My name is Kristen Boland and I am starting this Go Fund me for my husband Shawn Boland because he not someone who would ever ask for help for himself. Shawn served in the United States Coast Guard from 2000-2005. He was stationed in Gloucester, Ma. on board a 110' patrol boat for 2 years, (He was there during the "Perfect Storm"). After Gloucester he went to the Coast Guard Station in Bodega Bay, Ca. driving the  search & rescue boats for 3 years. During his time serving in the Coast Guard he suffered constantly from sea sickness. He told me that although he learned to be functional and do his job he never got over the nausea and vomiting. As a result the stomach acid quickly wore the enamel off of his teeth and started a process of erosion to the point that his teeth started to break and chip. He went to the Coast Guard dentist while he was still in and was told that there was nothing they could do about it. He recently spoke with the VA and was told that it is a very long process but also next to impossible to specifically get help with teeth. Over the years I have seen him suffer greatly with abscesses, root canals, broken teeth, extractions and difficulty eating. He has spoken with his dentist & oral surgeon and the only option is to remove all the remaining teeth. Then implants would be put in.  Although we have double dental insurance we are told it will cost us about $60,000 out of pocket. Because of this, Shawn has put off starting this process for far too long because he feels guilty about putting his family, me and our two kids Shamus & Maisie, into that much debt. We have encouraged him to get the process started no matter the cost but he continues putting it off because of the financial burden.

It has now got to the point that it is causing more serious health issues. He has a swollen lymph node on the left side of his neck that won't heal because of  the bacteria from his damaged teeth and recently the left side of his face swelled up and went partially numb and he had to have an emergency extraction to fix that. He has been having heart palpitations that his doctor cannot yet explain and we don't know if it is related to his teeth situation or not. Both his regular doctor & an ear-nose-throat specialist have said that this process needs to happen sooner rather than later. I am scared and I know he is too, so this go fund me is the only thing I could think of to help get this process started as quickly as possible and hopefully relieve his pain and some of the stress caused by trying to come up with $60,000 in a hurry. Shawn is an amazing husband and father, he works hard doing 12 hour shifts as a maritime dispatcher and drives 80 miles one way to get to work to support his family. I feel that after 5 years of going through seasickness and serving his country and saving lives he deserves to stop feeling anxiety and embarrassment about his teeth, to be able to eat normal food and to be healthy and not in pain all the time. I will be so glad to see him finally getting this problem taken care of and I know he will be so incredibly grateful for any help to make this happen. We are fully committed to doing this one way or another so that he'll be healthy and around for us for a long time to come. We are grateful for any help however small. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this.