Hi friends, family, community,

A couple of days ago, I went into an emergency dental appointment due to pain in my upper left jaw and found out that I would need to be referred to an oral surgeon. Turns out, the tooth I had a root canal on 13 years ago is abscessed and needs to be extracted. I've lost so much bone that I'll also need a bone graft. Once the graft is all healed, about 4 months from then, I'll need another procedure for an implant, and then finally back to the dentist for the crown placement. All of these procedures are going to put me out $8,000. And it starts Thursday!

Unfortunately, I don't have any dental insurance. Honestly, I've always been lucky over the years to stay with my childhood dentist, a wonderful family friend who always gave incredible discounts and a monthly payment plan of $25. My luck has run out, and unfortunately and understandably, the oral surgeon cannot offer either of those things.

Any donation, any help would be appreciated during this overwhelming time. Whether it's $5 or $50 or more, every dollar helps ease the stress of what is going to be over 8 months of visits, procedures, and no solid foods.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this, and for those of you who can contribute, I am forever grateful.