Wide Open Spaces....

So, I feel like progress has been made! I had my records appointment on Monday with my Orthodontist. They took pictures, several x-rays and molds. They said they would try to get records to my Oral Surgeon by the end of the day so I'm calling tomorrow to see if they've received them and when I can schedule my appointment! I'm really excited about this. I have not seen my Oral Surgeon since the consult last September. 

*Note* they did call in a muscle relaxer for me so I'm happy about that. I've only needed to take a 1/2 of one the night after ortho appt. but it really DOES help.

I now have the wire on that they will use for surgery. I've had a heavy wire and powerchain on my top teeth for awhile now, but they just put the heavy wire and powerchain on the bottom. Ouch...it was not fun that first night.

In Insurance news...I received a letter from the State of Missouri letting me know they forwarded my complaint to Kansas since that's where our insurance was issued. We live in Missouri but my husband's company is based out of Kansas so I guess that's why. We live really close to state line.  Anyway, I followed up and found out they will be issuing a "Reviewer" this week and they could possibly have a decision by 45 days! I'm anxious to find out how this whole process works. Well, here are the pics the orthodontist's office took.

EWWWW

It's crazy how much my teeth have MOVED in year. Notice how open my bite is? I have a pretty good crossbite too. I seriously have like NO teeth touching except for the molar in back. I also took some "home" pics so you could see my bite from the underside and up close, but I added them to the "smile file" as I do not care to look at them anymore than I have to! :) Hope everyone is doing well on their journey and enjoying the summer. It's hard to believe it's almost time for school to start!!!

XOXOXO   E

P.S. I went to the dentist and found out I have a cavity in the back bottom molar. My dentist wants to fill it w/ the silver filling because it's stronger and lasts longer. Most people go with the tooth colored filling even though they don't last as long. My dentist really trying to encourage me to get the silver one but, honestly, I'm SICK of looking at silver and would really prefer the tooth colored. My ortho says do what I want...I'm torn....

The Ultimate Soccer Mom!!!

Well, last week was a fun and crazy week. We hosted two soccer coaches from England in our home while we had the Challenger British Soccer Camp in town. The guys were great and it was fun to have them around and fretting over them all week. They eat ALOT of food. I guess that's what I have to expect when my kids become teenagers-that and all their friends. LOL!  I really loved the accent. I felt like every time they told me how wonderful my food was that I was being complimented by Chef Ramsey himself! :)

They left on Sunday and I was much more depressed about it than I realized. My husband was as well. He never had any siblings and he really bonded with one of the guys. We both cried after they left. :( I RARELY take pics with my braces on so this is a treat. I was actually whining about it and Simon, the one with blonde hair, said let's all make mad faces to hide your braces. Of course my face didn't turn out so mad! Showing my braces, gums and all in full American Pride....

It was a nice break from my reality of "THE JAWS". I got my denial letter in the mail on Saturday. I wasn't really surprised. Insurance companies are so rich it isn't funny. The thing I was most peeved about was their reason (if you can call it that) which really hopscotched around everything. It stated:

"Member has submitted appeal of the denial for orthognathic surgery, and included information from her birth.  The medical records identify bruising and skin changes about the face; however, these physical findings would not have occurred as a result of a birth defect per se.  Therefore, please uphold the contractual denial for this surgery request."

Ugh...I was so fuming! I mean, first off, I wasn't saying it was a birth defect...I stated it was an accidental injury that resulted in this. Also, the medical records didn't say "skin changes". It was very clear in saying there was hemorrhaging, bruising and severe swelling. I also included a JAMA article talking about birth injuries and the jaw and mentioned all of the medical issues I've had SINCE BIRTH. They didn't even look at this stuff. So, instead of causing myself a panic attack I have said forget Blue Cross and Blue Shield and have issued a complaint with the State of Missouri Department of Insurance. They are an impartial party and will review all documents and make their decision based on ALL evidence. It may take them awhile so I'm sure I'll just go forward, pay the surgery as planned, and wait for good news from the state! Do you know of anyone who has filed this type of complaint and how it worked out for them????

My records appointment is Monday! I'm tempted to just call my Oral Surgeon to go ahead and schedule my appointment with them but I have a feeling they won't do that. I've had issues with clenching my teeth at night and it gets worse with hormone changes and stress. I've noticed it more lately now that things are getting closer to D-Day. I was prescribed muscle relaxers (last year!) that I would take a couple evenings a month to help but I'm out and the Oral Surgeon won't prescribe any more. Is that normal? It's not like I'm addicted. I've had the same bottle for over 8 months! 

I also plan on calling my husband's company to see how much more money we have in our medical spending account. I'm thinking it's around $1,600 so that'll be good to put down on the surgery. One lady posted that her company helped pay her surgery that wasn't covered by insurance, but I don't know how comfortable I would feel asking my husband's company if they had something in place like that...I'm not the one that works there..you know?? 

Well, I better get to my phone calls. I DO plan on posting "mouth pics" now that things are pretty much where they're supposed to be. I just get anxious. I don't even post pics of me in braces on Facebook---I don't even kiss my husband on the mouth! How pathetic am I??? My poor, poor husband. So thankful he's understanding. I'm sure he'll be expecting lots of kisses once this is all over with...

XOXOXOX :)

Fingers Crossed......

Okay, so I went to my ortho appointment last week and they DID NOT take impressions, molds, surgery records--whatever you want to call it. The ortho wanted to make one more adjustment to one of my bottom teeth but they scheduled my impressions for July 26th so I'm excited about that. I called the Oral Surgeon's office to see how soon surgery would be scheduled after that and she said we still wouldn't know until after they view these records. I must say that I'm getting very anxious! Ortho still believes surgery will be scheduled for September sometime.

In other news...I got a part-time job as a preschool teacher at a church here in town. I'm VERY excited about this as I have not had a job since I went into labor with my six year old son! He starts Kindergarten this year and my lil' girl is now three so this will be a nice little adventure for us. The preschool has the same schedule as the school district so I will be off when my son will. I couldn't ask for a better situation.  Of course pay isn't much but honestly, it's more about the social aspect of it for me. I'm just excited to get out and about in this small lil' town and get out of this house! They're very understanding as far as this surgery goes and I won't really start the job until after I'm healed...just wondering how long that will take????

Soooo....please pray and keep your fingers crossed.  I worked very hard on my insurance appeal and sent it off last Monday. I know they have to respond w/in 30 days so I'm hoping for good news. My exclusion is very "exclusive"! For them to cover it has NOTHING to do w/ how bad I need the surgery or any medical issues I have. The exclusion states that I must have been diagnosed w/ a birth defect w/in 30 days of birth (which I wasn't, of course) or that I have an accidental injury.  In that instance, surgery would have to be performed w/in one year of incident (unless unable to be performed w/in that time period for medical reasons). So, that's my fight...I have birth records showing injury to my face during labor. In several records it makes note of my bruised head and face and hemorrhages on my face. I found a medical journal dated around the time of my birth that states that even though facial injuries are rare in infants that it CAN happen and that nothing would be done at that time until the person had time to develop and see how noticeable the injuries were. So, of course nothing could be performed w/in one year of the incident. I know it's a stretch. Especially since insurance companies love to deny EVERYTHING but I am praying it'll be enough to get it covered. If not we'll just have to pay ourselves and it'll be a nice chunk to deduct on taxes this year! LOL. But regardless, PRAY & KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED and I'll keep checking the mail! XOXOXOXO