Late May update

Vincent also had an appointment with the psychiatrist that ultimately prescribed medication for him, which we got to late enough today that we had to reschedule it for the end of the month. Last time Dr. Knox said the medication he's currently on has enough side effects that he can't be on it forever. So now - at the end of June - she'll decide whether to try a new medication or have him go cold turkey. Since he's now 18, there's a little bit of ambiguity now as to whether we should be going in with him to speak with the psychiatrist and what happens if he really doesn't want to keep taking medication. The court order said he must keep on with counseling and medication unless behavioral health providers say it’s OK to quit. (It's over in Jeffersonville, IN, so maybe Stephanie and Vincent will go next month and not be late like Vincent and I were.)

Mom went to the orthopedic doctor and got an X-ray. The doctor is sending her for an MRI, recommending focusing on posture and taking hourly breaks to do back exercises, and pooh-poohing physical therapy or chiropractic medicine. They did not talk about surgery, which Mom isn’t enthusiastic about. Mom knows there are several things going on – back problems, knee problems, general health problems, also posture (and she says that sitting all day hunched over a computer is probably bad for her posture also) – but she is unsure how disciplined she can be about posture and daily exercise. The doctor, who is rather old, said that one reason he’s in this area is that he too has faced similar issues. Mom canceled her PT appointment. Doing more assessment first may be good, but I’m not a big fan of no PT or other kinds of treatment. Going in to PT at least forces you to do the exercises a couple of times a week, and to get additional instruction, which is better than nothing. Cost may be an issue here too (plus the time to go to PT – though Mom might do it on the way to or from work). This seems look progress on some fronts, but not others. (I’m not sure how much retiring would permit Mom to attack these challenges more effectively.)

(Mom said that Florida Governor Charlie Crist – hot off of announcing a run for the U.S. Senate – today vetoed a pay cut for state workers, who have not gotten a raise in four years. Pay stability restored and MRI scheduled, Mom will lead an induction of new officers for Tallahassee’s American Association of University Women branch tonight.)

Stephanie’s father will face another court hearing after Tuesday’s. His tenants are apparently suing him for allegedly changing a handicapped ramp. He can settle for a small amount or go to trial and potentially get settled with a much larger dollar amount. Stephanie urged him to settle and then sell the property. Most of his 3-4 remaining properties seem to Stephanie to be more trouble and expense than they’re worth, especially given the state of the Central Ohio economy, which means that most tenants can’t really afford to pay rent and the pitfalls are many (thieves ransacking empty apartments, tenants suing, etc.). Part of what Stephanie’s father is probably doing is carrying on a family business and like my mother resisting retirement.

(Pictured above is the Columbus South End’s Buckeye steel plant, where Stephanie’s father once worked, which – like the West Side General Motors parts supplier factor that Mom and I also drove by this past weekend - is completely shuttered now – endemic of problems with Ohio’s manufacturing economy.)

-- Perry

More appointments

Tuesday was a big day with Stephanie’s father in Franklin County court over a landlord-tenant issue that has been brewing for some time, and Stephanie’s mother and my Aunt June back to chemotherapy treatment. Then today my Mother was off to the orthopedist for the first of appointments with doctors and physical therapists about her back problems that her regular doctors just recognized a few weeks ago. Today I went back to work for the first time in two weeks and Stephanie’s school had their second annual International festival, which Stephanie helped organize. Tonight is our final Children’s Fellowship, which may be inside (thanks to the rain). Sunday is an outdoor Pentecost worship service (weather permitting) with me serving as head usher for the third and last time this month, after our final (bilingual) Sunday school class of the school year. I am tentatively slated to go to a training for hospital visitation at church Sunday morning and at least Stephanie to a Columbus Clippers baseball game with some former high school classmates Saturday night at the new Arena district stadium (pictured above) between downtown Columbus and Goodale Park. We’ll see which of these work out. Hope confronting medical and legal issues this week is going OK for our family members.

-- Perry

Kudos to Vincent

Listening to Jodi Klein, Vincent’s counselor, Monday reminded me that Vincent has been doing two things – both of which take time and/or energy – two things I’d never thought he’d do: go to counseling every week without complaining and – except for the bad days when he stays overnights at the Davises' – take his medication daily, even though it was making him sleepy.

Almost as if he’d been listening to Ms. Klein and us, Vincent shocked me Tuesday – on a day when we really needed him to stay home with Frisco – he did indeed – without us really requesting it – for the first time in weeks, stayed home and didn’t go over to the Davises' after school. He bought Frisco some birthday treats and apparently worked some on his class.

