Never under estimate the power of the MOLD!

No, not the green kind.  Although that is equally as powerfully, hence penicillin, etc.

However; in my case, we are talking about the pink kind. 

In my last post I mentioned that Dr. Simon had taken new molds and that it would take about 2 weeks to get them back, and that we would need to wait until then to resubmit to BCBS for approval.

Of course, knowing that prayer can accomplish anything, I have been very prayerful that by some miracle they would come back early and we could submit sooner.
Well, praise God, they came back today.  One week later.

Immediately, Dr. Simon sent the records over to Dr. Tiwana's office for submission. The young lady I am working with at Dr. T's office was off today, and won't be back until Tuesday, so it won't happen until next week, unfortunately.  I guess she is entitled to time off from work.  I just with she would do it AFTER we get surgery approved.

Then Christi from Dr. Simon's office called back and said Dr. Simon needed me in ASAP.  Said that after looking at my molds she feels like Dr. T will want more space in a couple of places.  What does that mean? Guess I will find out first thing Tuesday morning when I go in for the adjustment.

Sounds like I may be taking advantage of my "soup" diet earlier than expected.  The good news is, she feels as if Dr. T. will be able to get by with only doing my bottom jaw.

I am going to be making my white chocolate mint ganache filled chocolate cupcakes on Monday to take to Dr. Simon's office on Tuesday.  Her office has been so supportive, and Dr. Simon is one of the best doctors I have ever worked with.  She is so patient, kind and informative, always calls me back herself and goes above and beyond to make me feel as if I am her only patient. Just a small gesture to say "Thanks."

Although, she is about a size 2 and probably never touches sugar! 
BUT, I'll bet she won't be able to resist the ganache!.

More on Tuesday....

We have a date! Well maybe.........

So, after a long chat with Dr. T's surgery scheduler, I found that she still does not have quotes back from the hospitals on what the surgery will cost if I end up having to pay for it.

She did however; have a strong knowledge of both hospitals and has every confidence that Parkland will be the less expensive option.  She said Parkland offers "Package" pricing for situations like mine and that is very much discounted.  She also said the Zale only offers a 25% discount off of hospital fees and the rest, (medication, anesthesiologists, supplies, etc), are not included.

With that information, I went ahead and requested that I be put on his schedule for Parkland. Either way, insurance covered or not, I am having the surgery.  So.......

October 6th it is!

The only qualm is......... Parkland has been getting some TERRIBLE press lately...

Things like, hygiene issues, Doctors not washing their hands, or wearing surgical gear outside of the operating rooms. Its been quite the buzz here in Dallas.
 
The good side is, insiders are saying that these are isolated incidents and that the oral surgical suite at Parkland is pristine.  AND now that the microscope is on them, they will DEFINITELY be on their toes and providing TOP NOTCH care.

Anyway, if for some reason BCBS approves my claim and I can get a surgery date at Zale that same week, I will switch, but otherwise, October 6th it is, at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Now we just wait to see if it will be lower jaw or double jaw surgery.

Still waiting............

But at least a step closer....

Hurry up and Wait!!

Hurry up and Wait!!

And................. exhale!

I went in to see Dr. Simon today to get a new set of records done in hopes of getting insurance coverage of my surgery.  I was hoping that she would be able to determine if I needed both jaws, or just one jaw repositioned.

The answer?

"I won't be able to tell until I get your new molds back, but feel free to give me a call.... it should take about 2 weeks...."

2 weeks?  Seriously?

And to top it off, the new request won't be sent back to BCBS until the molds are back.  Of course, that IS the best way to get the surgery approved, but for goodness sakes already.. I need some answers...

Patience Janell.... Patience....

Pray.... Breathe.... Pray.... Breathe.....

Or as Julia Roberts did, "Eat, Pray, Love."

I have been praying, relentlessly, and my life is FULL of love, but unfortunately, the anxiety of today caused me to not be able to eat tonight. 

Not sure if it was the build up of excitement to finally get some answers, only to be let down, or if it were the layoffs at work today that has gotten my tummy all in knots, but I can tell you, its definitely not my favorite feeling.

