Belinda went to a new dentist on Monday. Her pediatric dentist left his practice in November, and Belinda had never been to another dentist in her entire life. Since her insurance didn’t have that office in the network, we decided to go to a new dentist entirely. We chose one just over the river in Mustang. They’re all very nice and everything seemed fine…and then they said that she had TWELVE CAVITIES. Well, obviously I was very sus of that information, since Belinda is great about oral hygiene. She always brushes twice and day and flosses once a day. Now, I knew that her pediatric dentist had said she had two shadows that needed to be looked at, but now, four months later, there are TWELVE?? I asked a lot of questions but the dentist seemed positive. He also said that these had been there for at least two years. Um…no.

So on the way home I was talking about second opinions and that’s when Belinda wondered aloud if it could be from the achalasia, like acid going into her mouth. I hadn’t even thought of that. How awful.

I went home and got on the achalasia parents’ facebook group and some people there said their kids had the same issue. I still contacted insurance about a second opinion, just to be sure, and they’re supposed to get back to us early next week about that.

If it is acid, I’m hoping that pepcid that the allergist and internist want her to take will help with that. And I am thankful that we’re finding this out now, before things get worse. We’ll just have to do whatever it takes to protect her teeth.

Another thing to be thankful that it happened before college, and before she’s 18, so I can handle it all without extra difficulty.

Finally! After going through hoops for months, Belinda’s allergy testing has been scheduled for March 13 at a clinic in Edmond that specializes in allergies in people with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. This is one more thing we need to get taken care of so everything is checked off medically before she starts college in Alva in the fall. She’ll also be 18 then, and so she will have to handle more of her medical care as an adult. I will miss having healthcare professionals talk to me without hesitation, since she’s still 17. If we had discovered her issues after August, it would have been so much harder. I thank God that she was diagnosed when she was!

After that, she will go back to the internist in Tulsa on April 17.

It’s hard to believe she will graduate in May. I need to get senior pictures scheduled and start thinking about graduation announcements.

I just realized that her entire high school career has included us dealing with rare disease health care. I pray that her college experience goes smoothly and that the diseases don’t keep her from meeting her goals!