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Can you please help me?
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Scroll to bottom for update section.
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I will keep you all posted here, including on the day of the surgery. Have to admit, I’m terrified of it. I haven’t had anything major done like this since my last C-section 19 years ago. As I mentioned, my health isn’t great and there’s already a risk with any surgery. This one will have me on the table for about 6 hours while they cut out the teeth and remove bits of the infected bone and gums. Please send me good thoughts.
For those who would rather not use GFM, you can also use PayPal. Just send it to my email address: [email protected] Thank you, and if you have a fundraiser in the future, please send me the link and I’ll do what I can to help you too! |
I have been fighting with my teeth for a very long time. They started rotting out in my late teens. I don’t qualify for most insurance plans because I need so much work done, and I can’t afford the payments for the plans that will take me. (I love my job, but royalties for writers aren’t great. Unless you’re famous, you don’t make a lot of money. A $7 book gives me about $4. I have to sell hundreds of books each month to pay bills and cover expenses and that doesn’t always happen. Most months, I barely make ends meet, but I have been saving small amounts to get the surgery I need.
Unfortunately, my teeth are getting too bad to keep saving and waiting. I’m always in pain from pieces cracking off. I don’t sleep well because it hurts to lay on either cheek and I always have a headache now. Most of my food is applesauce, mashed potatoes, and yogurt. I haven’t been able to eat anything hard, pointed, thick, crunchy, sticky, or chewy in years. Now, I can’t even handle soup or bread. So I went to the evaluation appointment and there’s no way I can afford what I need done. The picture on this page is the treatment plan. As you can see, it’s over $16K. (The dentist I picked is specialized because my teeth are so broken, and my health isn’t great.) They’ll go ahead and do the surgery with half of the money down, and then I have to have the balance paid within 6 months. I’ve saved up 4155.00 so far. Can you please help me? I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t so miserable all the time. If you’ve ever had a toothache, you know how rough it can be. Just multiply that by 16 broken teeth and you can see why I’m begging for help. Anyone who donates $100 or more will receive free eBook copies of all my current and future books for life. If you donate $300 or more, I’ll send you a signed hardcover of any of my books, plus give you free eBook copies of my current and future books for life. There are no signed hardcovers of my work in existence right now, so you’ll have a rare item! |
Updates/News Section
8/31: Another piece cracked off and made me swell so much I can barely swallow. I'm going in for an emergency extraction tomorrow. Was trying to wait and get it all done at the same time because of my health and a small discount, but that isn't going to work. Will pay full price out of what I've saved. I'm going to give them everything I have at the same time and make weekly payments. As soon as I have half down, I'll schedule the main surgery. Wish me luck!
9/1: Just got home. Still numb. Went well. Thank you for the emails and donations. Will answer tomorrow. Need to rest now. Have a great night!
9/2: Feeling rough today. Swelled and bruised, and my jaw is aching on both sides. Gives me an idea of what I'll be like after the big surgery. I probably won't be able to give updates for the first couple of days. I'm going to show my son how to do this so he can post for me. Thank you again for the help! I will answer each of you personally a soon as I feel a bit better.
9/3: I have a double ear infection now. Taking the meds and trying to work on book #19. Pain sucks. I wish I'd taken better care of myself!
9/18:
I sent another $700 to the dentist today. I’m still short on the halfway amount, but it’s very close and I’m grateful to each of you. Thank you so much for the help! I’m still scared of the surgery, but I also can’t wait to have all this pain gone.
I’m still feeling rough with the ear infections on top of the hurting teeth, but the surgery date is only a few weeks away and I have a doctor’s appointment on Friday. Hopefully they can help with the ears. The antibiotics don’t seem to be doing much now.
I’ll post another update next weekend. Thank you again for your support! I wouldn’t be able to get this done without you.
Have a safe week, Eagles,
Angie
10/1:
My surgery is officially set for 10/18 at 8 a.m. We hit that halfway point! Thank you from the bottom of every cracked tooth in my mouth. Any donations that come in from here will still go straight to the dentist to bring down the monthly payments.
Thank you!!1
10/19: We had to reset the surgery date to 11/8. I just now finished book #19. I’m sorry. I barely made the publishing deadline this time. But it’s good. At least, I think it is. I hope you all will, too.
I’ll update this page again in about a week. Have a great day, Eagles! I’m finally off to bed. Maybe I’ll dream about you!
11/7: Tomorrow's the big day. I'm as ready as I can be. I'll post here afterward, if I can. I may need a day or two before I'm able to update this page. Wish me luck! And thank you again for the help. I love you all. Have a great day.
11/10: Hello! I’m sorry this took so long. The first 2 days were a bit rough. I had my 48-hour check up with the dentist today and everything is going well so far. Dr. Barry and his assistant, Grant, extracted all 15 teeth in just under 3 hours. It wasn’t pleasant, but it also wasn’t awful, and I’m grateful.
The video testimonial won’t be finished until my gums heal, so they can have the before and after clips. I will get that posted as soon as it’s ready. Full healing will be at least 3-4 months, and then I can get the permanent dentures. What I have right now are called healing dentures. They act like band aids over the craters where my teeth used to be. I’ll take some pics later when I have to do my rinse and post them so you can see how it looks. Brace yourself. It’s gross. Lol.
Thank you again for all your help. Your generosity will improve my quality of life. I can’t say thank you enough.
Waving tiredly at you,
Angie
11/11: Here are the photos. I'm still pretty uncomfortable, but some of the swelling is finally going down now, so that's great.
I'll post another update in a few weeks unless something happens sooner. I'm going to spend the rest of November resting, recovering, and working on the next AT book when I can.
I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving! Love you.
Angie
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12/7:
There’s something they don’t tell you about dissolving stitches. When you hear the word ‘dissolve’, you think of the way medicine dissolves in your mouth or the way cotton candy just seems to melt. Dissolving stitches are NOTHING like that. They’re like fishing line-strong and hard-and they rub against your cheeks and the rook of your mouth, causing small ulcers that have to heal up but can’t because those stitches are constantly irritating them. At some point, a tiny part of the stitch weakens. The stitch then loosens, expanding the irritation area. So you tug on the pointy end like the dentist told you to do and flinch at the immediate blast of pain. Nope. It’s not ready.
A week goes by. The other stitches follow the same pattern, loosening and causing pain. They also poke the newly filling holes where your teeth used to be. Another week passes. You decide to tug on that first stitch again. You only frown this time at the discomfort. You peer at the stitch in frustration, wishing you had the balls to cut it out. You tug again…and it slides out of the gum, burning a bit. You barely notice that for the relief of knowing that spot will finally get to start healing in full now. You wipe the stitch onto the gauze and smile. Another stitch pokes a sore spot and reminds you there are fourteen more to go.
It took almost 3 weeks, but all of the stitches are finally out now and I’m feeling a lot better. I’m almost ready to try chewing something crunchy with my healing dentures. (Mmm. Tacos!) I didn’t try before now because the gums stayed so painful for so long. Now that it’s over with, I’m thrilled that I followed through and I’m humbled by your support. I love you all, truly.
There’s something they don’t tell you about dissolving stitches. When you hear the word ‘dissolve’, you think of the way medicine dissolves in your mouth or the way cotton candy just seems to melt. Dissolving stitches are NOTHING like that. They’re like fishing line-strong and hard-and they rub against your cheeks and the rook of your mouth, causing small ulcers that have to heal up but can’t because those stitches are constantly irritating them. At some point, a tiny part of the stitch weakens. The stitch then loosens, expanding the irritation area. So you tug on the pointy end like the dentist told you to do and flinch at the immediate blast of pain. Nope. It’s not ready.
A week goes by. The other stitches follow the same pattern, loosening and causing pain. They also poke the newly filling holes where your teeth used to be. Another week passes. You decide to tug on that first stitch again. You only frown this time at the discomfort. You peer at the stitch in frustration, wishing you had the balls to cut it out. You tug again…and it slides out of the gum, burning a bit. You barely notice that for the relief of knowing that spot will finally get to start healing in full now. You wipe the stitch onto the gauze and smile. Another stitch pokes a sore spot and reminds you there are fourteen more to go.
