Medical Adventures

The last month has been filled with a couple of medical adventures for our family, some good and others....not so much.  I'll start with the good.

Back in September when Alex started in preschool, I applied to become a volunteer at our local hospital (CMC-Pineville).  I submitted my application (complete with references) and waited.  Finally, I heard that my references had received forms to fill out about me.  About a month later, I received a call from the Volunteer Coordinator asking me to come in for an interview.  After the interview, a 4-hour training session, a flu shot, 2 Tuberculosis skin tests, an official name tag and a uniform,  I was ready for on-the-job training.  I've been assigned to the Emergency Department, and will be working a both the front desk and inside the ER.  I've completed two of my 3 required training shifts and then will be ready to work independently.  I'm really enjoying it so far.  Initially when I applied to volunteer, I was interested in working in the ER alongside the nurses.  I've been considering going back to school for my RN once both the boys are in school all day and felt like this was a great way to preview what things would be like.  When Scott and I were first married, I always told him that when I turned 40 I was going to quit work and go back to school to become a nurse so that I could contribute to society. However, I'm really enjoying the front desk part of the ER, working as the greeter and collecting the necessary information from patients.  So, I'm realizing that whether I go back for my RN or not I'm still contributing in my small way to making the world a better place.

I have to say I've been so impressed with how well the volunteers at the hospital are treated.  Everyone is so kind and helpful and it's been a great experience so far.  Plus, the newly remodeled cafeteria is an added bonus....especially since the volunteers are paid in the form of a free meal after their shifts!

As for the other medical adventure, I had gum grafts done on Wednesday and am on a liquid diet for another 5 days.  As a child I was an aggressive tooth brusher, and for the last 3 years my very mild-mannered dentist has been reminding me that my eroding gums really need to be addressed.  This comes as no surprise to me.  You'll rarely see me drinking ice water, or eating hard mint candies...those things are painful to my ever sensitive teeth (although, I surprisingly never had trouble with ice cream, go figure!)  Finally, about a year ago my dentist finally told me that if I didn't start the ball rolling with getting gum grafts he was going to stage an "intervention".  To hear such a soft-spoken guy use words like "intervention" really got my attention.  So, with the new year (and a topped-up flex spending account) I headed to the periodontist for treatment.  For those of you who are blissfully unaware of what gum grafts entail, here's a synopsis:

In many gum grafting procedures the periodontist will take some of the patient's own tissue for the graft. This tissue is usually taken from the roof of the mouth. A very thin piece is removed and carefully placed onto the area where the gums have receded. It is then carefully attached there with fine sutures.


Based on the description above, you can tell why I've been putting it off...the whole thing sounds horrible!!  But, on Wednesday, with my Ipod in hand, my chauffeur/husband dropped me off at the periodontist.  The procedure went slightly better than I expected.  After many, many shots of Novocain to my mouth, they "patched up" 5 teeth on my left side with plans for me to come back in 6 months to a year for the remaining 2 teeth on the right side....yeh, right!  With a cheek that's swollen like a chipmunk, I'm on a liquid diet for a week, which sounds fun until about day 3 when your limited food repertoire of applesauce, rice pudding, oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, jello and ice cream starts to get monotonous.  Thank goodness for Panera's Black Bean soup and my homemade chocolate pudding!  I should return to normal in the next few days (I hope) and I go back to the periodontist in 2 weeks to have all my stitches removed.

Stay tuned for more Steffen happenings...