The post I dread to make
(ETA: I have added jewelry to be "bartered" for donations at this post. I will be amending that post as I get more jewelry made. Keep an eye on it, please, or just check my LJ every now and then, if you could be so kind.)
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No, nobody died.
Now that that's out of the way, here's where I make the post I've dreaded to make. But I have to make it. I have to ask. If I don't ask (and people do or don't respond), then I can't say I didn't try. Right?
I have a medical emergency.
It's not a pretty one. It's not even exotic. It's not a cute disease or something I'm in the ICU for (yet).
I have a tooth that's abscessed. Badly. And another that's cracked and also needs repair (and is possibly dying, too).
The abscessed one and the one that's cracked are upper molars that I knew were problems, but we started the moving process, I ignored them as best I could (I slept badly these last 3 months, sucking on my teeth as I slept, and eating soft food during days) and figured when the move was done I could find a local dentist to pick up where my old one left off -- and get these suckers drilled and new fillings put in.
But they cracked. And the one is abscessing now (my face is swollen, painful, hot, and yes, it's going up the head and down the neck -- and YES, I'm on antibiotics and am scheduled to go for the root canal on Thursday, unless it gets even worse before then). The other cracked and clearly also needs a cap but also probably a root canal (they'll only know when they look closer on Thursday).
I have no dental insurance.
Because of the emergency nature of the abscessed tooth (root canal, temporary cap, then permanent cap, plus further close exam of the adjoining molar to determine if it just needs a cap or a root canal too), I'm looking at about $4,000 total for these two teeth alone.
$4000 -- and the dentist requires (as I have no insurance) payment at the time of the treatment, or they won't do it. That's Thursday -- day after tomorrow.
We have $1000 in the bank total, no major payments coming in from clients in the near future (NOTE TO AUTHORS: Yes, thanks for recommending us for copyediting when you can, to your publishers, but bear in mind that a single copyedit of a single book pays as much as $300. That's it. It sucks, it does. But it's the nature of the beast.) We have outstanding bills for electricity, gas, Internet -- and that's just for the new house. We're delinquent on all the bills for the old house, and the bank has started foreclosure on it, which means if it sells, we'll never see a penny. They may shut off all the utilities here, too -- we can't pay the bills as it is.
So here I am, hat in hand.
This will break us if I don't get some help.
What I can do in return for any donations:
There may be another barter you'd like to work out -- such as a wander through my antique china collection or crystal collection (family heirlooms).
The hat's out. I just hope some of you can help.
Best alternative: BROADCAST THIS. Pass it along. Let people know that I've finally hit that one medical emergency no one, no agency, no federal or state program will help me with.
The only other option is to let the abscess run its course until I'm hospitalized via the ER, and they actually remove the tooth. It's the main molar on the upper left (and its neighbor), which would leave me with no teeth to chew against on the left side of my mouth. And did I note: I live in fear of losing my teeth -- to the point of phobia. THIS IS COMPLETELY FREAKING ME OUT. Besides, if I wait and let the abscess become that bad, there's a BIG risk of brain infection and permanent damage, as well as death.
There has to be a better way. Help me make a better way.
Link is on my right-hand upper sidebar -- the big PAYPAL blue & white button is my PayPal account. Barring that, you can Send Money via PayPal to: nhanger AT windhaven DOT com. Or write to me asking for my street address [I'm a terrible person and haven't updated all that at my business domain site yet, since moving].
ETA: The response from you all has been amazing: donations, lots of wonderful WONDERFUL notes of kindness and love and support, sales to you all of jewelry, and requests for more jewelry, and most of all (I'm repeating myself, I know), the LOVE. I'm surrounded by it -- you guys are astounding. I'm humbled. Thank you. Keep on boosting the signal!
------------------
No, nobody died.
Now that that's out of the way, here's where I make the post I've dreaded to make. But I have to make it. I have to ask. If I don't ask (and people do or don't respond), then I can't say I didn't try. Right?
I have a medical emergency.
It's not a pretty one. It's not even exotic. It's not a cute disease or something I'm in the ICU for (yet).
I have a tooth that's abscessed. Badly. And another that's cracked and also needs repair (and is possibly dying, too).
The abscessed one and the one that's cracked are upper molars that I knew were problems, but we started the moving process, I ignored them as best I could (I slept badly these last 3 months, sucking on my teeth as I slept, and eating soft food during days) and figured when the move was done I could find a local dentist to pick up where my old one left off -- and get these suckers drilled and new fillings put in.
But they cracked. And the one is abscessing now (my face is swollen, painful, hot, and yes, it's going up the head and down the neck -- and YES, I'm on antibiotics and am scheduled to go for the root canal on Thursday, unless it gets even worse before then). The other cracked and clearly also needs a cap but also probably a root canal (they'll only know when they look closer on Thursday).
I have no dental insurance.
Because of the emergency nature of the abscessed tooth (root canal, temporary cap, then permanent cap, plus further close exam of the adjoining molar to determine if it just needs a cap or a root canal too), I'm looking at about $4,000 total for these two teeth alone.
$4000 -- and the dentist requires (as I have no insurance) payment at the time of the treatment, or they won't do it. That's Thursday -- day after tomorrow.
We have $1000 in the bank total, no major payments coming in from clients in the near future (NOTE TO AUTHORS: Yes, thanks for recommending us for copyediting when you can, to your publishers, but bear in mind that a single copyedit of a single book pays as much as $300. That's it. It sucks, it does. But it's the nature of the beast.) We have outstanding bills for electricity, gas, Internet -- and that's just for the new house. We're delinquent on all the bills for the old house, and the bank has started foreclosure on it, which means if it sells, we'll never see a penny. They may shut off all the utilities here, too -- we can't pay the bills as it is.
So here I am, hat in hand.
This will break us if I don't get some help.
What I can do in return for any donations:
- Make you bespoke jewelry: I work in sterling silver and gold, have in stock some gorgeous boro glass as well as semiprecious and some surprisingly beautiful glass from India, just as a few examples. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces. We can negotiate with what I have in stock here (was going to do more stuff to set up an Etsy store, but this is more important by far -- I'd rather barter bespoke jewelry for the root canal...)
- Make you bespoke knitting/craft counter bracelets and/or knitting row markers: examples are found here, along with the beads I use for the counters -- I also have a more varied stock of charms than that site shows.
- Work out a barter with you as an editor, line-editor, copy editor, proofreader, or even designer/typesetter. I do all of those things, and have done for over 25 years professionally for the major publishers (as well as individual authors). I can design and convert to e-books as well as work with for-print books.
- Work out a barter for my design work. (See above.)
- Barter with my existing jewelry from my mother: bartering with you folks is actually better than trying to sell anything for the worth of the raw gold or silver. All of this stuff has gems: diamonds, turquoise (her favorite, and there's some gorgeous stuff), rubies, you name it. My mother had an incredible collection of jewelry dating from the '40s onwards. If anyone's interested in some of the pieces for a serious barter, I can photograph them.
There may be another barter you'd like to work out -- such as a wander through my antique china collection or crystal collection (family heirlooms).
The hat's out. I just hope some of you can help.
Best alternative: BROADCAST THIS. Pass it along. Let people know that I've finally hit that one medical emergency no one, no agency, no federal or state program will help me with.
The only other option is to let the abscess run its course until I'm hospitalized via the ER, and they actually remove the tooth. It's the main molar on the upper left (and its neighbor), which would leave me with no teeth to chew against on the left side of my mouth. And did I note: I live in fear of losing my teeth -- to the point of phobia. THIS IS COMPLETELY FREAKING ME OUT. Besides, if I wait and let the abscess become that bad, there's a BIG risk of brain infection and permanent damage, as well as death.
There has to be a better way. Help me make a better way.
Link is on my right-hand upper sidebar -- the big PAYPAL blue & white button is my PayPal account. Barring that, you can Send Money via PayPal to: nhanger AT windhaven DOT com. Or write to me asking for my street address [I'm a terrible person and haven't updated all that at my business domain site yet, since moving].
ETA: The response from you all has been amazing: donations, lots of wonderful WONDERFUL notes of kindness and love and support, sales to you all of jewelry, and requests for more jewelry, and most of all (I'm repeating myself, I know), the LOVE. I'm surrounded by it -- you guys are astounding. I'm humbled. Thank you. Keep on boosting the signal!