Rather than retell the story, I'm just going to copy what was sent off to the hospital. I was so ticked (I'm feeling better now...but still quite annoyed) I couldn't see straight. I sent bullet points to Jeremy, asking him to make it look pretty...and with a few of my own tweaks, this letter was made. I've emailed it to someone who sounds quite helpful, and she will be circulating this to the appropriate people...starting with the doctor who has not returned the message I left for him a couple days ago. Grrrr.
To whom it may concern:
I am extremely dissatisfied with the level of care my son, Alexander [Last Name], is receiving for his dental issues. I have brought up concerns with Alex’s teeth and possible pain they may be causing him, and continually find there to be obstacles to getting him the help he needs.
Sometime late February or early March of this year, I brought up concerns about a possible problem with Alex’s teeth, one which I believed was causing him pain. I was unable to get an appointment until March 23rd, and due to being ill, I was not able to be a part of that visit. I was told that Alex was going to have a sedated appointment in April, and assumed this meant any tooth issues would be dealt with at that time.
I later found out the appointment in April was to be a routine cleaning with no sedation. Anybody with any history on Alex should be well aware that he will not tolerate dental work while awake, and I can’t even guess why this appointment would have been set up in the first place.
I made an appointment to get Alex seen again on April 6th, so I could be present to voice my concerns directly to the dentist. At that appointment, Alex wouldn’t even go into the exam room, and had to be examined while sitting on the floor in the hall outside the dental clinic. I was told at this time that they do not sedate yearly because of the risks of anesthesia, and they would be sedating him next in two years (so three years from his last sedation and dental work).
I asked how they could know he wasn't having issues that couldn't be seen, and mentioned that a while back, Alex had a tooth abscess that had been missed because no one noticed any swelling or redness. They said the best they could do would be x-rays the next time Alex was sedated. They refused to sedate without knowing for sure he needed work done. The cavities they could see, after a very limited look in his mouth, were on baby teeth, so the dentists weren't concerned as the teeth would likely "fall out soon".
On June 27th, Alex was sedated for other procedures, and was finally able to get the x-rays needed to prove he had significant tooth issues. One large cavity was found that has likely been causing him pain for a long time, and numerous smaller cavities were found as well, each with the potential of causing him sensitivity to food and/or drink.
Now we know for certain that he is in pain due to tooth issues, yet we are being asked to wait two more weeks to fix them. These issues were already brought up by us, and ignored utterly. And yet Alex is being pushed off once again until it’s convenient for the hospital. He has now been in pain for three or four months, and we’re being told to wait? This is completely outrageous.
If he was able to say, "Ouch! My tooth!" it would have been dealt with by the end of March. But, as he is nonverbal, it's just so much easier to chalk his pain up to "behaviors". And so we’ll just let him live in extreme pain? What person would live for months with a toothache? And what doctor, dentist, or hospital makes a child in pain wait two weeks after confirming he's been suffering for over three months? When our verbal 7 year old says he's in pain, he gets a same-day appointment. The same should be true of our nonverbal son, and there is absolutely no excuse for the treatment he has received thus far.
No comments:
Post a Comment