Help Fran get her smile back
Donation protected
Everyone deserves a smile - help Fran get hers back!
If you know Fran, you love Fran. You love her sense of humor and her unbelievable baking skills. No doubt you’ve tasted something that she’s baked and you’ve found it mind blowingly delicious. Recently, she has been going through a hard time and needs some community support to get back to her old self.
The story starts in 1994, when Fran was a young mother with two young daughters, and she was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma of her right sinus. The treatment for this highly malignant cancer was a right radical maxillectomy or removal of her palate and everything to the base of her brain on the right side of her head, including her teeth, sinus, cheek bone and orbital floor. She underwent this intense surgery, 6 weeks of radiation treatment and was given an interim prosthetic obturator that allowed her to have teeth and a palate. The prosthetic was an adequate temporary solution, but after 24 years it became clear that a permanent fix was needed.
In 2017, Fran, with the help of her doctors and family, decided to move forward with a reconstructive facial surgery including dental implants and new teeth. She had been having trouble breathing and was diagnosed with COPD in large part due to her prosthetic. Fran was given the impression that every part of the reconstructive surgery was going to be paid for by insurance, as it had all been pre-approved. The grueling 8 hour surgery involved taking a piece of her fibula (lower leg bone) and surrounding tissue and connecting it to the blood supply in her head to form a new palate and sinus. The surgery was very intense and took quite some time to recover from but Fran persevered. Recovery included a week long stay in the hospital, a feeding tube for 3 weeks, a leg boot for six weeks as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy.
After the surgery, the insurance company denied coverage for the dental implants that were placed. With the doctors being refused this money, the process was halted and Fran was left without any teeth and without a plan to get them. After an emotionally exhausting year and a half of fighting with the insurance company, Fran was able to get the doctors reimbursed and now we are finally hoping to move forward with the process of finishing the surgery.
There is only one hitch: insurance is not going to pay for her new teeth as originally expected. The prosthodontist estimated that they will cost $22,500 for the top and $8,093 for the bottom. A total of $30,593! Financing options are extremely limited and come with high interest rates. This is why we need your help.
Everyone deserves a smile! Please consider donating to help Fran get hers back.
If you know Fran, you love Fran. You love her sense of humor and her unbelievable baking skills. No doubt you’ve tasted something that she’s baked and you’ve found it mind blowingly delicious. Recently, she has been going through a hard time and needs some community support to get back to her old self.
The story starts in 1994, when Fran was a young mother with two young daughters, and she was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma of her right sinus. The treatment for this highly malignant cancer was a right radical maxillectomy or removal of her palate and everything to the base of her brain on the right side of her head, including her teeth, sinus, cheek bone and orbital floor. She underwent this intense surgery, 6 weeks of radiation treatment and was given an interim prosthetic obturator that allowed her to have teeth and a palate. The prosthetic was an adequate temporary solution, but after 24 years it became clear that a permanent fix was needed.
In 2017, Fran, with the help of her doctors and family, decided to move forward with a reconstructive facial surgery including dental implants and new teeth. She had been having trouble breathing and was diagnosed with COPD in large part due to her prosthetic. Fran was given the impression that every part of the reconstructive surgery was going to be paid for by insurance, as it had all been pre-approved. The grueling 8 hour surgery involved taking a piece of her fibula (lower leg bone) and surrounding tissue and connecting it to the blood supply in her head to form a new palate and sinus. The surgery was very intense and took quite some time to recover from but Fran persevered. Recovery included a week long stay in the hospital, a feeding tube for 3 weeks, a leg boot for six weeks as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy.
After the surgery, the insurance company denied coverage for the dental implants that were placed. With the doctors being refused this money, the process was halted and Fran was left without any teeth and without a plan to get them. After an emotionally exhausting year and a half of fighting with the insurance company, Fran was able to get the doctors reimbursed and now we are finally hoping to move forward with the process of finishing the surgery.
There is only one hitch: insurance is not going to pay for her new teeth as originally expected. The prosthodontist estimated that they will cost $22,500 for the top and $8,093 for the bottom. A total of $30,593! Financing options are extremely limited and come with high interest rates. This is why we need your help.
Everyone deserves a smile! Please consider donating to help Fran get hers back.
Co-organizers (4)
DelPozzo Family
Organizer
Portland, OR
Kait Del Pozzo
Co-organizer
Kanya DelPozzo
Co-organizer
Louis Del Pozzo
Co-organizer