It's just not a good week

Have you ever had one of those dreams where your teeth are falling out? That was my reality yesterday! I bit into something (a Teddy Graham, no less) and one of my upper molars broke right in half. What a freaky feeling.  I was surprised I wasn't having any pain - just half a tooth gone when I felt it with my tongue.  The dentist got me right in yesterday afternoon. He was hoping there would be enough tooth left where he could just do a crown.  Well, of course not (we're talking ME here, I never have that kind of luck)....I will need a root canal first. So, at yesterdays visit he removed the rest of the filling that was on the partial tooth left and then built the tooth back up temporarily, until the rest of the procedures can be done.

Have I mentioned I HATE going to the dentist?! Cleanings are fine but the rest give me panic attacks. I had a root canal almost 20 years ago and it was an awful experience (panic-wise), so it's safe to say I am not looking forward to my next visit. I did do well with yesterdays almost hour and a half visit and managed to stay pretty calm, so that's a good sign, I guess.  I'm just going to have to put my big girl panties on next Friday and get through it.

They were trying to give me an estimate on what my insurance covers and what my share will be. They gave me an 80% estimate, along with my $50 deductible for yesterday's work, so I had to write them a check for $93.79.  For the root canal and crown (2 separate appointments) they estimated 50%, so my share will be $878. In looking at the information I have access to regarding my coverage I think they have estimated wrong.  For yesterday's visit the evaluation and x-ray portion will be covered at 100%. The buildup of the tooth will be 80%, so I'm guessing my share will really be around $80.20 and the overage I paid can go towards the upcoming charges. Also, my plan shows that while a crown is covered at 50%, like they estimated, a root canal is covered at 80%, so overall my share of the root canal/crown should only be around $625.00.  Guess we'll see when it all goes through. For extensive work, like I am having they offer to split the bill up in 3 payments, so that will be very helpful and do-able for me, financially.

On another note - my grandma got to go back home to the adult care home she stays at. They will have a physical therapist come in 3 times a week to work with her. The doctor felt she would respond best to the PT, if she was back in the home and caretaker she was familiar with (my mom was considering moving her to a rehab/nursing home) so that's what we did. The last couple of days she was in the hospital she got what is called "hospital dementia". It really freaked my mom out the first evening. She was basically hallucinating and not making any sense. The nurse did explain it some, so that helped. The 2nd evening she was telling us people were in and out of her room all the night before and that is was "gangs". She was just adamant (and pissed!) that she was going home right then. She didn't even remember she had fallen and when we tried to explain the doctor would look at her again the next day and decide she was like "well, he's certainly not going to know anything!". From what I read this is a common, but temporary condition, so she should return back to normal once she gets back in her familiar surroundings.  Guess that tough little cookie is going to make it to her 95th birthday in a few weeks!

I'm going back into my hole for awhile and pout about having to have a root canal..........