By Wednesday he was also scheming how to fill in some personal references in the Apex movie theaters job application – thinking of a good idea – Ian, from church – although it turns out Ian is very ill and we hope you’ll join us in praying for healing for him. With Kate taking Ian to the hospital and me here in South Florida, Stephanie may have been stuck leading Children’s Fellowship by herself. Perhaps Vincent wowed us again by going with her. They may have taken Frisco and asked the kids to help celebrate today, his ninth birthday.

Sorry I missed it, Frisco. Remember when I essentially drove back to Sarasota in the middle of the weekend to get you a doggie birthday cake? I helped get Vincent to get your treats, but wasn’t there for the celebration. May we celebrate many more happy, healthy birthdays with you (and may I be there from here on out)! Stephanie will now be getting ready for book club Thursday evening at our house (first time we’ve had guests over – except for Emily as a surprise guest – for ages) and we and Mom are mulling over whether to get the fuel injection and tires fixed.

Eventually, instead of going to Samantha’s, Tuesday Vincent went with Stephanie to an old theater in downtown New Albany (Grand Theater – pictured above) to get her hair cut for wigs for cancer patients (Cuts for a Cure). She just barely had enough – eight inches – Two of her colleagues – one woman and one man – were also there doing it. Mrs. Hooks and students from Fairmont had raised over $700 for cancer research. Vincent mainly talked on the phone with Sam and ate with Stephanie at Taco Bell afterwards. But he was there.

(Stephanie has only got her hair trimmed slightly in the past year, and so she’s been growing it out for more than a year. Stephanie said she doesn’t think her hair has been this long (before Tuesday night) since before she and I met – when she was going out with Joey Puluso and Vincent was a toddler.)

More on Florida and – hopefully – on haircuts, Children’s Fellowship, book club, and doggie birthdays – later.

-- Perry

Tuesday

We had an interesting conversation with Vincent’s counselor late Monday. Of course, she couldn’t tell us the details of their conversations. She had a somewhat more positive spin on things, saying they were making progress. She said they hadn’t talked so much about our family recently (since the family seemed OK, she implied – moving on to other things). (Of course, during the house arrest, Vincent and we were getting along pretty well, and so that may be one of the reasons (rather than them simply having exhausted that subject).) She said they were working on him valuing himself and making decisions accordingly. She seemed a little surprised when I said he seemed to be mainly watching TV and then over at Samantha’s house (plus eating) during the day, with maybe two or three hours of school work per week. I said it seems possible that his current school would eventually exit him, since he’s not enrolled in the number of classes he’s supposed to be enrolled in (only two, instead of three, classes) and – at six months per class – he’s eventually going to start getting timed out of these classes. She seemed to think that Vincent should – in principle – be able to graduate from high school. She clearly liked Vincent and said working with him was a break from working with the more disturbed kids – often victims of child abuse – who she also works with – work that helped get Vincent off in court, since that’s probably why the prosecutors had heard of her (she’s testified for them/her clients – in child abuse hearings/trials). She was tougher on Vincent’s girlfriend, whom she met last week when they both went to counseling with her late Monday a week ago. Samantha seemed to the counselor to be more disturbed than Vincent and the counselor said she’s not convinced this is the right person for Vincent. The counselor said that June – when Samantha is slated to go to Denmark where Vincent’s host from last summer – with whom she spent a lot of time last fall – awaits her (a potential love triangle). We remain perplexed how it would work out that Samantha could go with us to Ohio in a week and a half, but it remains to be seen how tough it will be to get Vincent to go without her.

After counseling, Stephanie, Vincent, Samantha, and I went to see the “Star Trek” movie, though it appears that in the end Samantha’s parents weren’t thrilled that she went out to a movie on a school night.

I talked with Mom this morning also and learned that her doctor’s appointment turned out to be with our family doctor, instead of with the nurse practitioner. They’re still awaiting some test results. Dr. Kepper was concerned about Mom’s back problems. With the apparent curvature of the spine – which Mom has self-diagnosed as Dowager’s hump, due to osteoporosis and tiny bone fractures – Mom has dropped over the past few years from over 5;5: to a little over 5 feet tall. It’s no wonder that she spends so much time shortening – and re-shortening – her pants. I talked recently to an acquaintance who had surgery when she was in her 20s for a version of this problem. She’s been in car accidents since and her back still bothers her. But she said the surgery was successful on the whole. But she did say general prognosis for the surgery is better for younger people than for older people. Dr. Kepper is sending Mom to an orthopedist and probably to physical therapy for her back problems. Mom may wind up working with a colleague of Dr. Fahey – the orthopedist who surgically repaired one of her knees two years ago – but not Dr. Fahey himself (same practice but different doctor). I know Mother is afraid she won’t be able to do something like physical therapy without retiring from her job (but she may not be able to do her job forever without some rehab). Mother, they also found, is borderline anemic and has low protein. So she’ll go back to taking iron – as she did for a while after her surgery two years ago – and is supposed to eat more meat (or other kinds of proteins, I suppose). So, in general, Mom is somewhat weak. I hope Mom will be able to boost her energy level a little and mix her job, physical therapy, and tai chi. We’ll see.