I feel like I'm in limbo on the surgery thing.  I don't have a quote back from the two hospitals so that I can pick one based on if I'm self paying, I have to have the rates before I can schedule a surgery date, AND to top that all off, one of the hospitals in question is Parkland Hospital in Dallas and if you haven't seen the media lately, DON'T LOOK ETHEL!  It will freak you out!

I have really been trying to aim for the first week in October for a surgery date. Q4 at work is really crazy and I want to have this behind me and back at work before mid October. Now, my thoughts are....

2 weeks until the molds gets back.

Then submit to BCBS.

They have 30 days to respond.

That puts us with a surgery date already into the 2nd week in October.

Sharon has a major project launch in Riverside,CA the last weekend in October and we just has such a tight window for both of us.

Again, Pray and breathe.

God's got this!  Dang it if my human brain doesn't try to take over all the time.

I am going to take a hot bath, relax and try to find my patience somewhere in the back of the dresser drawer.  I'm pretty sure that's where I left it.

Phillipians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

A Glimmer of HOPE!!!

August 22, 2011 – A Glimmer of HOPE!!!

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning thinking about funding this surgery.  It just happened that Sharon was awake and restless at the same time.  Not sure if she was already restless as I was, or if she just didn’t want to admit that I was keeping her awake.  She’s sweet like that.

Anywho, my brain was on money for the surgery and hers was on impeding layoffs at work this week, and neither one of us could sleep. I shared with her my thoughts and immediately she began to pray with me.  In all things we give thanks, and the more we can let go of and give to God, the better off we are.  We know that he is going to take care of us, and this circumstance is no different.

Seemed like we prayed for an hour and finally found some peace.  I know that he will provide so I just have to let go.

After arriving at work, I decided to put a call into our HR Benefits department, just to ask if there was any chance at appealing the denial.  (Thank you Sharon for suggesting that).  I left a voice mail on the benefits line and then received a phone call back from the benefits director.  She said there is a possibility that BCBS will pay for the surgery if we can prove that orthodontic therapy didn’t work to correct my problems.  Correct them?  It has actually made it worse!

She told me to submit again, with very detailed information on how I have been in braces and that due to my recessed jaw, or “micrognathia” as the medical word calls it, that the braces aren’t enough to correct the problem.  She also said to provide any additional details of TMJ that was available, and then call her when it was done, and she would follow up herself with BCBS.

I then looked at our policy outline and not only did I NOT find the exclusion they were referring to, but  found this..

• Treatment of the mouth, jaws and teeth (preauthorization required), including:

·         Diagnostic and surgical procedures to treat temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder (appliances not covered)

·         Alteration of the jaw when appliance therapy does not work

Does that not say it should cover me?

Immediately I got on the phone with my OS office and ask her to resubmit.  Dr. T’s office of course didn’t have detailed records because Dr. Simon had all of those. I immediately called Dr. Simon and she said that the records she had were from September of last year prior to going in to braces.  She had me make an appointment this week (Thank you for working me in) to get a full set of records done again.  This should definitely show how much of an overbite I have and how there ain’t amount of brackets and wires going to fix it!

I am also hoping that she can tell me if I need one or both jaws corrected.

Praise God for putting hope back.

I have not stopped praying about this and I’m sure this may be God’s way of providing.

Holding my breath until we hear…………

The Time in NEAR!

Fall it is!

Routine visit with Dr. Simon reveals that October is the month!  It works with me at work, and my mouth is ready. Well, except for this pesky bottom canine that doesn’t want to turn around and behave!  Other than that, we’re ready!

Knowing I had a very tight window, due to when I can take the time off from work, I immediate get on the phone with Dr. T’s office to schedule an appt to see him and get a surgery date.

2 months out was the earliest!  NO WAY!

I, of course panic.  How can I see him on 9/23 and have a surgery date 2 weeks late?

I called Dr. Simon’s office and asked if she could make a phone call to Dr. T. and try to get me in sooner.  Which of course, because she is the most awesome Doctor EVER!  She texted, emailed and called him immediately, and he told her he would handle it!  They are buds like that you know!

We went to S. Padre island and put this behind us for a week.  Vacation was awesome.  I really needed the break. The surgery has consumed me and the forums, the blogs, websites and videos have been an obsession.  I feel like I just can’t get enough information of read enough on the surgery. I keep reading the same things over and over, and yet I still keep looking to find something new.  I have had many surgeries but none have quite been so daunting as this one.

