"The Usual Table, Sir?"

"But, of course."

We met today with Dr. Roser, my oral surgeon to get his take on the best plan going forward, based on the news we got from Dr. Davis two weeks ago.  Roser confirmed Davis' opinion that there is not enough bone in my chin to allow implants to be placed there, so Plan B it will be.  That means I'll get a multi-tooth removable denture for that area, and not the preferred implants.

The first step will be to remove the remaining part of the large torus on the lower right side of my mouth.  Ever wonder what those bony protrusions are in some people's mouths?  One is a torus, two are tori.  When all of this started I had two very large tori in my mouth.  Most of the left one got zapped by the radiation, and the rest of it came out during the 2014 surgery.  About half of the right one came out during the 2015 surgery.

The remaining part of the right torus must be removed to let the denture fit better.  The removal requires a short procedure in an Emory OR, scheduled for August 8.  The key from there will be how well and how fast the area heals.  I was told "weeks" but nothing more specific than that.

This will be my fourth reservation in an Emory OR since 2014, which should qualify me for some sort of reward program.  Maybe one of those little cakes with a candle on it that restaurants give out for free on customers' birthdays.  Or, an extra script of Oxycontin--on the house.  I like that one better.

Dr. Roser was very disappointed that his original plan could not happen.  We have confidence that he made the best decision back in 2014 about how much native bone to take out.  What he could not see at that time was how much additional damage had been done by the radiation, causing future ORN next to one end of the grafted bone--leading to last year's radial resection, this year's follow up, and now, Plan B.  It's all just SFL to me.

"OK, class, who can tell me what ORN and SFL are?  I know we haven't used those terms in a while, so put your thinking hats on real hard."
 
We did find out that Dr. Roser lives not too far from here, so if we get really pissed about this, we can drive over there and TP his house.

So, August 8th it is to put Plan B in motion.  I'll send out a Team Mike reminder for Good Vibes a few days ahead.

mike