What Can I Say?

I just haven't made time to blog. I haven't felt like I have had much time to spare, and making time to blog would take time away from my husband, and that has felt sadly rare lately.

I think I have also been ashamed. I said to a couple of people the other day that I hadn't blogged because my toothache had kind of consumed my life, which is definitely true! But I was also embarrassed.

I haven't had insurance, and because of that, been to a dentist in over 15 years. I have had some tooth trouble over the past few years, but what could I do about it? I didn't have any money. So I took Tylenol... and Advil, and Aleve, and Ibuprofen, and Excedrine... anything that I could, to help the pain. And I suffered through it. Almost ten years ago I had a tooth pulled because it had decayed past the point of saving, and I was in a lot of pain, so a friend talked to the dentist she used to work for, and we took care of it. I have a tooth in my mouth right now that needs to be pulled. It hasn't hurt in a long time. But believe me. It did. It hurt terribly. But I was out of college and on my own and didn't feel like I could do anything about it. So that makes two teeth lost. I don't want to lose anymore.

At the beginning of the year, I was added to Brett's insurance, so a few weeks ago, when a tooth started to ache, I decided it was time. I finally have dental insurance. We are paying for it! So there is no reason not to use it. We have HMO so I looked on my card and called the office that was on there to call. It wasn't a terrible experience, but it wasn't ideal. After having pretty much the opposite experience today, I feel more justified in saying that I should have been treated a little better at my dentist office. The doctor was professional but not friendly. And the women in the office were friendly, but not especially professional. It was a little awkward, and they made me feel HORRIBLE after the dentist was done making his recommendations. It took them probably thirty minutes to work up a treatment plan for me, and three different people came to "check on" me while I was waiting and they all made a point to tell me that it was taking so long because my teeth are so bad that they are having to work extra hard to figure out a plan. Thanks.

Well, the tooth that needs to be pulled is really bad, but, like I said, it hasn't hurt in a long time. The tooth that was hurting me needed a root canal. So although I was very embarrassed to have another pair of eyes see the sad state of my decayed tooth, I had to take care of the hurting tooth first. One word. DRAMA!

First, the endodontist that my dentist recommended me to doesn't accept insurance. Not just my insurance... NO insurance. Seriously? You pay for everything up front, the day of your visit, and then they give you paper work to file with your insurance and try to get money back. My dentist had said that I needed the one root canal and possibly two others, so according to the recommended endo's website, that would cost anywhere from $2700 to $4500. SOOOOO not gonna happen.

So I called my insurance company, and the girl on the phone was SOOO nice. Thank you SafeGuard call center, for being such rockstars in the customer service department. I can not say enough how much a courteous person on the phone means to someone like me, who is terrified about the subject AND not all that good at talking on the phone to strangers. Yeah. I'm one of those. So insurance girl emailed me a list of all of the endo's in the area that were on my list. There were only 8 or so, so I visited a few websites and then made a call.

From here, there are some annoying details that led to me having an appointment and then getting cancelled on the day before the appointment because "well, we accept your insurance, but not your particular plan". THANKS FOR THAT! So after some tears and a few more phone calls, I ended up going to Monarch Dental in Plano this morning.

THANK GOODNESS! I am totally serious. This was the complete opposite experience that I had at my dentist office. Every person that I interacted with was completely professional, but the doctor was SO friendly! And that is what they told me this morning when I was signing in. That I would be glad that I had been cancelled on by the other office and ended up there because Dr. Gordon is the best. Yeah he is!

When I first saw him, I thought, "oh brother". He looks like the actor from Coyote Ugly. The cute Australian guy. I know that young girls fantasize about meeting attractive young doctors, but when you are in an embarrassing spot, the last person you want to display it to is perfection personified. He was a hottie. Dr. Hottie to you! But so nice. He immediately put me to ease AND he made me feel so much better! After the other office made me feel like I should just start shopping for dentures, this guy said "You have very nice teeth! Some of them need some maintenance, but you don't throw away a Rolls Royce because it has a few dings." He may have just been trying to charm me, but I appreciated the kind words so much.

Here is the deal. I start my new job on Monday. NO WAY am I going to miss work for ANYTHING short of a tragedy, so I HAD to get this done this week. I have been in so much pain, and I didn't want to be fighting a toothache while I am trying to learn a new job and look competent, ya know? That is why I cried when the first appointment was cancelled the day before I was supposed to go. And then the first few other offices that I called said that they didn't have time to do a procedure this week. But when I called Monarch, they said "we will do everything that we can!" And they did. They were amazing. And when I left, they wished me luck on my new job.

So anyway, my toothache is hopefully gone for good. My jaw hurts from all of the shots, but maybe tomorrow will be better! My next stop is to get the bad tooth and my upper wisdom teeth pulled, and then I will go back to my dentist and begin my "treatment plan". Ugh. I wish my sister's dentist were on my list. I hear Dr. Hallmark is the bomb! Or I wish Dr. Gordon did general dentistry too... but he doesn't. Just root canals.

This has been a really long blog, but I have one more thing to tell you! Okay, maybe two. GUESS WHAT??? On Monday, I had flowers delivered from my new job!!! Can you believe it? Talk about a whole new world! I cried a whole different kind of tears when that delivery came. They are GORGEOUS! And made me SOOO thankful for my new job. I am going to fill out paper work tomorrow and I could not be happier. I am abundantly blessed and so thankful for this new chapter.

And lastly, sorry I've been, not only a bad blogger, but a bad reader lately! I haven't read a blog in two weeks, and I know I am missing good stuff! Krista is in Alaska for goodness sake! I just have been consumed lately. With all kinds of things. But next week is a new beginning.

Thanks for listening =-) Hope everyone is having a good week. I can't wait to read about it!