The good news: Gma did very well with the tooth removal.
The bad news: We have no approval so far to get her new choppers... grrrrr
Otherwise, life is status quo with Shawler's, Inc. We did some Christmas decorating this weekend and a lot of running around. Pretty much business as usual.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Adventures in Dentures
I certainly could have lived without this adventure!!
It all started about a year ago now. Gma left her dentures on the bathroom counter. I came home from work the day before Thanksgiving and there was a baggie and a note on the counter. The note read "Anita, I think this is all that is left of your mother's teeth". There were three little plastic pieces of "gum" in the baggie. I kind of freaked out that grandma would have no teeth to eat her Thanksgiving dinner but I have to admit that I was very freaked out that eating grandma's teeth may have a bad effect on Iris and there may be an emergency vet trip in our near future although she seemed to be acting alright. Further investigation discovered the teeth completely in tact under the blanket on my bed (except that the plastic was chewed out of the center of the plate). One crisis averted. Iris wouldn't have to go to the emergency vet after all!!! Of course, grandma still couldn't wear her teeth but we would deal with that soon.
Well, we decided that since she was getting along OK with the teeth missing and she really didn't want to go have new impressions made so we waited until after the holidays to start the process. It was actually about February when we started the process. I had a difficult time trying to talk her into doing anything because she was afraid of the impressions because she choked the last time.
Finally, she was approved for Medicaid and I convinced her that she should probably just get the process started for teeth since the state was going to pay for it. So, with the help of the lovely Angie from Passport, we began looking for a dentist that could help with this. Smile Makers was a willing participant. (They have given me few smiles so I think their name may be a bit misleading). We scheduled an appointment and went to see them the first part of August. They took x-rays and said she would need to have her remaining tooth and the partial tooth out. They referred us to an oral surgeon. I called and made the appointment with the oral surgeon and just happened to mention her oxygen. They began to ask questions about why she needed the oxygen and what other health history she had. Finally the scheduler said she couldn't be seen there because that doctor wouldn't feel comfortable putting her under anesthesia. I asked why she would need to be put under general anesthesia and they said "he puts all of his patients out". REALLY?!? So, back to Smile Makers for another referral... this is the part where they stopped making me smile. They said , they only refer to that oral surgeon and we would have to call Medicaid for another referral. I called Medicaid. They gave me three names... no let me rephrase that... they gave me three phone numbers but could not tell me the name of the practice or physician that takes Medicaid there. Phone call number one: They took all the information and asked for a date of birth. When they found out she was 81 years old they said "Oh no, we are a pediatric clinic". By this time I have wasted about a total of 2 and a half hours and we have no appointment to get rid of the remaining tooth and remnants.
Phone call number two: "Hi. you have reached Bob and Joe (or Jo). We can't come to the phone right now but if you leave a message, we will return your call when we get back home." OK, this is strike two. Clearly, Bob and Joe don't expect my call to have my mother's teeth removed.
Phone call number three: OSU dental clinic. After 87 phone transfers, I find that I am finally in the right place. They take all the information and then say "we can't schedule an appointment with anyone except the patient". I say, "she has dementia" "I have done her scheduling for over 20 years". They said, "well, we can't make an appointment through you without consent (written) from her because too many Medicaid patients schedule appointments and never show up" I said "that is kind of sill but send me the release and I will have her sign it". They say: "Oh we don't have one. It just has to be a letter written and signed by her"... I hung up. What part of "She has dementia" is confusing you??????????????
A couple of random phone calls to oral surgeons turned up nothing. I believe that by now I have almost 5 hours invested in the process and we are not any closer than we were when I started back in June before the first appointment.
Finally, I called an acquaintance that worked in the field. Asked if she knew of anyone who takes Medicaid. She referred me to another office. We were able to get in there within a couple of weeks. After speaking with the dentist there, we were once again referred to OSU but they would do the referral and hopefully we would not get the run around this time. Well, we did a little but it wasn't too bad this round.
We made an appointment at OSU for October something. They needed the x-rays from the last dentist. I asked Franklinton Dental if we can get copies. They said no problem that my mother would just need to sign a release. I made arrangements to pick them up on the way to OSU on the day of the appointment so Gma doesn't have to go out too many times. We leave early, stop at Franklinton and should still have plenty of time to get to OSU. Only Franklinton is MOBBED with people. I guess everyone had to have their dental work done at the same time. After a half hour and several times of asking for the x-rays I finally returned to the car with the x-rays in hand. We arrive at OSU... late... but they were not too concerned. They took my x-rays in return for a mountain of paperwork to be filled out on Gma. We are on our way to a consultation for this oral surgery... YAY. Oh, celebration short-lived... this is only for x-rays because the set that I waited for half an hour on this morning was completely unreadable... couldn't see a thing! OK, only a minor setback because we are still going to talk to an oral surgeon today but this has to be done first.
Here we go... this one is not a false start. We are going to talk to a surgeon now. This surgeon could be my child but he does seem pretty knowledgeable. He is a nice little Georgia boy. He says there is no reason to be concerned about doing surgery and she will only need a local anesthetic. He wants to get clearance from her family doctor but once he gives the green light, surgery can be done. He assures us we will be called within a few days to schedule the surgery.
The day of surgery arrives on November 29, 2011:
This week's adventure of getting my mother's teeth taken out has been interesting... Her appointment was on Tuesday but she had to have her blood drawn on Monday to make sure her Coumadin level was under control. Just our luck, it was too high. So, I held the Coumadin on Monday night and had to get it re-checked on Tuesday before she went for her appointment. She passed the test by 0.1 of a point on Tuesday so we trucked off to the dental clinic at OSU -- in the rain-- I thought I was going to have to build a boat to get us home :) Anyway, the silly dental student was not going to let me stay in the room while he did surgery on her. I said, "OK but she has dementia and probably can't answer your medical history questions." Then, she proceeded to freak out because they wouldn't let me stay and he was convinced that it may just be a better plan to let me sit in the corner. I assured him that I have worked in healtcare for more than 20 years and he isn't going to find me passed out on the floor because it is virtually impossible to make me squeamish with blood and guts. She did well but they really had to dig to get one of the roots out and her whole chin is one big bruise from the surgery. She took pain medicine the first night but hasn't taken anything since.
We are happy to have had this part of the ordeal go so well. It is now time to call Smile Breakers... I mean Smile Makers. We haven't heard from them since August and since it was going to take 8-12 weeks to get Medicaid approval, we should now be on track to get impressions in the next few weeks and then the teeth! So, I call. Ashley says "well, Medicaid has changed their system and we have had to submit this twice" "they don't answer the phone when we call so the best I can tell you is that maybe you can call Medicaid and see if you can get a person". It isn't approved as far as we know.
It all started about a year ago now. Gma left her dentures on the bathroom counter. I came home from work the day before Thanksgiving and there was a baggie and a note on the counter. The note read "Anita, I think this is all that is left of your mother's teeth". There were three little plastic pieces of "gum" in the baggie. I kind of freaked out that grandma would have no teeth to eat her Thanksgiving dinner but I have to admit that I was very freaked out that eating grandma's teeth may have a bad effect on Iris and there may be an emergency vet trip in our near future although she seemed to be acting alright. Further investigation discovered the teeth completely in tact under the blanket on my bed (except that the plastic was chewed out of the center of the plate). One crisis averted. Iris wouldn't have to go to the emergency vet after all!!! Of course, grandma still couldn't wear her teeth but we would deal with that soon.
Well, we decided that since she was getting along OK with the teeth missing and she really didn't want to go have new impressions made so we waited until after the holidays to start the process. It was actually about February when we started the process. I had a difficult time trying to talk her into doing anything because she was afraid of the impressions because she choked the last time.
Finally, she was approved for Medicaid and I convinced her that she should probably just get the process started for teeth since the state was going to pay for it. So, with the help of the lovely Angie from Passport, we began looking for a dentist that could help with this. Smile Makers was a willing participant. (They have given me few smiles so I think their name may be a bit misleading). We scheduled an appointment and went to see them the first part of August. They took x-rays and said she would need to have her remaining tooth and the partial tooth out. They referred us to an oral surgeon. I called and made the appointment with the oral surgeon and just happened to mention her oxygen. They began to ask questions about why she needed the oxygen and what other health history she had. Finally the scheduler said she couldn't be seen there because that doctor wouldn't feel comfortable putting her under anesthesia. I asked why she would need to be put under general anesthesia and they said "he puts all of his patients out". REALLY?!? So, back to Smile Makers for another referral... this is the part where they stopped making me smile. They said , they only refer to that oral surgeon and we would have to call Medicaid for another referral. I called Medicaid. They gave me three names... no let me rephrase that... they gave me three phone numbers but could not tell me the name of the practice or physician that takes Medicaid there. Phone call number one: They took all the information and asked for a date of birth. When they found out she was 81 years old they said "Oh no, we are a pediatric clinic". By this time I have wasted about a total of 2 and a half hours and we have no appointment to get rid of the remaining tooth and remnants.
