James' Diagnosis

I know I should be posting about Christmas but I'm too tired and sick to download the photos and then write a post about them. Instead, this post is about the non-Christmas related events that have been happening around here, mostly about James.
We had a very interesting week leading up to Christmas. Adam got a call out of the blue from the man he had been working with for a year to get THE job that he was officially rejected for a few months ago. Another position has opened up in the company in Utah and this guy called Adam and invited us to attend a Christmas party at his home where several other reps with the same company would be in attendance. He seemed pretty excited about us coming and for the opportunity for Adam to network with these guys. We were so excited to have been invited and I was less excited about actually attending. I really had no desire to go and make small talk but I was, of course, ready to put on my party face and make a great impression. The night we were to leave for said party, this guy calls Adam and says he's really sorry but he didn't check with his wife first before inviting us and she was really upset because she had planned for a specific number of people. Basically, he was uninviting us. WHO DOES THAT? Anyway, so we canceled our plans and they had a nice conversation about him setting up a meeting for Adam with a really good contact in the company after the first of the year. So, it wasn't that bad. The guy is still going way out of his way to try and help Adam land this other job. It's pretty flattering actually considering this guy really doesn't even know Adam that well but has been so impressed with him that he really wants to work with him within the company. At least we have a ray of hope that a better job is in the works for us. It's pretty frightening to even get our hopes up because it honestly was like dealing with a death after we didn't get that job. It was one of the hardest times of our married life. Hopefully, 2011 will be a good year for us.
Anyway, moving on to James. So, a few days before Christmas James started screaming again from tooth pain. I called our dentist and of course he was out of the office until January 3rd. I talked to the receptionist for a while and explained the situation. She said, "Well, I would just be really surprised if there is anything wrong if you just had him in a couple of weeks ago and the doctor thought everything looked good."
Me-- "Well, how do you explain his screaming in pain, then?"
Her-- "Oh, I don't know I just do paperwork."
The conversation ended with her saying she would call the dentist and she would call me right back. Yeah, right. I could tell by her tone that I wasn't going to hear from her. So I asked her if she could at least recommend a pediatric dentist and she said no that I would just have to call around and good luck because everyone was probably already gone for the holiday. I felt like screaming at her, "Merry Christmas to you too, you heartless jerk!" Oh yeah, and she also said I would have a hard time since he's on Medicaid and most doctors aren't taking any more Medicaid patients. I was already starting to panic enough as it was without her telling me all of this.
I went to the Medicaid website and started calling all of the pediatric dentists on the list (only about 15 total). Every office I called either didn't accept Medicaid anymore or they were closed for the holidays. I was freaking out. I have a child screaming in pain and no one would help us because he's on Medicaid. Why should my child have to suffer just because he's on Medicaid? It's not his fault that they don't reimburse enough to cover costs. And there was no way in hell I was going to take him to the butcher shop known as Small Smiles. The reviews I've read about that place are chilling.
Finally! The last dentist, Dr. Larry Meadors, answered the phone and cheerfully said they could see him the Monday after Christmas. I was so relieved that someone was willing to help us.
I took him in on Monday and they took x-rays (first dentist office hadn't done x-rays in over a year) and the x-rays showed that his tooth was almost rotted and needed to be pulled and a spacer put in for the permanent tooth. His molar on the other side needs to have a pulpotomy and there are two other really small cavaties that need to be filled. Finally, some answers as to why he has been screaming in pain. Poor little guy. I would venture to say that he has had problems since Halloween with this but our family dentist seemed to think everything was fine.
Dr. Meadors wants to put him out and do surgery at the hospital since he's so little and there's quite a bit of work that needs to be done. The crappy part? The hospital initially set his appointment for February 3rd! The soonest they had an operating room. There was a cancelation so now his appointment is January 13th which is still three weeks away. We are supposed to just ride it out on codeine until then. I feel so frustrated and helpless. He's not really sleeping unless he's doped up and he's cranky and tired during the day. I'm thankful we at least have a plan in place but I pray there will be another cancelation so we can get into the OR even sooner. I hate seeing him suffer. I am absolutely powerless to alleviate his pain other than with codeine and a lot of times he still screams for another 30 minutes until the medication starts to take effect. My poor little James has been suffering all this time.
I asked Dr. Meadors why he has all of these problems when we brush very faithfully twice a day and I'm the one doing the brushing. He said some kids just have weaker teeth than others.