This is an inspiring yet frustrating story. Carol Raines was the victim of violent crime that cost the life of her husband and shattered her jaw. The gunman fired into her jaw – basically destroying it. Her insurance would not pay for the reconstruction of her joints, jawbone and teeth. Then the media got involved - thankfully.
This is the frustrating part – the point was made that if this had happened to the man that committed the crime, the state would have picked up the cost of reconstruction. But for a private citizen there were no options. See what I mean – more infuriating than frustrating.
Thanks to Dr. Kent, she has new titanium jaw joints and will receive posterior teeth soon. She lost those in the shooting also. Dr. Johnny Schwartz will help with that part of the restoration.
That’s too sad. I certainly feel for Carol. It’s a shame that our insurance system is so screwed up right now. Thankfully, with the help of others Carol is receiving the treatment she needs to get back on her feet.
I have had the implant surgery I badly needed. The insurance company paid for the jaw implant surgery. Dr. Kent did the implant surgery for the jaw joints which was a great success. I can now open my mouth as though I had never been shot in the jaw. Since the jaw surgery I have gained 20 needed pounds. I was 89 pounds before the surgery. Dr. Kent then donated his time to install the dental implants. Dr. John Schwartz has also donated his time & great skills making veneers for my teeth. Dr. Schwartz is working on every tooth in my mouth to give me my smile back. My teeth are a mess from years of not being able to open my mouth. I never knew I needed so much work to be done to be able to chew properly again. These Dr’s have given me a gift that will help me put that awful night behind me & finally have a reason to smile again. Soon I will be able to chew with a functioning jaw & functioning, balanced beautiful teeth. March 16th, thanks to these two wonderful Dr’s I will have something to smile about. It will be so much easier looking at myself in the mirror & feeling good about myself. For the past 28 years every time I looked into a mirror & all I saw were the scars of what the murderer did to us. The wounds could not heal on the inside because they were so visible on the outside. It was a constant reminder. I am looking forward to looking into a mirror & seeing what Dr. Kent & Dr. Schwartz did to me, instead of what the murderer did to me. I have tried not to be angry that the murderer had better medical care than I was given after the trial. Now I can say I know justice has been served. I can never thank Dr. Kent & Dr. John Schwartz enough for giving me my smile back. A SMILE IS THE BEST GIFT YOU CAN EVER GIVE A SURVIVOR, IT MAKES YOU WANT TO SMILE BACK AT THE MIRROR.
Carol – yours is a brave story. I’m so glad you let us know how you’re doing. I’m sending you a private email also. All the best to you!