Anyway, I followed up with Dr. T’s office when we got back and his office was able to move me up to 9/9 and the surgery scheduler said she would call the 2 hospitals where Dr. T. is on staff to see what they quote for the procedure to self-pay patients. I told her Dr. T. said around 6K and she said, “Um, well, I think that is just Dr. T’s fees.  I have seen the surgery upwards around 20K.”

Gulp!

Immediately, my heart stops. How on Earth can we pay for this?

You wouldn’t believe the thoughts that went through my head when I heard 20K.  We are really going to spend more on my jaw than we did on either one of our cars? Will they allow me to make payments? Is it really that much? What are we going to do?

Pray Janell.

Pray through it.  God will take care of you.  He always does.

That’s all I have done since I heard that is…..  Pray….. Pray … Pray…..

Bottom's UP!

Bottom’s Up!

The braces have become very uneventful.  I have stopped waxing them as my mouth has gotten used to them, and aside from the occasion lisp that they cause, I feel pretty normal.

Now it’s time to get the bottom ones on.  FINALLY.

In January, Dr. Simon said I only needed about 9-10 more months before I would be ready for surgery!  WOO HOO.. That’s about 6 months earlier than I expected.

The bottom braces felt really strange.  The first thing I did was take a bite of a bagel and pop off a bracket. HA!!  I would end up having to chew very carefully until my bottom teeth moved a bit because of the way my upped teeth overlapped the bottom.

It took me about 2 weeks to get used to the bottom brackets.  Had to wax for about the first week, but it seemed like the process of getting used to these took SO much less time than the upper ones did.

No we just wait.

Wait for the surgery date.

Save money to pay for surgery.

Wait.

Save money.

Wait.

Character leaving me, now take the wisdom!

Character leaving me, now take the wisdom!

I arrive at Dr. T.’s office feeling a little anxious about the procedure.  Not exactly sure why other than I have heard so many horror stories regarding wisdom teeth extraction.  Given that my lower teeth are completely impacted and will have to be drilled out chunk by chunk, I am anticipating a rough ride.

Not to mention, Dr. T., told us that my procedure was more complicated due to the nature of the impaction and my age.

My what?

What are you saying?  Ahem!

I KNOW… I KNOW…

I should have had this taken care of when I was younger, but my mother wanted me to not only have character, but to be full of wisdom.

Before they started the I.V. and got me sedated he mentioned one little tiny detail.  BCBS denied my surgery. Exclusion he said.  He followed up by saying, that because he was at UT Southwestern they could do the procedure for about 6K if I still wanted to move forward.  I said, “Really?  That’s all?  Sounds too good to be true, but sign me up.  We can do that.. I’m already on this path, let’s do it.”

Then I was sent to dream land.

What a trip!!  I couldn’t feel any pain but I kept waking up in and out of consciousness as they were drilling and pulling the teeth.  The bottom ones were definitely a bugger and just didn’t want to budge.  They kept splitting them and pulling them out piece by piece.  I was conscious off and on and could hear them talking.  Thank GOD I couldn’t feel anything because it was freaky enough to just hear what was going on.

Dr. T. was awesome.  He was very much in control of everything.  He was confident and gentle, but yet had control of the room.  I could hear him talking to his assistants while doing the procedure and he was very respectful and yet firm at the same time. Made me feel very comfortable knowing he was going to be doing my future surgery as well. 

I woke up feeling numb, like my face was in another room.

By the time we got home though, it was a different story!

OUCHIE WAWA!!  Not nice!!!

I was a complete mess.  I still had cotton stuffed in my mouth and kept drooling blood.  When I changed the cotton, I had to just hang my face over the sink and just let it go. (Gross I know, but true).  How Sharon was able to stand there and help me, let along stay with my freakishly gross self, I have no clue, but Thank you God!.

That weekend was terrible.

We had a family gathering the next day, to which I showed up zombified on Vicodin and with a chipmunk face.  Needless to say, we didn’t stay long.

