I'm back from the orthognathic surgeon, and I brought you this new comic!
The following all relates to my crossbite, in case you're wondering!

I am back from my appointment with the jaw surgeon (whose wife's grandmother sadly passed away last week).

He said the surgery would be from $7-15k and the hospital stay would be around $15k. There's also the chance that my upper jaw will need widening as it is too narrow right now (this is the second time I've heard this, and he hadn't been provided with any prior assessments upon seeing me), but all parties involved, orthodontist, surgeon and dentist, are taking a wait-and-see approach. The Damon braces might do their job well enough that we won't have to worry about the upper jaw. Or not.

Now we wait. He advised me not to bother contating my insurance as they would try to put me off and tell me they don't cover it. The surgery has an insurance group that is supposed to hassle my insurance provider about it. I asked how other people could afford this surgery. Basically they harass their insurance providers into it.

He apologized that he couldn't guarantee that my insurance will cover it. (Shite, I didn't ask if there was a way I could pay for it if they wouldn't. I'll call tomorrow and ask.) On the (kinda) bright side, all that biting into my inner cheek and lip when I chew might be of some persuasion to my insurance provider that, jinkies, letting this go untreated might cost more than just fixing the problem!

But it will take them as long as three months just to reply to the claim. At least twice they will reject me. Like Tam Lin, I must not let go, no matter how hard they try to put me off. On the third try, they might have me see a doctor. And while all of this is going on, it might still be for naught. They might still try to pretend this is cosmetic, as though my bone isn't thinning and my teeth don't slam into each other all wrong. If it were cosmetic, why do people tell me, "Why, you'd never know from looking at you!" Now I am getting painful temperature sensitivity in a few teeth, mainly one, because of misapplied pressure. (It's not cavities--my dentist checked and suggested improper pressure was most likely to blame. Yay for messed up teeth... again.)

I also got to look at the skulls and jaws of people with way more twisted jaws than mine. A little comforting. But the not-so-comforting part came when he described what would happen to me for six weeks after the operation! I will look like a puffer fish and be unable to feel half my face. There's the slim chance that the feeling won't ever come back. I'm willing to take it. I also won't be able to eat anything more solid than mashed potatoes.

I'm going to ask my orthodontist if he wants to wait on the insurance company or if we should start without them.

It is at this moment that I would like to thank thank thank thank the good people who have been donating for the past almost-year and the people who have been offering donation bonuses. Without you guys, I wouldn't have even had the money to start this process. I'd still be waiting, right now, and it's taking so long as it is. Thank you for letting me get started. Thank you.

Now comic fun time: