Paulann
Glitchy canoe found while fishing near Flat Iron Lake.
updated 6 years ago
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"Hi, I’m Karla. Thank you for looking at this post. Did you know that a person can die from having bad teeth? That a teenage boy could lose his mother? That a disabled partner could become a widower? That was news to me back in 2020. I had always had bad teeth growing up -- small jaw, extra teeth, bruxism, an overbite -- my poor family was able to take care of some of these complications while I was still a child covered by my parent’s insurance. In 2020, though, shortly after my mother’s funeral, I went to the dentist to ask for help with new pain flares and swelling near my wisdom teeth. Sadly, the dentist said that my wisdom teeth were too badly impacted; he couldn’t safely remove them himself. He told me the infection would continue until I saw an oral surgeon, and that it was urgent to do so before sepsis set in.
I spent two years searching for an oral surgeon who would accept Medicaid. In all that time, my pain became constant and unbearable. Lying down, I could feel my jaw throbbing, so I slept sitting up. I didn’t have the bite force to eat solid food, so you can imagine what meals were like for me. I did find one oral surgeon more than 300 miles away from my home, and he told me he had to remove the side of my jawbone in order to reach my impacted teeth; he told me that the roots of my teeth have grown around nerves in my jaw and that they will likely be permanently damaged during the extraction… but he refuses to use anesthesia -- something that I found out by visiting him for a consultation only to have him begin operating through my literal tears of agony. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t endure it. I left before he began chipping away at my jaw.
Finally, in December 2022, I found an oral surgeon who is willing and able to perform the operation and will use anesthesia. He will not accept Medicaid, though; it will cost me $12,000. There is a chance he will accept Care Credit, which I do have. (Although since not all Care Credit providers are the same, that chance is far from a guarantee.) Unfortunately, a large cash deposit is required upfront. I will need at least $4000 just to walk in the door before I can even think about working off the remaining balance. So, I am asking for help -- not because I want to be able to sleep lying down or eat solid food, but because I want my son to have a mother for longer than I did. Thank you again for reading this post, and thank you to all the people who help however they can. I appreciate you. Also, thanks to my friend Paulann for putting this together for me."
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