I went home, got back into my PJs, lounged on the couch, cried a little, took lots of meds, tried to drink soup and felt completely sorry for myself and whiney for the rest of the weekend.

I felt like someone had put my head in a meat grinder.

But, like several people had told me, Tuesday morning I woke up and felt like a whole new person.  Most of the pain was gone and all I needed was a couple of Advil to make it through the day.

Thank you to God for getting me through that, and Thank you to Sharon for her patience and love through that weekend. There is no way I could face all of this without her.

Meet Dr. T. Dr. Simon’s character-ripping counterpart!!

So I met with the Maxillofacial Surgeon that is ultimately going to be doing my jaw surgery. 

Dr. Tiwana. 

He is awesome.  I saw him to discuss my wisdom teeth extraction, but he will also be doing my other suregery as well. He was so sweet, very calming and very informative.  He did however; throw another kink in my plans.  He mentioned the fact that he may need to reposition BOTH jaws, not just one.

REALLY?  Double-jaw surgery?

He wouldn’t know for sure until it got closer to surgery time.  Once Dr. Simon said I was good to go for surgery, he would then re-evaluate and determine if I needed single or bi-jaw surgery.

 In the meantime, his staff would be sending to BCBS for approval and would request both, that way if he only had to do one, we wouldn’t have to start from scratch.

In the mean time, let’s conquer the WISDOM TEETH!!

The braces are going great.  I am getting used to them, but still waxing several times a day.

Bring on the extractors!

Simon Says!

Week one:  Let’s play, “Simon Says!”

Simon says: “Open your mouth.”

Simon says: “Hold your breath so you don’t taste the glue from the brackets”

Simon says: “Don’t Move”

Simon says: “Rinse!”

Simon says: “Spit!”

Close your mouth!

Simon didn’t say to close your mouth, open again!

Simon says:  “Use plenty of wax.”

Simon says: “Use lots of floss.”

Simon says: “Take lots of Advil!”

Boy did Dr. Simon know what she was talking about with the wax and the Advil!!

Holy Moly! Oh my goodness sakes graciousness this hurts! 

Not to mention I feel like a baby who is learning to use their lips for the first time!

And when did that big guy sneak in and punch me in the face?  I know that’s what happened, because there is NO way some measly little wires can cause this much pain! GOOD GRIEF!

Things I have learned this week:

·         Dental wax is your best friend. However, the package may indicate "non-toxic" but I have yet to find out how well the "incidental swallowing of wax chunks" will affect my digestive system.  OH and the fact that silicon ear plugs serve the same purpose as ortho wax and is MUCH MUCH cheaper. 

·     Never, and I mean NEVER be fooled by the seemingly innocent, soft bean burrito, as it is NOT your friend and will wreak havoc on very tender front teeth.

·         I'm too old for this.

·     In regards to those lovely brackets on your teeth that are created to hold the rubber bands, while they may LOOK very much like antennas, they do NOT increase reception on the Texas / OU game and it does not bring in HDTV.

·         I'm too old for this…..I'm too old for this

And finally

·         I'm too old for this…….

The Consultation: "Let's make a deal!

Door #1 or Door #2?

 Have you ever looked through a magazine or newspaper and saw an advertisement that just draws you in?  In such a way that you HAVE to eat at the restaurant, or you HAVE to see that movie? 

I was thumbing through “The Advocate” magazine one day and found an ad for Lakewood Orthodontics. It was a normal ad, no different than most of the ones I see on a day-in, day-out basis, but there was something different about this one.  There was something different about this doctor’s photo. 

Something about Patricia Simon looked warm and comfortable and made me want to pick up the phone and schedule a consultation. 

Which was exactly what I did, and just a few days later, I met the woman who would lead the team of professionals that would strip away my character, one crooked tooth at a time.

I met with her that day expecting her to say, “HOLY CROOKED CHARACTER TEETH BATGIRL! I can’t do a darn thing with that mouth” but instead she said, “I love challenging cases like yours!”  She was very matter of fact and very action oriented.  She knew immediately that she could make a difference and she knew EXACTLY how she was going to do it!

