{This is the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth...wait that's a lie the gums are involved too} OUR HYDROCEPHALUS JOURNEY

In preparation for his upcoming surgery we decided that Joe needed to be seen by a dentist. I know someone who was scheduled for back surgery and minutes before it was suppose to begin he told the surgeon that he had a tooth ache and the surgeon called off the surgery until he was seen and cleared by a dentist. It was a good thing because that "little" tooth ache ended up being an infection that had caused bone loss. The surgeon later stated that an infection in the mouth could have greatly compromised the outcome of the surgery...it could have even killed him they had proceeded and the infection spread to the area they were performing on. Scary right?!?! Knowing this, we figured better safe than sorry!

We knew Joe had some dental work that needed to be done but both of us were in for a big surprise. You see, lately he had been experiencing halitosis (bad breath) and my first thought was gingivitis. Unfortunately, I was incorrect. Gingivitis would have been the lesser of the evil. Turns out the culprit of the smelly breath is periodontal disease. Poor Joe. Poor dentist. Here we are thinking it was cleaning and filling day and instead they found themselves "enjoying" not just one but two days of scaling and root planning. Please note, I do not pretend to know everything there is to know when it comes to the medical or dental field but after watching a few YouTube videos and watching the perform this all I can say is OUCH! It just looks painful!

Joe had to work immediately following both treatments and some of his co-workers were concerned thinking that his being numb was actually a sign of him having a stroke or a complication from his hydrocephalus. Speaking of, I should say that Joe having hydrocephalus has NOTHING to do with his gum disease! Zero. Zilch. Nada. The only reason it is under our hydro journey is because if not for the impending surgery we would not be aware of it. Funny how, even with dental insurance, Joe does not ever seem to "make time" for the dentist. Welp, that is now a thing of the past. From here on out I will be the one in charge of scheduling ALL of his appointments and funny thing about me - I LOVE keeping things on a schedule! In fact, my two youngest are going to the dentist next month. Ironically, their appointments were originally scheduled for the same day as his brain surgery. Thankfully, their dentist needed to reschedule so I did not feel guilty having to do so.

Anyway, it is late and it is Easter so I am going to get off and go spend a little time with my family before bed. But I wanted to leave you with this little infographic.