I don't know who said that, but I'm sure it's damn true! And if you ever doubt that hockey players are tough, just imagine getting your wisdom teeth removed and turning around and playing hockey the next day.
Wisdom teeth... If you're smart, don't take 'em out. That's my thought after my daughter had two of hers removed on Tuesday, December 20th. The plans took shape innocuously enough. Her teeth had begun to bother her and the dentist recommended having the top two removed. Things went downhill from there...
I had told her that I really wanted to go to the Lightning game for my Christmas present. She complied by giving me the money to buy the tickets, which I did - scoring two fantastic upper level, center ice seats. I neglected to mention the date.
The week prior to the game, I told her to be sure not to work any extra hours the next week (during school breaks, she often does that) and she responded by telling me she couldn't because she had scheduled an appointment to get her teeth pulled. D'oh!
Turns out that I had slightly scared her with stories of people, including her father, reacting somewhat poorly when having their wisdom teeth pulled. Therefore, she talked to our beloved dentist's office and chose that Tuesday so that she could have Wednesday and most of Thursday to recuperate before she had to be back at work. Very slim window of opportunity.
I, like the dutiful mother I am, told her that I would take Tuesday off to be with her and drive her around to which she promptly replied "Don't be ridiculous...just take an hour or two off, drive me to/from my appointment, and go to work. I'll be fine." Thank God I followed my motherly instinct and didn't listen to her.
Of course, we also discussed the game the following day. Also of course, she wanted to still attend and we decided she probably would be able to, but we'd just wait and see. If nothing else, I could sell or give the second ticket to a friend.
The 8 a.m. appointment was fine, if a little more difficult than previously thought. We stopped at Whole Foods and stocked up on liquids and soft foods, picked up her prescriptions for Vicodin and an antibiotic and headed home. Everything was good for the next couple hours except for some extremely heavy bleeding. At around 1 she took one of each pill and went to take a nap.
She woke up around 3 and I sat on her bed and we talked for a few minutes, then she made her way out to her chair. I went into the kitchen to get her the smoothie she had asked for and hadn't been gone a minute when I heard a large crash! I raced back into the living room to find her sprawled out on the floor, chair still underneath her, stiff as a board.
To make this looooonnnnnggggg story a teeny bit shorter, turns out she had a seizure...and then she had another seizure. Scared out of my mind but thankfully still functional, I dialed 9-1-1 and had an ambulance there within minutes. We spent the rest of the evening at the emergency room where they ran tests, gave her I.V.s and a CT scan. Turns out, with the bleeding and lack of food, the Vicodin (which she had never taken before) had lowered her blood pressure to an extreme level causing the seizures. It took several hours for the Vicodin to wear off and the I.V. fluids to raise it up high enough for her to be released.
Needless to say, she did not feel like going to the game the next day. I waited until almost the last possible minute...debating about whether I should go...she was still hopeful that she could go. Finally, she told me to just go. She didn't want my Christmas present to be completely ruined. Honestly, by this time I think she was getting tired of my motherly ministrations!
I made myself as "pretty" as can be...fairly daunting when you've had such a scare and next to no sleep. I can't even impress how utterly horrible it is to see your child (no matter how old) have a seizure like that. But I thought my hair turned out pretty well... Couldn't bring myself to smile though.
Couldn't unload the ticket (I HATE having next to no friends nearby who like hockey!) but headed off to San Jose on my own, calling and texting often just to bug her.
As we all know, I enjoy my solitude so the drive was actually pretty rejuvenating after the last 24 hours. And nothing beats a hockey game to remind one that living through dental agony (as well as many other injuries) is a routine occurrence.
It was a mystery puck game and we all know how much I love those! So of course I rushed to the mystery puck table and chose my two pucks, one to open now and one for Adie to put in my Christmas stocking. A couple of the WAGs were there, looking beautiful as ever. Blurry picture and I wanted to get more of the table, but I couldn't since someone stepped in front of me in the ruckus. Thanks for throwing off my crappy camera's focus dude.
