Service has not improved much and we will not be back for another stay !
Ok.. back to the incident, Amber lost her front tooth here on morning of 29 September 2007.
in the coffee house
at a corner wall of the coffee house
here :
now, they've blocked it with a buffet table. Then, there was a dining table next to it and we were waiting to be seated.
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on a close up, this is the block of wood she fell and hit her mouth against.
rewinding, it happened like this. I remember so vividly every details then :
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- we were waiting to be seated, next table was a group of tourist from Hong Kong.
Amber was only 17 months old, she started walking at 16 months and you know toddling kids, they want to walk everywhere and falling down many times along their journey.
I saw the block of wood, thought it was dangerous and being mindful not to let Amber play near there. I was carrying Amber, both of us wearing Crocs. She wanted to get down, I let her. As she walked, her Crocs brushed against mine, she FELL and hit the block of wood.
I heard a soft 'thud'
* silence*
I thought she was alright and then hubs carried her away.
she wailed.
I saw her mouth full of blood.
We quickly took her out of the coffee house to inspect. I can only see a mouthful of blood.
Hubs said.. 'her tooth is missing'
We pulled her lips apart and saw a 'gap'. It was hard to see amongst a bloody mouth.
How can that be ? I didn't see any tooth on the floor when hubs carried her ?
I quickly went back, by passing the table with tourist from Hong Kong and heard a man say :
'' hai ler... sai lou chai yat teng yieu tai chue ker" then another lady touted :
" emm hai err. kor sai lou chai tou hou kwai er.. khoi ker mamee pou chue khoi ker, khoi mou chau wai chau ker "
ok... I faster faster look and found her tooth at the table leg, about 2 feet away from where she fell. I quickly wrapped the tooth with a hotel serviette.
Asked the hotel staff if there is a dentist nearby..
dunno ??? maybe you go Kuah town.... their reply..
no one made an attempt to help us. no resident doctor or nurse.
Then, I remembered Langkawi Hospital. I always make a mental note of hospitals whenever I go for holidays and I tell you, it is necessary when you are away from home. You'll never know, accidents can happen anytime, anywhere.
I took over the wheels, my hands and feet trembling .. Hubs was carrying Amber at the back, his shirt full of blood. Amber stopped crying, she was behaving normally.
We arrived at the hospital, went straight to accident and emergency, quite a few people and I asked if the doctor if they could attend to Amber first as she was bleeding. They said to wait for another emergency case, and so we waited.
Amber was fine and dandy, as if nothing happened and the doctor called us in. Inspected her, wanted to open her mouth and check if the cut has 'punctured' through her lower lips .
I nearly *fainted* when I heard the word 'puncture'
He said nothing could be done with the tooth.
No puncture ! Phew
He need to stich Amber's cut up. That's when she started crying. The doctor called for a few nurse to help.
They placed her on the bed, wrapped her up in cloth, tight to stop her from wriggling.
She screamed PAPA !! MAMA !!! We watched her in agony, stroking her forehead, telling her it's okay.
She wriggled too hard, another few doctors were called in. All 6 of us (I counted) , were holding her down, the doctor gave an injection to numb the wound area and stitched her up.
3 stitches required. All this while, Amber only screamed for PAPA !! MAMA !!!
1st stitch, string and cut
2nd stitch, string and cut
3 stitch, string and cut
then the doctor said " Alamak ! Tercabut ! Kena jahit lagi ! "
Hubs SCREAMED : APAHAL YOU GUNTING ITU BENANG PENDEK SANGAT !!!!!!!!!!!! HAIYO !! MANA BOLEH !!
Out of frustration, he literally SCREAMED at the doctor. Cannot bear the thought of another stitch. Me ? I felt chilly all over.
Ok, ok, tak payah, tapi you jaga jaga sikit, takut dia garu and tercabut. I letak 'glue'
He placed some 'glue' on the first stitch which was cut too short and almost falling off.
Amber stopped crying...
I blacked out !
*pengsan* everything seems so dark, body cold. I quickly rested on a chair. can't feel or see a thing. My blood pressure must have hit a low. We didn't have our breakfast yet and seeing her in agony, I cannot take it anymore.
Hubs asked the doctor ' Ada Milo panas ka ? Dia pengsan '
Doctor : Eh.. Mana boleh ? Kami puasa ni !!
I can't believe the emergency room cannot even get a cup of hot Milo, although it's fasting month. Hubs helped me walked out. I rested, lying down until my blood pressure returned to normal, then drive to the nearest store to get some milk.
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That's the episode of her missing tooth. I felt terrible weeks after. I felt like the worst mom ever for not watching her more carefully. I felt I was to blame.
Now looking back, I am soo sooo THANKFUL that she only hit her mouth. I shudder at the thought of what might have happened if she hit her eyes on the block of wood instead. I also wondered why they didn't sedate her ? It'll be less traumatic for her, us and the doctors too ! I can see the doctor panic and having a hard time stitch the gash ! That incident left a mark at Amber and she cried when we had to see a doctor at Gleneagles for follow up visits to remove the stitches.
I browsed through my folder and these are some pictures of the event :
the evening before the fall, she was happily toddling on the beach.
this was her last photo with a full set of teeth. Coincidentally, this pic won a prize in Parenthood magazine - Happy Holiday contest.
This was taken after the incident, upon returning from the hospital. We didn't have breakfast and ate some bananas and drank milk, couldn't wait to go home and dreaded another nights stay. No mood, just wanted to get out of Langkawi Lagoon asap.
She's generally a happy child, doesn't fuss much and did not cry at all after the stitches. So happy that she forgot all about the incident and continued her day like usual, smiling, laughing and playing.
missing tooth... eyes swollen
we fed her vitagen and placed the straw on the 'gap' of tooth.
closer look, the 3 stitches and 'gap'
What did we do with her tooth ? We wrapped it up serviette from the coffee house, kept it in our safe at home, never wanting to look at it. Too heartbreaking and painful to be reminded of the incident.
The other day, I dug it out..
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bloody stains on the serviette. Can you see her tooth ??
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closer look :
Looking back, there is nothing to regret. I should be thankful she didn't fall and hit her eye instead. I also learnt that if a tooth falls off, we should push it back to the gums immediately and send her to a dentist. There's a chance the tooth might stick on when treated early.
Now, she'll have to wait till primary school for the next tooth to grow.
She's not conscious of her missing front tooth until she was about 2.5 yrs old, one day, she put her finger in the gap and said 'Mama, you see, I have no teeth!!" Breaks my heart to hear that.
She talks with a bit of 'lau foong' tone and that's just a small matter. Another 3 more years, she'll have her front tooth sprouting out again.
