Sunday Weigh In (9/8/2024)

[southernlady]

The dentist at the Dental Clinic GOT THE CLEARANCE OUT OF MY CARDIOLOGIST! Now to get the offending tooth fixed or pulled.

 

[navygrrl]

Last week 119
This week 120
And that’s in spite of having to eat soft stuff and warm liquids. My infected tooth is extremely painful. Right lower jaw. And my dentist won’t fix it without cardiac clearance. I understand that. BUT the cardiologist is being a BUTT.
Cardiologist at Wheeling, where I went to ER said no dental for ONE YEAR. That’s asinine when you have a raging infection. I was on the first round of antibiotics when I had my heart attack.
My cardiologist at AHN (Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh metro) said 6 months. Still a stupid amount. Especially since the American Heart Association and the NIH say 6 weeks especially for emergency dental. But he actually said he would not sign a clearance before 6 months in front of Charles. Now that not what he put in his after visit report. But most people don’t read those. I’m not most people.

Anyway, I stopped at my dentist before lunch on Friday with a printout of that statement so the dentist would be willing to declare my need an emergency. His office staff said it wasn’t likely he would but he might.

Then later that afternoon, I was dealing with rising blood pressure, pain that was excruciating (I was in tears and I can handle pain). It had migrated from my lower jaw to my upper, affecting my left eyesight and giving me a headache as well. All signs of needing the ER. Btw, I am NOW on the 4th round of antibiotics. And I’ll be 8 weeks out on Tuesday, well pass the 6 week mark.

But my mad googling skills made a discovery, there is a dental clinic at AHN with emergency care. While on our 2ay to downtown Pittsburgh, I called them. They said I needed to actually call Monday for help. We decided to head on in anyway to the ER, based on my rising blood pressure.

That ER was a definite help. While they could not stop the pain or get rid of the tooth, they did 1) give me a referral to the Oral Maxifacial surgeon in that clinic. 2) They gave me a heavy duty pain reliever and told me to alternate with either Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Since I’m taking Carafate due to taking Aspirin, I’m taking the Ibuprofen. Less torture on my liver. And yes, I mentioned my AHN cardiologist by name who was responsible for me still being in this mess. They were all shaking their head at his lack of care.

I’m still in pain but have pain meds to help.

That is ridiculous. Not to be morbid, but I watched an episode of Dr. G, Medical Examiner, and one of the autopsies she did was on a man who had a raging tooth infection that eventually migrated to his heart, and that's why he died. So, yeah, I understand cardiology wants to keep you healthy, but an infected tooth can have dire cardiac effects, so they need to friggin give you clearance.

I'm so mad for you.

Edited because I probably should have read all the posts before I replied.

Edited again because I didn't want to start a new post.

I didn't weigh myself this week. It's been pretty busy, plus I'm dealing with more health issues. I'm meeting with a neurologist tomorrow, and I'm supposed to be getting an MRI and a possible spinal tap. I've been eating a lot of peanut butter to cope.

 

[JackieOnLine]

The dentist at the Dental Clinic GOT THE CLEARANCE OUT OF MY CARDIOLOGIST

yay!

 

[southernlady]

That is ridiculous. Not to be morbid, but I watched an episode of Dr. G, Medical Examiner, and one of the autopsies she did was on a man who had a raging tooth infection that eventually migrated to his heart, and that's why he died. So, yeah, I understand cardiology wants to keep you healthy, but an infected tooth can have dire cardiac effects, so they need to friggin give you clearance.

I'm so mad for you.

Edited because I probably should have read all the posts before I replied.

Edited again because I didn't want to start a new post.

I didn't weigh myself this week. It's been pretty busy, plus I'm dealing with more health issues. I'm meeting with a neurologist tomorrow, and I'm supposed to be getting an MRI and a possible spinal tap. I've been eating a lot of peanut butter to cope.

Lots of people are mad for me! Btw, my appointment at the dental clinic is tomorrow (Wednesday), they are actually going to pull two teeth, they can’t save them. Had we been able to fix them in the first week, maybe but the heart attack screwed that. I’ll let the gums heal and then decide how to proceed based on our finances. The dentist I saw yesterday was pissed to say the least. I wish I could have listened in to what he said.

But we’ve also had a very hard time finding good dentists in this area. So we will be searching again. Told Charles we need to extend our search area. The rest of my dental work is not absolute immediate. Once we find a dentist and get in, I see the cardiologist on Halloween for an ECHO and follow up from that. I will present him a cardiac clearance for him to sign for that dentist. By then I’ll be three months out and in far better shape. My heart will never be normal but we can get it back to better shape. And then, after I hit 6 months we can move forward with the needed work that requires my stopping Plavax and aspirin for a few days ahead.

But the dentist I saw yesterday was flummoxed that he would him mention his license. I said, yeah well his license was in jeopardy if I didn’t get fixed and had died. I had told Charles to sue his ass for failure to provide standard of care.

1. Negligence-related Injury: The health-care provider must have acted with negligence resulting in injury. A tragic outcome alone does not prove malpractice nor does simple negligence. The negligence must have caused harm to the patient.

If his refusal cased my death, Charles would have won a sizable award. He knew the consequences of what an infected tooth can do. It’s well documented. And I had plenty of Urgent Care and then ER visits.

Yet all he was worried about was if something happened if he gave the clearance and then something happened. He’s an ******!

 

[southernlady]

Had the appointment at the oral maxifacial office this afternoon. They pulled two teeth. We’ll decide how to deal with them at a later date. For now, I’m just healing.

All we ended up paying was the copay. Not bad at all.

 

[JackieOnLine]

how are you feeling, Liz? I hope you heal fast!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Hey, Liz! You need to answer @JackieOnLine ! She is in charge of making sure we’re ALL okay, you know.

If you answer HER, we can hear it from the horse’s (less populated) mouth.

How ARE you doing?

And sorry I didn’t see this sooner, I rarely go to the weigh in forum.

 

[southernlady]

how are you feeling, Liz? I hope you heal fast!

I’m sore and swollen, that’s expected. The spot is still bleeding but considering I’m on blood thinners? That’s understandable. I have gauze packing on top, I rinse with salt water every time I change the gauze. I’m living on pain pills and not much else. But there is a light at this tunnel and it’s not an oncoming train.

Hey, Liz! You need to answer @JackieOnLine ! She is in charge of making sure we’re ALL okay, you know.

If you answer HER, we can hear it from the horse’s (less populated) mouth.

How ARE you doing?

And sorry I didn’t see this sooner, I rarely go to the weigh in forum.

I was asleep when she posted. I just woke up about an hour ago,

It’s gonna feel weird once healed but we’ll see how to fill in the gap later. I’d like to preserve the jaw bone but not sure the budget can afford implants.

 

[hilary1617]

So glad the teeth are out. Hope you heal swiftly!

 

[southernlady]

So glad the teeth are out. Hope you heal swiftly!

I am glad too. The jaw is still painful but not in the same way.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I am glad too. The jaw is still painful but not in the same way.

very good to hear things are getting better!

 

[southernlady]

I would move most of this but its intertwined with the weigh in posts.

very good to hear things are getting better!

Thank you and thanks for checking up on me. It’s much appreciated.