Decided to sit by the tunnel at center ice, since Adie wasn't there to forbid me. haha I opened my mystery puck and, to my delight, found Andrew Murray. I guess since he was just sent to Worcester yesterday, it's keeping my WooShark Mystery Puck Streak alive! lol I like Andrew and hope he does well with the Baby Sharks so he can come back up for playoffs. :-) IF we make it - not taking any j#$& chances.
Back to the game...lots of things to see down there by the tunnel... Tampa's twigs...
Tampa's pucks...
Of course the Sharks have to do it with style!
And, in the interest of equal opportunity, they even had a Menorah with the appropriate number of candles lit for Hanukkah.
Of course there were the Sharks' sticks to check out as well. I spy with my little eye, Pavs! and Vandy! Wonder who the mini sticks are for? Boyler?
Sorry, no more interesting pictures of the surroundings because it's time for warm-ups!! Captain Lecavalier to the rescue!
Handsome. I was a little surprised to see the Koala come out and stare intently at Tampa's warm-up for a little bit. Scouting...
Ah yes...my unreasoning crush on Bugsy Malone. Hope he doesn't get his ass handed to him again this year by Ginner. lol Wouldn't want those perfect curls mussed...
And there's Brauny. I never seem to get a decent picture of my emo kid.
Gotta love the Bromance between McGinn and Couture. These two are always stretching together during stretches.
And here's my mystery puck dude! TOM - The OTHER Murray. See...I'm not the only camera stalker...
Nice flow Stamkos! This kid is amazing. And Purcell's having a pretty good year too. Too bad Tampa isn't.
Definitely sitting by the tunnel has distinct benefits...such as players coming over to get things and have things fixed.
This guy is almost always smiling...
Purcell's a pretty good looking Newfie.
As is this guy...
Marty St. Louis...the epitome of gritty hockey player. I think if you look up gritty in the dictionary, his picture comes up. He ended up playing tonight when his status for WARM-UPS was in question after taking a puck to the face. He had a very good game despite the cage.
And, because I can't have too many Ryan Malone pictures...
One thing about standing next to the tunnel...if you're an adult with a camera, you seem to draw a little bit of attention from the players which feels a bit...awkward... But it did result in one awesome picture, so I can't complain.
Greiss is pretty good looking...I'm just sayin'. Some people think Torrey is. I don't really see it all that often. He is great for getting silly photos though.
It was cute to watch him chirp Demers though.
Not the best picture, but at the end of EVERY warmup, Demers waits for Clowie - who is always last off the ice and they do this cute/silly little low-five.
End of warm-ups so headed up to my seat. This is where is sucks to be at a game alone, although I don't chat much during the games anyway. Oh well, the second seat came in handy for my purse. Great view.
Kinda love this picture...first really good one of Sharkie on the ice that I've taken.
Since it was right before Christmas, the scoreboard, et al, were decorated accordingly.
But of course they changed it to the flags for the anthem. And of course I couldn't resist taking a couple pictures.
This game was A-MAY-Zing and I didn't have time to take a lot of pictures since the Sharks came out on a scoring tear and I was constantly jumping up to cheer for goals in the first 14+ minutes. Haha! Not complaining at all. I did feel guilty that Adie was missing the game. =(
So the only photo I took was of Guy Boucher and the Lightning coming out for the 2nd period.
The Sharks won handily 7-2 with goals from Couture (x2), Ferriero, Pavs, Desi, Burnsie, and Marleau.
FUN FACT:
Andrew Desjardin has scored 3 goals this season.
All in two games.
I was at both games.
Both games were mystery puck games.
I got Desi's mystery puck at BOTH games!
Coincidence? I think not...
Anyway, SHARKS WIN!
And your 3 stars were:
*** Jumbo
** Clowie
* Juicy
Sad story: The kid dropped the puck. Logan tried to find it for a sec, but couldn't. Don't know if the kid ever got one. :-(
Jumbo got the post-game interview.
And off I went for the drive back to Sacramento. I love this Angel Tree of lights they have every year, so this year I stopped to take a picture. It doesn't really do it justice.
One final note, our wonderful dentist - to whom we've been going for many years - called the next day to see how Adie was feeling. When he heard about the Vicodin seizure incident, he felt terrible and sent my daughter a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a teddy bear. Awwwwww. So sweet.
XOXO
