My wife was diagnosed in 2006 with a pancreatic cancer called Zollinger-Ellison.

ZE is a rare disorder called gastrinoma. These are microscopic tumors. These tumors affect a hormone produced in the pancreas called gastrin. This hormone stimulates gastric acid secretions in the stomach to aid in digestion. These tumors cause high levels of acid to be released in the stomach.

One significant problem with ZE is locating the microscopic tumors.

Paula went through numerous tests.

From Pensacola, FL, Birmingham, AL, and Charleston, SC, the tumors were never located.

During this time, Paula was prescribed medications to help control the acid content in her stomach.

Eventually, the high doses of medication were not helping.

At this point, Paula was told that she had a strong possibility of getting stomach cancer.

An alternative was to perform a complete gastrectomy.

She decided to do this.

Without a stomach, one of the side effects is the deterioration of teeth.

Paula has had dental work done since the operation.

On her uppers, she has had two separate dentures made over time. To complicate matters, she developed a growth in the upper roof of her mouth called a tori.

This is a benign bony growth that is slow-growing. The tori has interfered with both dentures. An oral surgeon will have to surgically remove the tori.

On her lower mouth, she has 8 remaining teeth. They are deteriorated and need to be removed.

Dental Plan:

Upper denture:

1. Surgeon:

A. Remove Tori

B. Bone Reconstruction (if needed)

C. With tori removed,a regular denture would be made by our dentist.

A.

Lower Denture:

1. Surgeon:

A. Remove 8 teeth

B. Bone Reconstruction (if needed)

C. Place 2 implants after teeth are removed,

*Regular dentures have a tendency to be less secure than that of upper regular dentures.

2. Dentist:

A. Make a temporary denture for the posts.

B. Once the posts are healed, a permanent denture would be made.

In closing, we are looking at dental insurance ,medicare coverage and a flex spending account from my work to help cover a percentage of cost .

I am retiring in January . My plan is to stay at work long enough to exhaust the dental insurance and flex spending account for next year.

The percentage that those will cover would hopefully cover an estimate of 50% of costs

We are also researching Medicare benefits to see if additional dental coverage will cover additional costs.

I will post over time what these benefits pay out .

Thanks to all who have read this post.

I did edit the post today, to explain the funds that we have access to.

Thank-you to all who feel,that this a worthy cause.