Send Out the Search Party...We "Fell In"

In case anyone wondered if we "fell in," we did. It's been a heck of a week. We took Dear Daughter to the orthopedist on Monday for a consult on the hemangioma on her finger. It suddenly got much larger than it's been for over two years. The doctor basically said, "Yep. It's bigger" and that pretty much sums up the visit. They did x-ray it again to ensure no calcification on the bone, and that was all clear. The only options besides just monitoring the growth would be to surgically remove it, which would, of course, require full sedation, or an MRI to see if we could determine anything more about it. That would also require heavy sedation as Daughter would have to remain completely still for 20 full minutes. It doesn't make sense to do either. Since it has been there from birth and hasn't seemed to interfere with anything in her life, we may as well do nothing. The "experts" say it will disappear by the time Daughter is six to eight years of age (if it is indeed a hemangioma as the consensus seems to think.) The doctor wants us to keep coming every six months so that he can keep offering his opinion, which boils down to, "Yep, it's bigger." "Looks about the same as last time." "Seems a little smaller." The plan is always "do nothing," so what's the point of paying his outlandish fees for his observation, which seems no better than our own?

Daughter also had her routine six month dentist appointment on Wednesday this week. We didn't expect any issues, so here is where we were caught off guard. Her teeth are clean and healthy, and no cavities. This is good. She is only four, after all. But they did the first panoramic x-ray of her mouth. It showed all her baby teeth lined up and ready to come in. And an extra one that shouldn't be there. Furthermore, it is turned backward and pointing up instead of down, and it is in the way of the proper tooth that needs to be able to drop down. The short of it is that it needs to come out. Because it is upside down, it has to be done by an oral surgeon, who can "open up the skin and pull it apart enough to cut the tooth out." Great. This was all more than I felt prepared to handle. Now, there can be worse things in life to be sure. Much worse things. I do keep that in perspective. And yet, I really don't want to put my little four year old through this procedure. So far she has never had a bad experience at the dentist or doctor's office. I don't really feel like starting now. Oh, I forgot to mention that the dentist was not sure if the baby tooth underneath it will have to be removed or not, which is one of the top front teeth (and hopefully not BOTH of them, which would be even worse). So if they do have to take out one or both of the upper top teeth, my little girl will pretty much look like a little white trailer trash girl whose mommy doesn't care well enough for her teeth to prevent them from rotting and falling out of her head prematurely. I don't want her to be missing those front teeth a couple years early and ruin her precious little baby girl perfect teeth smile. *sigh*. We have the consult with the oral surgeon next Monday.

Off the topic a bit, I am absolutely horrified when I go to the food mart these days. A two pound bag of shredded cheese costs $9.55. A gallon of milk costs in the range of $3.85. Good luck finding a box of cereal much under $3.00 and most are over that. Oranges are $.50 EACH on a good day. Bananas are $.59 per pound. Avocados are more than a buck EACH unless a good sale finds them at $.69 each (what a bargain!). Zucchini squash is $1.99 per pound and green bell peppers are a buck a piece. Don't even get me started on what the red ones cost. I prefer them, but not a $2.50 apiece. Holy guacamole! I saw several price hikes this morning, and I ultimately left the store disgusted with far less items in my grocery cart than I intended on purchasing. Who can afford it anymore? I've watched our grocery bill more than DOUBLE over the past 5 years. Yes, we've added two mouths to the family, but they are only four and two years old. They don't eat equivalent to Husband and I.

And it's pretty bad when I'm driving home from the over priced food mart and notice that gas has dropped to $2.69 per gallon, and I think to myself, "Wow! What a bargain!"

I've decided that it costs too much to live anymore, but I cannot find any ethical or moral way out of it. I guess if our family starves to death because we can't afford to buy food anymore, that will solve the whole problem. The only other alternative I can see is to buy some livestock to go along with the garden and fruit grove we want to plant. We can have dairy cows or goats. Maybe a pig or two for butchering. And then if Husband doesn't want to take up hunting, I may have to. We can put a deer stand at the back of our property and eat for a year off the carcass. The problem is that while I like the taste of venison, I would rather look at the deer than eat them. I suppose that would all change if I got hungry enough.