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Went to Mount Sinai today, I'm going to keep this blog brief...I'm kind of tired talking about this. So, I went to Mount Sinai, was up very early this morning, and I had my Echocardiogram & Pulmonary Perfusion Imaging test done. After that, I went to Brooklyn Hospital's Dental Clinic, and they were extremely nice there.
I saw the Oral Surgeon and the General Dentist. They took Xrays, and what the Oral Surgeon said was that he's looking at 'the big picture' here, meaning that he doesn't want for me to undergo a platelet transfusion, just to have one tooth pulled. So, it was a good thing that Sam was with me. The cost of dental implants are very inexpensive there, due to the fact that it's done by residents who need the experience, and my insurance pays for the hospitalization (which would be a must, for the platelet transfusion, I would be in the hospital for a minimum of 2 days), and the only thing that needs to be paid for is the materials, not the labor. This is what makes dental implants so expensive is the dentists charge a fortune for the labor. So, the general consensus is that the other teeth that I have under the 7 tooth bridge are not in good shape either. Also, I was told that I can, and have enough bone, for 2 implants, minimum, on the bottom, to support my full bottom denture. The implants would work as 'anchors', and instead of having teeth placed on the abutment, it would be snaps, so the denture that I already have can be modified to accomodate the two 'snaps' that would be connected to my jaw, and the denture can snap into my jaw, making a secure fit that will be much more comfortable than it's been now. I wouldn't need to use polygrip/fixodent or any of that glue stuff.
Now, as for the top, I would need approx. 4 implants, and they charge $300 per implant, and I would need a sinus lift, as well as bone grafting. This is a serious procedure, made even more so by my medical condition. To get everything that I would need done, would probably cost about $3,500, which, thankfully, my boyfriend said he can pay for. What's more concerning, is my health and if I will be able to get general anesthisia, which I probably will not, due to my PAH, however, I took those 3 tests today that will determine my medical clearance for my Liver transplant. Based on the first test I took, the stress test, it was very good. Meaning, that my lungs are compensating for the damage my liver is causing the rest of my body, and that can only be coming from one source: the heart. So, hopefully, I will get some good news Monday that will let me know that I did very good on these two tests that I took today, and that I don't need additional medication to make the hypertension levels go down. If that's the case, then I should also be able to get medical clearance not just for the liver transplant, but for the dental implants, as well.
Either way, I'm getting these dental implants, and I'm getting them done at Brooklyn Hospital. Mount Sinai has a dentist that they 'exclusively' use, and he charges a fortune! I'm not going to that dentist, and that's the dentist that my Liver doctor is telling me to go to. What can this dentist do that Brooklyn Hospital can't? Well, I've found out that they've made a 'protocol' for people who have blood work like me, so it's a little scheme they got going on, a monopoly, so that I feel like they're trying to force me to see their dentist! What a load of crap!
So, I will find out Monday how these tests went, and how much my PAH has improved, and on Sept 8th, I'm setting up a plan on getting all of this dental work done. Till next time...
I am a 31yr old Hispanic Female w/Cryptogenic Cirrhosis going through my Pre-transplant phase. This is for ALL out there who are suffering w/any kind of liver disease and wish to tell their story! You can contact me via Facebook or Twitter on the bottom toolbar. Also, be sure to click on the orange box that says "+Share" on the toolbar to share this page with your friends!
My Liver Disease Journey...
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Just to give everyone a gist of what kind of a blog I'm trying to create here, it's basically for people who have been diagnosed with Liver Disease (Cirrhosis, Cancer, etc) and are awaiting a liver transplant. I am sharing my story (like an open book), and keeping this also as a 'journal' for what I am going through due to my illness and my life & past experiences.
My name is Victoria Santiago and in 2007, I was diagnosed as a Cirrhotic at the age of 26 yrs old; I am now 30 yrs old. This blog is for those who know what having liver disease is like; the Dr appt's, the freaking out when Dr's can sometimes be so cold & rude in telling you that you're probably going to die from this disease. I walked into my GI (Gastrointestinal) Dr's office, got a liver biopsy done because I noticed some distention in my belly and my AST, ALT & Alkaline Phosphotase came back irregular, which are all liver enzymes. I walked in to try to find out what the heck was going on, and he assured me a biopsy would give me that answer. For those who have had Liver Biopsy's...I feel your pain! It's awful to lay there on your side having a HUGE needle poked under or in between your ribs TWICE for a liver sample. Well, my results raised more questions than answers. It was determined by the pathologist that I had a transition to Cirrhosis, and was consistent with Chronic Hepatits C. However, my blood work shows, from 3 different lab's, that I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, but I have no virus, the HCV test always come back as "insufficient or mutated virus" meaning that there is no Hepatitis C virus in my blood; I was even told that I can live a long and happy life without ever having it's effects. So I knew this pathologist made a mistake in that diagnosis, and future Dr's whom are liver specialists concurred. I went through a whole mess of 'liver specialists' for year's, seeking a specialist that would take my insurance, which were few & far between. Long story short (too late!lol), I just started going to Mt. Sinai Recanti/Miller Transplantation Institute about a month ago. I also have Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (P. A. H) and am seeing both a Pulmonologist & Cardiologist (had to get a Heart Catheterization to determine the condition of the P. A. H earlier this year) and I saw them for the first time on July 11th.
I would like for everyone who are or has gone through transplantation to share their stories here for moral support (which helps both you & me, for there is strength in numbers), informative links, websites, and help in obtaining what we need and what is out there for people like us. This is by far the biggest threat I have yet to deal with, and being a rape 'survivor' from the age of 18, a former drug/substance abuser that led to the loss of so much of myself, my dignity and self-respect (currently celebrating my first year in sobriety, makes things even harder, but it is getting better with time), is saying a lot. Fact being, I'm a mother of a beautiful son, a daughter of a caring mother, an aunt to 5 precious girls, and a sister to three brave women. Granted, I've made some awful mistakes that I may pay the ultimate price for, but no one is perfect and no one deserves to go through all of these awful things in life, but to have to go through them and learn nothing...well, that's just not very smart! Believing in God has helped me A LOT and strengthening my relationship with Him has not been easy, but I would be lost without my faith. Even though I have family support, it's hard for them or anyone to understand what kind of pain I'm going through, except those who are going through it, and even then, everyone has their own unique story in their 'path to recovery'. I'm inviting those who wish to share their story, wisdom, and strength with me, on my blog. Thanks for reading & please feel free to share your story with me!
Friday, August 26, 2011
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