Saturday July 26, 2008 9:30 PM

Remember back in November of last year when we FINALLY got Jim in to get his teeth pulled and implants put in? The game plan was either two implants on top and two on the bottom, or four implants on top and four on the bottom, and Decidua's people had to decide which way to go depending on Jim's bone structure in his jaw. After he had his surgery, Decidua spoke with me on the "bat phone" in the waiting room and said he had placed four implants. So where would a normal person think they were? Two on the top and two on the bottom, right?

Now, people would think that Jim would know where his implants are, but you can't see them or feel them...after the surgery your jaw is a raw mess and once everything heals the bone grows around them. They don't even attach anything to them until everything heals for at least six months.

Fast forward to about a week ago. Vanni told Jim he needs to go back to Decidua to have his implants "finished", whatever that means. Then Vanni can work on what meets them on the denture side. Jim came home from Decidua's all numbed up and couldn't talk, so he turned on his PC and started writing in Notebook...."I HAVE FOUR IMPLANTS ON THE BOTTOM AND NONE ON THE TOP!!!!" Oh, we were both pissed beyond belief. Vanni's office was closed that day so I couldn't call them. How could they have made this mistake? What kind of bullshit was this? I even contacted a malpractice attorney, who informed me I would 1) need a dental malpractice attorney (there's a specialty for that?) and 2) I would need to find someone in Pennsylavnia, since that's where all Jim's doctors are.

The next day I got a hold of Vanni, and we're both perplexed with his answer. He says that the plan was never to put the upper implants in, just the lower. He says you never do the upper with the lower. Well, Jim and I aren't stupid. We BOTH attended every single meeting with Decidua and Vanni and NEITHER one of us ever came away with that information. I could understand one of us missing it, but never both of us. But what's done is done now, and we can't change it. We also can't afford to do the uppers any time soon. We already laid out over 19K last year in out of pocket medical and dental (most of it was dental because there were yearly out of pocket caps in our medical insurance)and our home equity line of credit is tapped out. Jim says he really doesn't have much of a problem with the uppers slipping anyway, but the lowers slip so bad he can't wear them at all.

So now he looks like he has four Frankenstein bolts in his gums. He goes back to Vanni this Monday. It will probably be at least another month before he's ready to get the lowers attached to the implants. Then after that we can get Jim into round two of his Vital Stim therapy that he so desperately needs.