Marcy's 6 Year Dental Ordeal

Hi, my name is Kristi and I'm raising money to help my sister Marcy pay for her dental bills that when added up over the past 6 years amount to $86,007. Not to mention lost wages due to all the appointments and surgeries. $47, 429 of that total is since August of this year and is what prompted the idea for the GoFundMe.

So what's going on??

Marcy was diagnosed with Silent Gerd in 2012 when she had gastric bypass surgery. She started on Prilosec at that time, but damage had already been done to her teeth.

Silent Gerd is acid reflux that is unknown to the individual because there aren't symptoms - so the high acidity levels in the throat and mouth do their damage 'silently'.

Marcy started talking about her dental work in 2017. A couple crowns in that first year. I thought it was unfortunate, but who doesn’t get hit with a couple crowns as they get older?

In 2018 it started to take off: 5 fillings at the beginning of the year, a root canal in July, and 11 crowns in November (13k for the crowns). This was starting to be an outrageous amount of money, but her future was looking bright because…

In other news, in 2017 Marcy left the West Fargo PD and pursued her dream of massage therapy - which was concerning to Mom only because being self-employed makes health coverage a challenge (foreshadowing).

Marcy has never regretted her decision to help people through massage therapy.

In 2019: 3 fillings, 13 crowns and 1 root canal

Because the dental work was periodic, I didn't realize how much the cost was adding up, she didn't talk about that part of it as much - just took on additional clients or appointments.

It was her first few years of massage therapy and learning to be self-employed; a lot to balance for sure.

2020 through 22: 1 crown and 1 filling, fairly quiet for dental issues. During 2022, Marcy bought medical and dental insurance.

2023 - August - required face and jaw surgery (full extraction) and final temp dentures. Implants will be done in Dec-Jan once her jaw and gums have healed.

Throughout the ordeal, it's hard to know who felt worse - the staff at the dentist she went to or Marcy. They hadn't seen anything like it. Having to replace crown after crown was so crazy and then to eventually have all of the crowns be for nothing, because full extraction and implants are needed.

When I added up the total dental spend, it's at $86,007 - over half of that incurred since August. It's overwhelming and stressful. Adding to the stress is dealing with the insurance that won’t cover the work.

I told Marcy that I was going to start a GoFundMe because in my mind, this type of situation is exactly what this site is for. I think the platform they provide to crowdfund is amazing and I've never been concerned with a small portion serving as a fee.

I've led a couple other fundraisers and have been so thankful for the generosity and kindness of others.

If you would like to donate but prefer a different option, let me know and I can give you my Venmo and I assure you it'll go straight for this cause.

I can’t thank you enough for your kind thoughts, prayers, and/or donation – it means so much to Marcy and our family.

Kristi