It took almost 3 weeks, but all of the stitches are finally out now and I’m feeling a lot better. I’m almost ready to try chewing something crunchy with my healing dentures. (Mmm. Tacos!) I didn’t try before now because the gums stayed so painful for so long. Now that it’s over with, I’m thrilled that I followed through and I’m humbled by your support. I love you all, truly.
3/8:
I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last update. I was finishing LAW #20 and waiting on doctor appointments. I’ve now seen my primary doc twice, an ENT, my dentist, and now I’ve had my first visit with the physical therapist. I have TMD. It’s a disorder in the joints of my jaw on both sides. Because it’s so close to my ears, we thought it was an ear issue for the first month. The outlook could be better, but a 50% chance of full recovery is still better than nothing. If we caught it in time, that goes up, but it’s hard to pinpoint when the problem started as I’ve had trouble with my teeth for a long time. I have daily physical therapy sets to do and I go to the therapist every 3 weeks for the next 6 months. It mostly depends on my doing the exercises and I am.
It’s been a rough ride, but I’m still glad to have the teeth out and grateful to everyone who has, and still is, helping me. I haven’t had an infection since the surgery and that’s huge. I used to get them every couple of months and sometimes they were severe, swelling my face and fighting treatment. This is better.
It is slowing me down, however. Some of you may have noticed the next book isn’t being released until next year. My medical issues are most of why. It’s hard to sit or stand for very long and the headaches make it hard to concentrate. I’ve had to decrease my releases so if I’m having a bad day, I don’t have to work on it anyway and risk turning out inferior writing because I’m just pushing through.
On the upside, I’m finally losing weight now (17lbs since December) and I have appointments made for the other health issues. 2023 is going to be a medical repair year for me and I need it. I love my job; it takes a lot out of me. Please be patient while I get myself together and then I expect to go back to at least 3 books a year.
Your help has been amazing. I don’t know how I would be able to do this without you. If I can ever help, please don’t hesitate to ask me.
I’ll post another update after my next appointment, or if something changes before then. Until then, happy reading and watch your six. The world is a stranger place these days. It’s a very interesting time to be alive.
Waving at you!
I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last update. I was finishing LAW #20 and waiting on doctor appointments. I’ve now seen my primary doc twice, an ENT, my dentist, and now I’ve had my first visit with the physical therapist. I have TMD. It’s a disorder in the joints of my jaw on both sides. Because it’s so close to my ears, we thought it was an ear issue for the first month. The outlook could be better, but a 50% chance of full recovery is still better than nothing. If we caught it in time, that goes up, but it’s hard to pinpoint when the problem started as I’ve had trouble with my teeth for a long time. I have daily physical therapy sets to do and I go to the therapist every 3 weeks for the next 6 months. It mostly depends on my doing the exercises and I am.
It’s been a rough ride, but I’m still glad to have the teeth out and grateful to everyone who has, and still is, helping me. I haven’t had an infection since the surgery and that’s huge. I used to get them every couple of months and sometimes they were severe, swelling my face and fighting treatment. This is better.
It is slowing me down, however. Some of you may have noticed the next book isn’t being released until next year. My medical issues are most of why. It’s hard to sit or stand for very long and the headaches make it hard to concentrate. I’ve had to decrease my releases so if I’m having a bad day, I don’t have to work on it anyway and risk turning out inferior writing because I’m just pushing through.
On the upside, I’m finally losing weight now (17lbs since December) and I have appointments made for the other health issues. 2023 is going to be a medical repair year for me and I need it. I love my job; it takes a lot out of me. Please be patient while I get myself together and then I expect to go back to at least 3 books a year.
Your help has been amazing. I don’t know how I would be able to do this without you. If I can ever help, please don’t hesitate to ask me.
I’ll post another update after my next appointment, or if something changes before then. Until then, happy reading and watch your six. The world is a stranger place these days. It’s a very interesting time to be alive.
Waving at you!
