posted
A few weeks ago my oldest kiddo, a member of the high school color guard, got whapped in the face with a flag pole. She complained that it hurt, but the next day she was fine, so I wrote it off.
Well, when her dentist examined her for her regular six month checkup he asked me how long this huge swelling had been in her mouth. Yikes. It's a bit bigger than an English pea, and located on the inside of her bottom lip. It's round, and blue.
We saw an oral surgeon for a consult, and it has to come out. He thinks it may be a mucus retention cyst formed by the trauma, but he's concerned because of the dark blue color. He says there may be a blood vessel inside it, and that if there is further trauma and it ruptures, it could bleed a bit. Nothing life-threatening or anything, but still it needs to be removed in a controlled setting.
They'll put her to sleep through some happy juice in an IV, then use a local anasthetic and remove it. She'll have a few stitches and be okay in a day or two.
The problem is that she doesn't need to miss school, so we're going to do it on a Friday, and let her recover over the weekend. But that means missing a Friday night football game, which has her upset. We don't need to wait until after football season, though because of the danger in her getting hit again - it really should be taken care of ASAP.
I'll let you guys know when it's scheduled.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Good luck Belle. I hope everything works out. I would have been very upset if I missed a game when I was in the band in high school.
Posts: 1766 | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thoughts and prayers with you and your daughter. I'm sure she'll get over the disappointment of missing the game eventually, but it sucks she has to. I know disappointment can be really rough at that age. (((hugs)))
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
She said she noticed it, but it didn't hurt, so she figured it would go away eventually. The oral surgeon said they are not painful, but because they pose a risk of bleeding and potential infection since that gland is blocked off, they need to be removed. As he put it, better to remove it in a controlled setting than have it rupture because she gets hit in the mouth again (which could happen, especially with her tossing flags up in the air all the time).
My husband is perplexed, he studied martial arts for years and played multiple sports and says he's been hit in the mouth so many times, yet he never had one. The doctor said it just has to be the right hit in the right spot.
Natalie is a bit nervous because she's never had an iv before, and never had any type of major medical procedure. I'm glad that they are going to put her to sleep, honestly because I can imagine that doing that type of work under a local only might make her even more uncomfortable and uneasy. This way, she gets to sleep through it all.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Wow, and I thought my adventures in getting hit with a flagpole were bad! I needed a cap on my front tooth two days before my brother's wedding, and I still had a fat lip in all the pictures. All the best, and I'm sure she'll recover perfectly. Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Belle, I wish your daughter strength, especially during the recovery, cause experience has taught me that's when it hurts most.
I must have been 13 years when something similar was growing in my mouth. Located on the lower lip and it didn't hurt at all. I also thought it would go away in its own, but instead it continued to grow. Even though it was painless, the sheer size of it became a nuisance while eating and talking and such. So eventually we were referred to the hospital. They gave me a local anaesthetic and cut it out. It didn't feel a thing, but unfortunately the attending doctor was wearing glasses so I could witness the whole bloody mess because of the reflection. It wasn't a pretty sight. Out of my mouth they pulled something along the size of a marble. It was only on the way home, when the anaesthetic started to wear off, that the pain began. It was excruciating, I spent a large part of that evening doing anything that would take my mind off the pain, but nothing worked for longer than a few minutes. On the plus side, I got to dine on mashed potatoes and apple-sauce (since I couldn't really chew anything) and the next day, when the rest of the class had to take a French test, I was allowed to make it at a later date since I hadn't been able to study the night before. There is some good in everything. Posts: 993 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
I also once had a mucocele (which is what those cysts are), caused actually by a dentist who accidentally lacerated the inside of my lip during a drilling procedure. It cut through one of the saliva glands, which in turned then caused this mucocele.
I was also told it would have to have surgery to fix, even though it gave me no problem and didn't hurt. The dentist sent me to an oral surgeon who was going to do surgery.
However, I didn't have the money for the surgery, and so I procrastinated and put off the procedure for over two years -- and then the mucocele went away on its own and never cause any more problems. So they weren't perfectly honest when saying it absolutely WON'T go away -- but it did take a very long time, so surgery is probably your best option if you can afford it.
quote:surgery is probably your best option if you can afford it.
Fortunately it will be applied to my medical insurance, which is much better than my dental, so the most we'll have to pay will be the $150 deductible for one-day surgery. If, however, they can get the insurance to accept it as an office procedure instead of one-day surgery, I'll only have to pay $20.
That's much better than what I would have had to pay had it been billed on my dental insurance, so either way I'm grateful.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I hope it all goes well for her, Belle. I had minor surgery about two months ago. I went with the local over an IV, and I regretted it a little bit (it is sort of odd and a little creepy being partially able to see someone cut into you like that but not really feeling it). So I can definitely understand wanting to go with the IV in your daughter's case (particularly since she'd probably be able to see a little more with them being right in her face). I really hope all goes well and she heals quickly. Minor surgeries aren't terrible, but they still aren't much fun.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I had one removed this past summer and was given novacaine. I didn't feel a thing because the lump was basically numb to begin with (mine was big too, it required seven stiches). Your daughter should be fine Posts: 1327 | Registered: Aug 2007
| IP: Logged |
Farmgirl wins the thread - it DID go down and disappear. Well, not disappear, but shrink sufficiently that we no longer felt an immediate need to get rid of it. I called the oral surgeon and said it was about half the size it was when he examined her, and he said that in that case, it would be fine to leave it alone because it would most likely resolve completely over the next few months. It's not hurting her or bothering her or interfering with eating or talking, so we left it alone.
She was very happy not to have to miss her high school football game, and I was happy not to see her go through it.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
