a surgery date

...and now that we've started moving, everything is happening so fast.

I have a freakin' surgery date!! August 11th is the big day.

I had a week or two of major problems, though. Kim (financial coordinator) told me that Dr. Vetter requires payment up front, before the insurance company pays out (apparently they don't have a contract with Kaiser so they can pretty much do whatever they want). Grand total: $10,000, plus my $400 copay for the facility. Um, hello?

So I applied with Care Credit using my mom and my aunt and was denied (of course). I went to Dr. Vetter's office and told Kim that there is no way I can pay 10,000 bucks up front... it's just not something that is possible!

A couple of days later I met with Kim and she told me that Dr. Vetter agreed to let me have the surgery before paying... something they "have never done before." However, I still have to pay the assistant surgeon's fee of $2000 plus my current bill and the cost of my x-rays and molds, which comes out to $2500. WAAAAY better than ten grand. I'm really happy that they did this for me. Hopefully I can find a way to get a loan for a couple thousand before August 3rd, when I go in for molds and the money is due.

Another thing: I was on the phone with Kaiser seeing if there was any way the insurance company could pay out BEFORE the surgery, and the lady told me something very interesting. She said that usually, insurance claims are sent to Kaiser, and they are reviewed by Kaiser's staff and then sent to an oral surgeon for a final decision. But for some reason, my case was never sent to an oral surgeon for approval or denial, it was just approved without any further review. She said she's not sure what happened and my surgery probably would have been denied had it gone to the oral surgeon... but now that they've approved it, they're still going to pay for it. The only thing is that she suggested I don't try and go to a different surgeon who doesn't require me to pay up front. Why? Because that surgeon would have to submit a new claim, meaning it would go to an oral surgeon for review and "most likely be denied."

So, you can see my dilemma, here. I have to stay with Dr. Vetter or risk losing my insurance coverage. I really like him, though, and everyone at his office is very helpful.


Now I just need 2500 bucks. :)


ohhh annnd I HAVE to remember to go in to my orthodontist's office on Monday and let them know I have a surgery date. Back in March (or whenever it was) Dr. Arango told me there was nothing else he could do and that I was ready for surgery, and to just let him know when I had a date. So I haven't been in there for an adjustment in four months! Not good.. I was supposed to go in last month, at the latest. My bottom teeth are looking a little crooked...


Yay for a date, though!

pics

i haven't done a braces pic post in quite awhile... not much has changed.





here's a side view. still stickin' out! :)

the news

so, today i got the news that i've been waiting for.

my surgery claim has been approved by kaiser permanente.

i got the voicemail this afternoon and i started crying! my surgery and facility fee are approved. my work recently switched from cigna (yuck) to kaiser, and so i submitted a new claim through my surgeon's office last week. some research i did online made it seem like kaiser was way more likely to approve orthognathic surgeries than a lot of other companies. i am so thankful that we got new insurance.

kim at dr. vetter's office told me to call on monday so that we can start taking the next steps. i haven't been to my orthodontist's office since march--he told me to wait to make another appointment until i knew what was going on with my surgery.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! i actually jumped up and down earlier. hahaha.

my mom got an akita, and we all decided on the japanese name Hana. She's so cute. Here are the two of us, pic taken yesterday.



again, thank you everyone for all your helpful comments. I'm finally moving forward!

a year and a half in braces...

hey all.

thanks for your comments... i'm still alive!

i am fully recovered from having my wisdom teeth taken out. I was so worried about having dry socket, but everything went really well! Also, I'd never been put under before--or had an IV--and I must say, it wasn't so bad. i felt pretty good when i woke up :)

the past couple of months have been tremendously irritating on the braces/surgery front.

i still owe a couple hundred dollars to dr. vetter's office. money has been very tight lately, and my boyfriend recently lost his job. i'm struggling to pay my rent, let alone pay off my surgeon consultation from last october.

last week i went in to dr. vetter's office to make a payment (finally) on my account, and i asked the financial coordinator lady what i should do next. she said since they hadn't spoken with me in a couple of months, they hadn't yet faxed my application for surgery coverage to the insurance company (cigna). she did it that day, and they asked for more proof that i need the surgery by last friday. she sent in xrays and whatever else they requested, but i got a letter today that says that cigna has denied my request. to be honest, i was expecting it, but now i'm not sure what i should do.

to make matters worse, the financial coordinator at dr. vetter's office told me that capital one financing, who works with the office to finance patients, has discontinued offering medical loans. they are trying to find another company to work with.

soo... is anyone else paying for this surgery out of pocket? it looks like that is what is going to happen with me (if someone will finance me!!). I'm just wondering if there's anything else i can do, besides appeal to the insurance company. hold a freaking bake sale?

i also had a dentist appointment last week, and it was so painful! the dentist flossed my teeth and her hands were covered in blood when she was done. and i try and floss regularly, too!

i want my surgery now, please!

