Halloween 2010 Under Construction Already

Post written Nov 13. Was too depressed to publish the post until today. Enjoy! Today hasn't been the best day in the world. Tomorrow is Super Saturday (hallelujah!) so there were some last minute details to finish up, but nothing horrendous. Rebecca volunteered to watch Maddie Mae so I could be more free to run around. I let Jacob sleep in until 9:30. Fed him breakfast and headed out to drop Maddie for her playdate. Forgot my Costco card so had to stand in line for a day pass. Unload the supplies and groceries in the POURING rain. Select what can survive in the truck bed getting soaked and what needs to be in the cab. Rush to get Maddie at Rebeccas then off to do bus stop pickup. Drop off Anthony at his house from the bus. Lunch for three hungry, whiny kids. While they eat unload all the Costco loot throwing cold stuff in the fridge and freezer while leaving the rest littering the entryway and kitchen floor. Load back up in the truck to drop all the kids at Anthony's house so I can go to the dentist for my consultation. Remember I forgot to brush my teeth after all the kids are buckled in. You can't go to the dentist without brushing your teeth. Ugh. Drop the kids off and head out to pick up Brian at work. I figured there are so many high dollar figures floating in my head and theories about getting three new teeth, gum grafts, bone grafts, flippers, root canals and loads of other fun stuff, I need reinforcements to keep all the info straight. We go to the dentist who has arranged to have an endodontist and the lab guy (the guy who makes fake teeth) there to talk to me and consults with the periodontist via phone. Talk about mixed emotions. I've never had a "team" of doctors working on me/for me. I also have never felt like such a mess. It takes four professionals to fix my issues. Dang. The verdict:

• One root canal on a tooth I didn't even know was a problem. Possibly a surprise result of my trauma in the diving accident sixteen years ago that took out the other two teeth an eternity ago. It's dead as a door nail. She froze it with liquid nitrogen and I didn't feel a thing.
• One compete tooth extraction
• One bone graft
• One gum graft
• Three oral surgeries
• One FLIPPER - for the love of Pete (if you don't know what that is...count yourself lucky)
• Three crowns
• One titanium post screwed into my head
• More than one year of work in my mouth
• $10K - praise the Lord for insurance and the ability to spread the expenses out over three years

How does the post title relate to all this dental mumbo jumbo? I was laying on the floor being Jacob's jungle gym tonight while Brian read the kids an Amelia Bedilia book about Halloween and costumes and such. That's when it hit me. I'm gonna be a hillbilly next year. What could be more perfect? I'll have a flipper for the better part of a year, maybe longer while the bone graft and gum graft heal and grow strong enough to implant the titanium post in my upper jaw bone. Now I have to ask: Do you know what a flipper is? It's a retainer with a fake tooth glued in it. Yes folks. I will have a removable front tooth for a year. Classy. I know. Like I said, I'm going to be a hillbilly for Halloween. I'll leave my tooth at home and flaunt my hillbilly-ness. Glad I didn't give those old overalls to the good will afterall. Only time will tell if I'm really that confident in my own skin or if I will become totally self conscious and chicken out of my plan to go toothless.