Ready to Launch

X-Ray Vision
Ok- So Mazur sent the x-rays to Gomes and we were waiting to hear back from him. In the mean time, I received another bill from Gomes asking me to pay the additional $500 I still owed. And it turns out I wasn't going to be able to make my originally scheduled appointment on the 24th, so I decided to give them a call.

Well, this time Sharon answered the phone. I didn't remember a Sharon before. I like Sharon. I told her I was calling to ask about needing to reschedule my appt- but I wasn't sure if I needed to reschedule or just cancel since they had sent the x-rays to Gomes. Her reply was "well, I can just make your appointment go away." I was hoping she'd have the same response about my bill. :-) So we made my appt go away and she said she'd have Dr. Gomes call me if I needed to reschedule. So then she transferred me to Charlotte to deal with the billing though. Charlotte looked at my chart and said it said I would pay $200. Nope. Not the case. So she checked with Gomes and he said it was fine and they sent me a bill with a zero balance and we are good now! YAY!

Oh, Vanity
Ok- so I was back at Mazur's office on Tuesday because they called to say that bleaching trays were ready and I needed to come in so they could make sure they fit and tell me how to use them. I have never felt so vain in my entire life. ;-) But anyway, I had my last coke on Monday at lunch to say goodbye to any dark liquids for a bit. I am trying to make sure I don't get too addicted to doing this and end up with teeth like Ross's on that episode of Friends. ;-)

While I was there Dr. Mazur came in to visit me. :-) He said he talked to Gomes about the x-rasy and that Gomes wanted to see me again. He also asked Gomes about the abutment. Gomes told him he didn't think I had paid for it before so Mazur could just do it. Well.. Mazur happens to have a copy of my bill from the perio place, and sure enough the abutment is on there. :) So anyway, they got into a conversation where Mazur told him that he thought I wasn't too happy about this whole situation and what's been going on. Gomes replied that he had no indication that I wasn't happy. So Mazur says to him, 'dude, she even has a blog about this tooth. And I've only read it once, but she didn't seem too happy about any of it. ' :) So now, Dr. Gomes knows about the blog too. That should make for an interesting visit.

The Interesting Visit
So I go back and schedule my return visit to Gomes. And that visit was yesterday. So I take a half day off, drive down an hour for a 15 minute appointment. So anyway, Dr. Gomes doesn't let on that he's had this conversation with Dr. Mazur. But he pokes and prods a bit and says it looks really good. Its sturdy in there. The x-rays look good. There's bone around there- it can take a full year for bone graft to fully integrate, but it looks good. But then he tells me that he wants to make sure I know he's not God, nor does he want to be God. But he did the best he could with the space and bone he had and that my root was like two banana's stuck together. ( Might I mention all the while the song "If This Is It, Please Let Me Know" by Huey Lewis is playing in the background. I love it when life provides the soundtrack for events like that! I thought that was kind of ironic. ;-) ) I say, yes I know, we all just want this to turn out for the best and the best it can be. So then he sends me on my way... says I do still have to come back to see him when all is said and done just so he can see how it turned out. He says we might want to wait a month before we put anything on there, but its looking good. YAY! YAY! YAY! Translate- we have permission to think about finally getting this done!!!!! Woo hoo!

And I have to say that maybe in the past I have unfairly represented the new location and people. This time, everything just seemed so much brighter. I don't know if it was new lights, a much more friendly Tiana, or just a brighter outlook on my part, but the modest accommodations seemed much more tolerable this time around. So I guess maybe I shouldn't have been so judgemental before.

Ready to Launch
So basically I guess we are ready to launch. I need to get in touch with Mazur (they are unfortunately out of the office until Monday) and get some things setup with them. I am supposed to bleach for 2 weeks. I have my regular 6 month check up the beginning of May- so hopefully while I am there for that, we can get this game plan rolling and plan the rest of it out. I am getting so excited! I just want this to be done! However, this IS me we are talking about. I am cautiously optimistic because we know I can't do anything the easy way! :-) I am sure while there are just a few more steps to take, life will continue to have it's way with me and God will continue to use it as a lesson for me to rely on Him.

I'll call Mazur on Monday and see what's next. Hopefully by mid May we can have this rolling and I"ll have lots more to report!

Until then... Keep smilin :)

Mindy