Phone call number two: "Hi. you have reached Bob and Joe (or Jo). We can't come to the phone right now but if you leave a message, we will return your call when we get back home." OK, this is strike two. Clearly, Bob and Joe don't expect my call to have my mother's teeth removed.
Phone call number three: OSU dental clinic. After 87 phone transfers, I find that I am finally in the right place. They take all the information and then say "we can't schedule an appointment with anyone except the patient". I say, "she has dementia" "I have done her scheduling for over 20 years". They said, "well, we can't make an appointment through you without consent (written) from her because too many Medicaid patients schedule appointments and never show up" I said "that is kind of sill but send me the release and I will have her sign it". They say: "Oh we don't have one. It just has to be a letter written and signed by her"... I hung up. What part of "She has dementia" is confusing you??????????????
A couple of random phone calls to oral surgeons turned up nothing. I believe that by now I have almost 5 hours invested in the process and we are not any closer than we were when I started back in June before the first appointment.
Finally, I called an acquaintance that worked in the field. Asked if she knew of anyone who takes Medicaid. She referred me to another office. We were able to get in there within a couple of weeks. After speaking with the dentist there, we were once again referred to OSU but they would do the referral and hopefully we would not get the run around this time. Well, we did a little but it wasn't too bad this round.
We made an appointment at OSU for October something. They needed the x-rays from the last dentist. I asked Franklinton Dental if we can get copies. They said no problem that my mother would just need to sign a release. I made arrangements to pick them up on the way to OSU on the day of the appointment so Gma doesn't have to go out too many times. We leave early, stop at Franklinton and should still have plenty of time to get to OSU. Only Franklinton is MOBBED with people. I guess everyone had to have their dental work done at the same time. After a half hour and several times of asking for the x-rays I finally returned to the car with the x-rays in hand. We arrive at OSU... late... but they were not too concerned. They took my x-rays in return for a mountain of paperwork to be filled out on Gma. We are on our way to a consultation for this oral surgery... YAY. Oh, celebration short-lived... this is only for x-rays because the set that I waited for half an hour on this morning was completely unreadable... couldn't see a thing! OK, only a minor setback because we are still going to talk to an oral surgeon today but this has to be done first.
Here we go... this one is not a false start. We are going to talk to a surgeon now. This surgeon could be my child but he does seem pretty knowledgeable. He is a nice little Georgia boy. He says there is no reason to be concerned about doing surgery and she will only need a local anesthetic. He wants to get clearance from her family doctor but once he gives the green light, surgery can be done. He assures us we will be called within a few days to schedule the surgery.
The day of surgery arrives on November 29, 2011:
This week's adventure of getting my mother's teeth taken out has been interesting... Her appointment was on Tuesday but she had to have her blood drawn on Monday to make sure her Coumadin level was under control. Just our luck, it was too high. So, I held the Coumadin on Monday night and had to get it re-checked on Tuesday before she went for her appointment. She passed the test by 0.1 of a point on Tuesday so we trucked off to the dental clinic at OSU -- in the rain-- I thought I was going to have to build a boat to get us home :) Anyway, the silly dental student was not going to let me stay in the room while he did surgery on her. I said, "OK but she has dementia and probably can't answer your medical history questions." Then, she proceeded to freak out because they wouldn't let me stay and he was convinced that it may just be a better plan to let me sit in the corner. I assured him that I have worked in healtcare for more than 20 years and he isn't going to find me passed out on the floor because it is virtually impossible to make me squeamish with blood and guts. She did well but they really had to dig to get one of the roots out and her whole chin is one big bruise from the surgery. She took pain medicine the first night but hasn't taken anything since.
We are happy to have had this part of the ordeal go so well. It is now time to call Smile Breakers... I mean Smile Makers. We haven't heard from them since August and since it was going to take 8-12 weeks to get Medicaid approval, we should now be on track to get impressions in the next few weeks and then the teeth! So, I call. Ashley says "well, Medicaid has changed their system and we have had to submit this twice" "they don't answer the phone when we call so the best I can tell you is that maybe you can call Medicaid and see if you can get a person". It isn't approved as far as we know.
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