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Hello! My name is Megan MacKellar Smith. I am a speech therapist who works with pre-schoolers in Santa Rosa, CA.
On June 8th, 2014, my then 16 year-old daughter, Allie, fell onto concrete at a local park, and broke her jaw in three places. The temperature that afternoon was 100 degreees, and Allie was tired, hungry, and dehydrated. She passed out twice, and thankfully her friends were able to get her home.
Allie went to the emergency room in Santa Rosa, was tested, x-rayed, and given pain medication. The following morning, we went to Kaiser in Oakland. There were no surgery rooms available for anything that was not life-threatening, so they sent us home to wait for five tortuous days before she was able to have surgery!
Allie passed out twice more during that wait. I slept on the floor in her room to manage the pain medications, and to ensure that someone was with her at all times.
Initially, Allie lost three teeth during the initial fall. Subsequently she lost four more due to trauma and resorption. In the past two years, Allie has had surgery to insert metal plates in her jaw, stitches on her chin, had her jaw wired shut, four wisdom teeth removed, surgery to remove the four teeth that could not be saved, a root canal or two, some crowns, and fillings, numerous gum surgeries, numerous bone grafts, two sinus lifts, and intensive physical therapy to enable her to open her mouth enough for the dental work to begin. Allie missed a lot of school, I missed a lot of work, and both of us lost opportunities to earn extra income.
Why am I writing? The last phase of Allie's complex dental repairs will cost $20,000. The implants are in, and have been healing for several months. The next step is for the impressions to be made, sent off to the lab, and then placed. Dental insurance only pays for $1,600 per year. The initial surgery for the broken jaw was taken care of by health insrance, after a $6,000 deductible was paid. So far, we have paid about $60,000 out of pocket.
This last $20,000 is not feasible at this time. I truly don't know how we are going to ccontinue to pay for her dental care. Allie's dad and I have been dealing with a long and drawn-out divorce. The costs associated with that, along with a job loss on her dad's part, have made the financial strain of paying for the dental bills even more challenging. Her dad has contributed very little toward the dental bills.
We have had definite miracles along the way. Allie could have died, or sustained a brain injury. The initial surgeon was not sure Allie would ever be able to open her mouth normally. We had a fabulous PT, Joop Delahaye, who helped Allie to open her mouth and give her confidence. Our surgeon, Vicente Chavez, has been great with her, too. Our shining light, Dr. Robert Didier and his incredible staff at Fountaingrove Dentistry, have been life-savers for us, and so incredible helpful, patient, kind, and sticklers for detail. Our friends, family, co-workers, and our church have been so supportive of us emotionally throughout this ordeal.
Please consider helping out a beautiful and courageous young lady, whose spirit is infectiously positive. Allie works at Starbucks, volunteers many hours at our church, and just completed a five-week internship at Pepperwood Preserve. She will start college at Santa Rosa Junior College soon. She is excited to start this new phase of life. I know that we would both be so profoundly grateful for help to get this last phase completed, so that she has seven new, functioning teeth that should last a lifetime.
Please pass this story on to your friends, and ask your freinds to do the same.
Thank you so much, from the bottom of our hearts.
Megan
On June 8th, 2014, my then 16 year-old daughter, Allie, fell onto concrete at a local park, and broke her jaw in three places. The temperature that afternoon was 100 degreees, and Allie was tired, hungry, and dehydrated. She passed out twice, and thankfully her friends were able to get her home.
Allie went to the emergency room in Santa Rosa, was tested, x-rayed, and given pain medication. The following morning, we went to Kaiser in Oakland. There were no surgery rooms available for anything that was not life-threatening, so they sent us home to wait for five tortuous days before she was able to have surgery!
Allie passed out twice more during that wait. I slept on the floor in her room to manage the pain medications, and to ensure that someone was with her at all times.
Initially, Allie lost three teeth during the initial fall. Subsequently she lost four more due to trauma and resorption. In the past two years, Allie has had surgery to insert metal plates in her jaw, stitches on her chin, had her jaw wired shut, four wisdom teeth removed, surgery to remove the four teeth that could not be saved, a root canal or two, some crowns, and fillings, numerous gum surgeries, numerous bone grafts, two sinus lifts, and intensive physical therapy to enable her to open her mouth enough for the dental work to begin. Allie missed a lot of school, I missed a lot of work, and both of us lost opportunities to earn extra income.
Why am I writing? The last phase of Allie's complex dental repairs will cost $20,000. The implants are in, and have been healing for several months. The next step is for the impressions to be made, sent off to the lab, and then placed. Dental insurance only pays for $1,600 per year. The initial surgery for the broken jaw was taken care of by health insrance, after a $6,000 deductible was paid. So far, we have paid about $60,000 out of pocket.
This last $20,000 is not feasible at this time. I truly don't know how we are going to ccontinue to pay for her dental care. Allie's dad and I have been dealing with a long and drawn-out divorce. The costs associated with that, along with a job loss on her dad's part, have made the financial strain of paying for the dental bills even more challenging. Her dad has contributed very little toward the dental bills.
We have had definite miracles along the way. Allie could have died, or sustained a brain injury. The initial surgeon was not sure Allie would ever be able to open her mouth normally. We had a fabulous PT, Joop Delahaye, who helped Allie to open her mouth and give her confidence. Our surgeon, Vicente Chavez, has been great with her, too. Our shining light, Dr. Robert Didier and his incredible staff at Fountaingrove Dentistry, have been life-savers for us, and so incredible helpful, patient, kind, and sticklers for detail. Our friends, family, co-workers, and our church have been so supportive of us emotionally throughout this ordeal.
Please consider helping out a beautiful and courageous young lady, whose spirit is infectiously positive. Allie works at Starbucks, volunteers many hours at our church, and just completed a five-week internship at Pepperwood Preserve. She will start college at Santa Rosa Junior College soon. She is excited to start this new phase of life. I know that we would both be so profoundly grateful for help to get this last phase completed, so that she has seven new, functioning teeth that should last a lifetime.
Please pass this story on to your friends, and ask your freinds to do the same.
Thank you so much, from the bottom of our hearts.
Megan