Challenging?  What EXACTLY is challenging?  She mentioned things like, overbite this, and 9mm that, and angled backwards this and yada yada yada.  She had some really cool 3D imaging software that showed me all the malfunctioning pieces and parts of my jaw and how things SHOULD work in a perfect mouth. She reinforced the fact that I had terrible TMJD, which I already knew and discussed headaches, sinus problems, etc.  Which again, I already knew, which was why I was there.

Then she said something I wasn’t expecting to hear. A word I had not thought of… “Surgery.”

Huh? Wha? Surgery?

Seems my lower jaw is too short and the only way it can be fixed is with surgery.  She continued to explain that because of it being too short, my upper teeth have slanted inward to meet the lower jaw, causing my lovely vampire teeth and shoving my lower jaw backward, causing the TMJD.

She also mentioned that if I didn’t opt for surgery, that she could straighten my teeth but my bite would still be terrible.  My bite was the whole cause for my TMJD, headaches, neck and sinus problems!  She said that if I committed to surgery, her orthodontic approach would be a completely different route then if I didn’t, so I need to make a firm commitment one way or the other.

So Door #1 – Straight teeth, terrible bite

Door #2 – Surgery – straight teeth, perfect bite – no more TMJD – diminished headaches – better sinuses

Seemed like a no brainer to me.  A little bit scary….. But a no brainer.  

Why would I only want straight teeth?

 I mean yes that is a wonderful idea in and of itself but the whole purpose is to feel better. Right?

Right……….

So we went ahead and did all the x-rays, photos, financial agreements, and plaster molds (they can flavor the plaster now to make that experience much more pleasant, I believe I had cherry flavored plaster) and scheduled an appointment for 2 weeks later to have my braces put on.

They also showed me a video on youtube that had an animated display of what happened during the surgery.  It’s a procedure in which the surgeon, from the inside of your mouth, not outside, basically splits your jaw, extends it, and then fastens it tougher with plates and screws. Talk about metal mouth!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbzmcNspNiw

It was very informative but led me down a crazy path of research regarding this surgery.  A path that one (Sharon) might say was more like an obsession, but hey, it’s a scary thing to have your face broken in half and then screwed back together, so the more information I can gather the better.

The Plan:
Braces on September 2010
Wisdom teeth extraction - November 2010
Orthognathic (Jaw surgery) - 12-18 months after braces go on

On a side note:

I do have to say that Dr. Simon’s office is one of the most professional and accommodating practices I have ever had the experience of working with.  She and her staff are amazing! They go above and beyond to make you comfortable and informed.  She takes the time to explain EVERYTHING and will even return phone calls herself instead of making her staff do it.  I am very blessed to be working with such a great team.  The ad I saw that drew me to her was not false or misleading, it was a Godsend.

Great overbite! 

Check out that fang!

                                                           Where did my lower teeth go?

And people wondered why I never smiled?!

The definition of "Character"

Character –

As defined by Webster’s

–noun

1.

the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.

2.

one such feature or trait; characteristic.

3.

moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character.

Character –

As defined by Grace Eleanor Smith, A.K.A. Mom:

-noun

the jacked-up teeth grown by yours truly, including the canine and incisor which, due to my jaw being too small, proceeded to protrude outward and grow over my other teeth, giving me the appearance of Dracula on a good day and a mix between a jackal and a warewolf on other days.

As a child, it was obvious to both my parents and my dentist, that my teeth were crowded and would never grow properly.  The overcrowding forced my teeth into positions that were just… well for lack of a better term, “jacked up.”  When confronted with the option of braces, my mother always just said, “You don’t need them baby, your crooked teeth just give you “character.”

Character? Seriously Mom?

I guess that being made fun of, in a strange sort of way gave me some character, at least the kind that made me sensitive to others.  I feel however; as if I could have gotten that same character from my faith in God, and from my love of babies, puppies and humankind.

Seriously though, I realize now, after actually paying for braces out of pocket, how expensive they are, and orthodontic treatment wasn’t something insurance covered back in the day. I have only the utmost respect for my mother trying to spin the fact that they couldn’t afford to put me in braces into such a positive light. I really love her for that. God bless her.

So fast forward 38 years. I finally decided that the headaches, the jaw pain, the chronic sinus problems and the overall refusal to smile had overloaded me with character. 

In fact, it was time to find a way to lessen it a little.

So the quest began.......