Okay, so I
was blessed to get a 12/23/14 dentist’s appointment at 2:00 p.m. for the
searing pain that was filling the right side of the roof of my mouth. There was one tooth – a back molar – that was
clearly tender, but there were no signs of cavities, so I figured it a gum got
infected when I ate pork (couldn’t resist it at Otto’s Brauhaus) & had
spread.
Not that I
wasn't already without serious teeth issues. I have
a large cavity in a lower right molar & the same molar on the other side is
completely gone. Reality check - when there is no money
for dental care, there are no options.
Mind you, I had a plan. It turned out to be a pipe
dream, but I did have a plan. Had heard
that dental care would be included as part of Obamacare. Figured it would cover a good portion & I’d
seek support from our local community welfare fund to cover the remainder.
Hey! There’s a community welfare fund? Why not just request help right off the bat?
Here is the
truth about private institutions rather than government providing assistance to
folks without health care coverage. When
it comes to health care coverage, mine has been a riches to rags story. I went from having the Cadillac of health
care plans when I worked at US Healthcare & Prudential & BISYS
Financial Services to COBRA to, for the past 12 years, none. Over
the past years, our wonderful local welfare fund has helped twice with root
canal work. But what message would that sense the Universe if I made it my fall-back funding? Third time was not, for me, an option. If I have to explain that to you, I can't - you understand it or you don't.
When the cavity on
my now decayed away tooth appeared, the Affordable Care Act was in the wind,
then passed. All I had to do was
wait. Was that foolish? Yes, but when you have as little money as we
had back then, what seems sound to those with might not seem as rock solid to
one without.
Then, two
things happened – it turned out that we didn’t make enough post-tax money to
qualify for the ACA & my state’s (PA) Republican governor chose to not
expand our Medicaid program. So, today,
am still uncovered. And Dr. Krevitz told
me on Tuesday that private dental plans are usually not very good, in any case.
Please pardon my long
prelude to explaining that I suspected an infected gum when I went into see
Dr. Krevitz. Flaming periodontal disease, not gone, baby, gone teeth. I did not expect to discover that
my two back upper molars are basically decayed to nothingness. Sure, they looked fine - they were my capped teeth!
Of course,
regular dental exams, like I had most of my life, would have revealed the
damage. The weird thing is that the pain
wasn’t like tooth decay. I know the pain
I have from the lower right molar, the incredible pain with the long gone lower
left molar. It felt like a tender gum,
not a cavity. So I was shocked at
Tuesday’s discovery.
Feeling
blessed that Dr. Krevitz – covering for my “usual” excellent dentist – and his
staff were so caring & tender in their treatment of this wayward
patient. There wasn’t even a suggestion
of a raised eyebrow or arch tone in talking to me. Totally focused on my well-being.
While Dr.
Krevitz handles his own extractions, the teeth are too far gone for even that,
so he referred me to an oral surgeon with strict instructions that I get them
removed within the next three weeks. He
filled out prescriptions for penicillin & Tylenol with codine, then sent me
on my way, best wishes for a Merry Christmas ringing in my ears from him &
his wonderful staff.
Interesting
place to be. To my surprise, two teeth I
never suspected of being decayed need to be removed by a top-flight oral
surgeon. Which translates into cost of
the surgery, the related drugs, and time lost from eldering for the procedure
& recovery.
I was about
to write “On the up side…” but then realized that ALL of the past year, even this, has
been clearly on the up side. We have
enough money in the bank to cover our next tax installment and next Tuesday’s
car inspection, with even a little wiggle room.
We continued 2013’s upward trend & feel confident that 2015 will see
our income streams flow even more strongly.
This current situation wouldn't surprise the ab fab Barbara Sher, who, with Stephen Covey, was my earliest author-mentor. She warns that when you set out on a bold path, one that promises to lead to important places, expect all sorts of obstacles to rise up, doing their best to distract & deter. In the religion of my birth, it's called the hells attacking - set out on an important task & expect all manner of problems to hit.
Barbara & those teachings are in utter agreement - the more important a goal, the more intensely you can expect whatever negative forces are out there to strike back against it. Sher & Swedenborg would both understand why instead of feeling overwhelmed by my present calamities, am reinforced that my life work is as important as I sense, as essential for the direct well-being of my few grannie clients & the indirect benefits I hope to bring countless more. Dark forces hit hardest when they feel the most threatened. So, my response is not woe, but wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
And take a moment to consider the timing - if I hadn't been tempted to order pork rather than a trio of veggie side dishes, then I would have eaten meat on Monday night (was going off my vegetarian diet to join a friend in the Luger-style steak at Pineville Tavern). The problem with the tooth would have flared late Tuesday - and no dentist was available from late Tuesday afternoon through to next Monday. By the time I saw Dr. Krevitz, the pain was NOT manageable - would have ended up in the ER. What a blessing!
But you didn’t seek dental care when
you needed it! Yes, but that is as much about not being
employed in a benefits-eligible job as it is about lack of funds. Without company-sponsored health care
coverage, it would have been – until the ACA - beyond my reach, no matter how
much I make. A pre-existing condition
would have ruled me out from the very start.
(That’s another posting) Also,
as Dr. Krevitz pointed out, while companies offer good dental plans, private dental
plans tend to be expensive while offering less than stellar coverage.
There are
so many things that I could write about this present moment situation, very
little about the actual problem ~ ~ about
what my situation says about the
American health care delivery system, about the not surprising timing –
that as I gear up to request funding to underwrite my elder care anarchy work, this
exploded in my face, about how this dental emergency seems proof that my work
has me on a divinely inspired path, about the problems behind the premise that
private charity works more effectively than government sponsored. Smiling, realizing that the issues this
situation raises most have nothing to do with pain & suffering or even the
fret of financing the dental work (remember – there’s still the crater on my
lower left & the cavity in the lower right that need attention).
As has
happened so many times over the past couple months, I keep wondering why a
sense of panic, foreboding, shallow-breath fear hasn’t swept over me. Wondering about the sense of calm – seemingly
so out of place, given the circumstances – that refuses to be supplanted by
insecurity & night terrors. Then, it dawns that this it feels like, this grounded calm is the very thing I've consciously worked toward since the dewey-eyed age of 24 - almost forty years!
Bottom line - my most
basic reality isn’t tooth decay. It’s
being on, staying on, moving along a life path that leads to engaging,
energizing & empowering all ages – especially older friends.
I find
myself, especially yesterday & today, being guided by a bit of wisdom that
has wrapped itself around my heart since childhood – For peace has in it
confidence in the Lord, that God leads all things to a good end. When you believe that – really, truly, deeply
& forever – what’s a little tooth decay?
Notice the timing, realize it is not accidental, don’t let it distract
or discourage, figure out a solution, and keep moving forward!
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