over the weekend.
On Friday evening the Senior Cat's "plate" came out. This is a denture with three front teeth. It replaces the teeth he lost years ago when he was hit in the face with a cricket ball. (Is it any wonder he is no lover of sport? He couldn't see the ball coming at him.) This particular denture is one which is held permanently in place.
It is Middle Cat who deals with his medical issues so he was on the phone to her before I was even aware of what had happened.
"I am falling to pieces," he told her. He actually sounded shaken. I felt shaken by the words too. As I listened to him explain I calmed down. Yes, a bit of a crisis - but not life threatening.
Middle Cat got me to look. I looked. I explained. No, the denture was not broken. It had merely come loose. I could see what had happened. The Senior Cat is losing bone density and it no longer fitted well.
Middle Cat heaved a sigh of both relief and frustration. We agreed that, as he was in no pain, nothing could be done until Monday. I would phone the dental centre associated with our health fund first thing.
It was an interesting weekend. I had to rethink meals - something of an issue at the best of times. The Senior Cat couldn't speak properly which infuriated him. We went to Middle Cat's home on Saturday evening because Youngest Grandson was there for the weekend.
I wondered if the Senior Cat would manage the outing. He is never steady on his rear paws these days but he was much worse than usual.
Yesterday morning I was on the phone the moment the dental centre opened. Could they fit him in and at least assess the problem? No, the denture was not broken but it might need an adjustment. The girl at the other end was kind and sympathetic. It is school holidays this week and the place would be teeming with children but she would ask the dental technician to have a look. She slotted the Senior Cat into a fifteen minute appointment later in the morning.
He was still so shaky that Middle Cat took him off in an access cab in a wheelchair. If it had not been school holidays she may not have managed to snare such a cab even with her contacts in the industry.
That was one good thing about it being school holiday time.
They were home a couple of hours later. The dental technician had worked wonders. The plate was back in. The Senior Cat has a follow up appointment with the dentist in a couple of weeks.
By late yesterday afternoon he seemed somewhat better but the whole episode has made me aware of something too. Our elderly need to be cared for. It takes time and energy for them to deal with even a small crisis. The rest of us need to understand that.
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2 comments:
I think the shock of having something happen to us is greatly underestimated, and takes a while to adjust to and recover from. After tripping, falling, and breaking my arm (a very easy clean break which mended according to the textbook), I was surprised how timid I was about walking around the house, where it happened, and even more outside. My sister in law, who was knocked off her bike at about the same time, said she was also much less confident about doing things.
It's good to hear that the dental people were so promptly helpful.
Did your father choose ice cream for all meals? Or is he too old for that?
LMcC
Oh dear - much sympathy to the Senior Cat, and to you too for the trouble of getting it sorted out, and the upset. It takes such a little thing to really disrupt lives, when old age is involved.
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