waiting for our next appointment when I realized how much my husband and I felt like we’d been run over by big trucks with spiked tires.

3:10 to 5 pm – Back to the original dentist to work on the second tooth, the one without nerve damage.  By then, we were loopy as all hell, and couldn’t stop laughing.  Gained new respect for our dentist when he stayed late to do the job right, and was still willing to sit and discuss it all with us afterward.

5:30 pm – Home, 9 + hours after the accident, with 2 new teeth, and bills totaling around $3,000, much of which will be paid by insurance (we hope.)

I’m exhausted, I’ve been nauseated all day, and I am NEVER letting my weasels out of the house again without BMX helmets and six inches of bubble wrap.  I feel sick to my stomach that my beautiful little girl won’t ever get her real front teeth back, and I feel lucky as hell that we live near so many incredible doctors and can afford to pay for their services.

It’s been a hell of a day.