* Disclaimer* {For Romee’s sake…and maybe mine} This little girl does eat her fill of candy, but her oral hygiene and bottle/pacifier history is exactly the same as all her other siblings, none of which have a single cavity.
In other words, root canals, caps, and lots of fillings. That is what Miss Romee Noelle was up to one week ago today. After her routine dental check-up this spring, our family dentist referred us to Sioux Falls Children’s Dental because of the amount and extent of decay in her molars. After seeing the pediatric dentist in Sioux Falls, it was his recommendation that we utilize the means of anesthesia to repair the damage. Had we tried to do it in his office, he would have had to do it in at least 4 separate appointments, that would have been approximately one hour each. After much contemplation and prayer, we made the decision to schedule an appointment at the Sioux Falls Surgery Center and fix them all at one time.
We left the house at 4:45 so we could be at the Surgery Center by 6:00. Her surgery was scheduled for 7 AM. We got checked in and she played IPad while we waited for the nurse to call us back.
After being weighed, measured, and vitals taken she got dressed in her scrubs. She thought they would be perfect for the dress-up box…just her size. She is telling Bryan how she could put her thermometer in the pocket.
After a very long wait, they finally came and got us for surgery. The wait was hard for this little peanut. She was very brave, and fought back tears the whole time we waited. She told us that she was a little scared, but didn’t want to talk about it. We honored her request, and talked about everything under the sun in that little room, except the surgery. Bryan got to stay with her, until she was sleeping.
An hour later, they came and got us and took us back to recovery. Her nurse couldn’t believe what a little trooper she was. She said that she was amazed to see her awake and not crying coming straight out of surgery. She said, “My first two patients this morning didn’t like me very well, Romee get’s an A+ for being my most compliant patient ever!” I remember them bringing me the little girls after getting their ear tubes, and was expecting lots of uncontrollable crying. She never did cry. The only complication was a very yucky tummy from the anesthesia. She also had red, puffy lips from having her mouth open for so long, which they said was normal. 
Her nurse was so sweet…so kind and gentle. She reminded us of Aunt Nikki.
We had to work really hard to get that popsicle in her, but we finally got it done. All she really wanted to do was go back to sleep. She had a little pain in her mouth/cheeks, but her biggest complaint was a tummy ache! 
By noon, we had our discharge instructions and were ready to go home!
We are so grateful the procedure is done and it is a week later. She had a little bleeding the next day, but really no complications. Bryan and I talked on the way home about how an experience like this gives you a new appreciation for parents who do this day in and day out with critically ill children. My heart just ached for her, and I knew it was a fairly minor procedure, one that she would fully recover from in a matter of 24 hours. It made us extremely grateful for the 5 healthy children we have.
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