/end frustration rant

gameplan

I have an appointment to get all four of my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday 2/17.

After that, I will be calling the insurance company to argue with them about not wanting to cover basic x-rays with dr. vetter. after all, he IS on their oral surgeons list!

Hopefully, I'll get some answers, and I can get the outstanding bill I have with Dr. Vetter's office paid off. Then, I'm calling them and seeing what I should do next. As awful as it sounds, I have been considering just paying full price for my surgery--I really like Dr. Vetter, and there are no oral surgeons in this city covered by Cigna, apparently. BOO.

On another note, the oral surgeon who is removing my wisdom teeth (yep, the same guy who told me two years ago that he didn't recommend jaw surgery and then blew me off when I tried to schedule another appointment with him), who obviously forgot me from before, told me that he thinks I'm going to be thrilled with the results of my orthognathic surgery, and that it will be good for me. umm, okay??? Whatever.

Time is wasting away!

new years

I realize it's been a very long time, but nothing has really happened. Like most other people, I have been becoming more and more broke the past couple of months, and as of now I can barely pay my bills. I still need to have my wisdom teeth removed, but have no money to pay for it. Only then can my journey continue... believe me, every extra, seemingly wasted day with braces only makes me more and more frustrated. Hope you're all doing well. Happy New Years...

Until next time!

lots and lots of things

Hi, everyone!

Well, quite a few significant things have happened since I last wrote. I met with a surgeon--Dr. James Vetter--last week for a consultation. After a few x-rays, Dr. Vetter sat me down and we talked for about an hour. At first he mentioned that just by looking at me and my x-rays, he thought that my top jaw needed surgery, not the bottom, because it looked deficient enough to not be supporting my cheeks and top lip very well. I must have made a funny face, because he said "Why, were you thinking the bottom?"... and I explained my entire life story to him. After taking a look at my jaws and teeth/bite a little closer, he said that if my bottom jaw is the one that is bothering me so much, he can set it back instead of bringing the top jaw forward. He said that he did not want to do both jaws, as that would be too much unnecessary surgery.

I feel a little confused; no one has really mentioned that my top jaw may only be the jaw that needs surgery. I've always been so conscious of and blamed all my worries on my bottom jaw, so it was odd to have Dr. Vetter mention only the top one. However, after examining my face, he decided that he will only perform surgery on the bottom.

Theeeen came the bad news.

Dr. Vetter said that I need my two bottom wisdom teeth removed, and that he doesn't perform the surgery until after the teeth have been out for six months.

Soooo, that would mean that if I get them out now, my surgery would be tentatively scheduled for MAY. Arrrgh! Unfortunately, the teeth are impacted, and the surgeon's office quoted me $400 for their removal. I'm seeing if Perfect Teeth will do it cheaper, but Dr. Vetter said he didn't know if Perfect Teeth would put me under, which he recommended.

Then came the quote. The surgery and doctor's fees come out to about $10,000, not including hospital fees. The lady at the office said that it will probably end up costing another $10,000 for the hospital stay and anesthesiologist and all that, which comes up to a grand total of about $20,000. She wants to begin doing the insurance paperwork three months before my surgery. She also mentioned that I should not get my hopes up for Cigna to pay a dime of my surgery costs. Oh, please, please be wrong.

I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday, and my dentist and another doctor there said that Dr. Vetter is an excellent surgeon and that he is a perfectionist. So.. that's good! I'm totally disgusting and this was the FIRST time I've gotten my teeth cleaned since getting braces a year ago (I know, I know!), and it really wasn't as bad as I'd thought. After reprimanding me, the dentist looked at my teeth, sat back, and said he'd never seen braces so clean! So HA! I'm sure it helped that I went a little crazy with my toothbrush in the shower before my appointment, ha ha ha.

I had an orthodontist appointment yesterday morning, and I noticed a letter in my file from Dr. Vetter to my ortho. In it, he mentioned that he wants to do a lower jaw setback, and he asked if it would be possible for Dr. Arango to "tip out" my top front teeth in order to offer more support for my upper lip. Dr. Arango reminded me that we still had to close up this gap in my bottom teeth before I could have surgery... I'm assuming that will be taken care of within six months. I have a purple chain on now, and my teeth are sore! Yippee!

I'll post pics later... I had some ready to go and then realized that there was a chunk of food in my teeth in all the pictures. Whoops! I'm also going to email Dr. Vetter and ask him to send me copies of my x-rays, so that I can post them up here!

Take care! And if anyone has any comments or suggestions, I'd be more than happy to hear them, and thanks ahead of time! :)