October Miracles

Well, the past few weeks have been pretty amazing…and I figured I better update my blog again.

In early October, I visited the surgeon for another consultation, and he declared me ready for surgery. It was a momentous occasion for several reasons:

One, it’s about dang time. I’ve been waiting for this day for almost five years. (About 5 years ago was when it was determined that my bite would not be correctable without surgery.)

Two, my mom came to the appointment and ended up feeling much better about the idea of surgery. Until that day, my parents weren’t totally on board with the idea, which was hard for me. But finally, after hearing all my surgeon had to say, my mom finally had some peace about the whole process. It was a huge blessing!

Three, apparently God has been busy in the healing department over the last few months. In what can only be explained as a miracle (even by the admission of my orthodontist and surgeon), my bite has closed considerably since June…and for no apparent reason. My orthodontist has not done anything other than straighten my teeth: he has not attempted to level out my bite or alter it in any way other than a cosmetic sort of line up. And yet, my bite has miraculously closed. Not all the way, mind you, but so much so that my surgeon is now 100% confident I do not need double jaw surgery! (He was still on the fence this summer.) He’s convinced my bite can be corrected with one jaw (lower) surgery, and he doesn’t even feel there is too much to do with the bottom jaw. It’s a simple slice and slide kind of surgery…which is still surgery, yes, but it isn’t the 15-pins, 12 week recovery, major ordeal we’ve been planning all along.

And so, after a lengthy conversation with my surgeon, where he dared to announce that he feels confident this surgery will relieve my pain, my husband and I went in to talk with the insurance specialist, Nicole, about the financial aspects of things.

I would just like to take this moment to say that the staff at Dr. D’Addario’s office is absolutely incredible. They are so helpful and supportive, and really don’t beat around the bush with the financials. It’s very clear that they are on my side, not the money’s side.

Nicole took a look at my new health insurance (I changed jobs in August), and said that she would be very surprised if they paid for my surgery. Apparently they rarely pay, and even then it is only after much struggle. She did say that their office would honor the prices they quoted me back in 2009 at my initial consultation. (Amazing!) But she prepared me for the sad reality that this surgery will probably be an out-of-pocket expense for us. However, she said they would do everything they could to support me, and that they would send a strong letter to insurance about my case. So, I left feeling like I had a good team on my side who are all dedicated to my health. What a rare and wonderful feeling when leaving a doctor’s office!

Despite the drastic and unexpected improvement in my condition, the surgery is still absolutely medically necessary for me to have a chance at a normal life. I still deal with moderate to severe pain on a near daily basis. My diet can barely be called nutritional, considering the foods I can’t eat are mostly the healthy ones. I still suffer migraine headaches, sometimes lasting several days. My sleep is rarely deep or restful, and I wake up regularly with jaw pain and tension. While the mouthpiece my orthodontist made me has helped to alleviate some pain, it is certainly not a permanent solution.

The hope now is that a miracle will happen (or, I should say, another miracle will happen) with insurance. I’m praying my file falls into the right hands, and someone there sees how long this struggle has been for me, and how necessary this surgery is.

In the meantime, I’m still hanging out with my Ibuprofen (on good days) and applesauce!