Mom had also talked with Penny, cousin Diana, and Aunt Sandy about our Ohio trip in a week and a half. I had tried to extend the trip so we could see more people at a slightly more relaxed pace. But Stephanie has to work Friday and so Stephanie and Vincent (and Frisco?) won’t arrive until late Friday evening (or maybe Vincent and Frisco could come with us?). Penny, Serge, and Jacob will leave Friday morning and take the scenic route all the way from near Charlottesville, Virginia, and so they also won’t arrive until late Friday evening. Mom has talked with others about seeing Aunt June, who has throat cancer and is losing weight rapidly, Saturday. We may see June at cousin Diana’s and perhaps also Aunt Barb, who lives at June’s. Then she’s talked about going out to Aunt Sandy’s in Marysville on Sunday, partly to see Grandpa Beck. Mom also wants to stop by Pioneer Cemetery in Westerville (Memorial Day weekend), where Grandma Beck and other relatives are buried.

We also hope to visit with some of our relatives on Stephanie’s side of the family – including Stephanie’s mother, stepfather, and grandmother – and perhaps her father and stepbrother. We also hope to go to church and perhaps to Concord Cemetery. It’s possible that Vincent will spend some time with his father. It’s very remotely possible we’ll have Samantha with us. And, of course, we hope to visit with Grandma Martha and with Penny, Serge, and Jacob. I’m not sure how it’s all going to work. We may have to split up some – Mom and Penny et al. vs. Stephanie (with me going back and forth between). Vincent doesn’t always do well with all of this relative visiting. It’s possible with visit with more of Stephanie’s relatives on Monday. Penny et al. will leave for Virginia Monday morning, whereas in the abstract Stephanie and Vincent can wait to leave until late Monday afternoon. Mom isn’t flying out of Ohio until Tuesday morning and I’m tentatively slated to stay on in Ohio until then to drop her off at the airport. I’m taking most or all of Tuesday off at work. Between the 2 ½ families, we’re slated to have three cars.

One other consideration: Although we missed a Mother’s Day event at Stephanie’s grandmother’s last weekend, we’re planning to go to a wedding anniversary event in Mt Vernon during the first weekend of June, which will allow us to see folks in Stephanie’s mother’s extended family.

Another exciting event is scheduled for this evening (Tuesday): Stephanie has been growing out her hair for months so that she can have the hair cut off and donated to go into a wig for someone who has lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Her appointment to have her locks shorn is at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Good job, Stephanie! We’ll see if she takes before and after pictures.

-- Perry

Appointments

Today Vincent goes to his weekly appointment with his counselor and then we follow up with an appointment with her also, at 7 p.m. Vincent and we have backslid in the last few days, arguing about things like language, chores, and school progress. Vincent has not applied for any jobs for a couple of weeks now.

Earlier today Grandma Martha has her annual doctor’s appointment. Her back and also her knee have been bothering her lately. I have a lunch appointment with a possible Presbyterian Panel client today also.

I am slated to leave for a week in Florida at midday Tuesday. I will drop off the car for assessment and possible repair and the way to the airport. Tuesday is also Frisco’s ninth birthday, which we may celebrate a little today.

I’m trying hard to finish several projects today and Tuesday, but will have to take my laptop with me Tuesday to keep working.

Stephanie is tentatively slated to have her book club over this Thursday evening. We’ve been trying to clean the inside and work on the outside in preparation for that and Grandma Martha’s 2 ½-day visit next week. We’re all set with walkers, extra toilet seat, and food for Mom. I still have a little cleaning to do.

Stephanie has been keeping up with books but hasn’t actually been to book club for several months.

This week I’ll be visiting with friends in the Miami area, then at a fancy hotel on the beach in nearby Hollywood (the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa - pictured above) for an expensive survey research conference (American Association for Public Opinion Research – my first time to this meeting, which my manager – the former Associate for Survey Research – used to go to). Sunday or Monday I’ll drive on Alligator Alley and past Naples and Fort Myers to the Sarasota-Bradenton area, where I’ll tool around and visit friends (my first visit there since I spent most of a day there prior to a conference in Tampa). Then I’ll fly from Tampa to Louisville Tuesday, arriving a few minutes after Mom arrives from Tallahassee. Mom and I are slated (during Days 3 and 4 of the furlough) to visit local tourist sites and perhaps Stephanie’s school) before heading for Ohio, where we plan to rendezvous with Stephanie, Vincent, Frisco, Penny, