Somewhere between "This Surgery Will Make a World of Difference to You" and the "You Look Marvelous, Dahling" of the finished product comes a lot of fine print. I was trying to absorb data at warp speed as I caromed between medical professionals telling me about my gums, my jaw joints, my sleep habits, my ability to swallow, and on and on.
In addition, I was caught up in an incredible flurry of activity: the preurgical tests, the insurance company tap dance, the significant financing you need to put into place (that place being the hands of your surgeon) – all of this in addition to arranging your personal and work schedule to accommodate your five weeks of looking like you are auditioning for the remake of Silence of the Lambs while possessing the melodious communications skills of the monster in Mel Brooks' movie, Young Frankenstein.
While swirling through this maelstrom, I hollered “ENOUGH” and took a step back, with the help of IGC. We wanted to make sure that we were doing this for all the right reasons and not because we were on a juggernaut whose inevitable outcome was surgery. We turned to a person we deemed to be an honest broker, in this case, it was my restorative dentist, Dr. Gene Gadaire, who had work to do on my teeth regardless whether I had surgery or not.
This turned out to be an incredibly helpful session. Gene described to me the repercussions down the line of NOT having the surgery. In my case, should dentures become necessary, Gene advised that he could not fit them for me, since my jaws do not meet at present. It also gave IGC a chance to play with my dental impressions and see exactly how out of alignment my face really was. By asking a few well-chosen questions and listening to Gene´s thoughtful answers, we had sufficient data to weigh the impact of the surgery – both pro and con – on our lives. We were able to make a rational decision in our own time to proceed with the surgery.
Questions to ask:
If this were your wife, what would you recommend?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how severe is this?
What alternatives exist to this surgery? Can I achieve a similar result at less cost (discomfort, disruption. expense)?
What questions have I forgotten to ask? What else should I know?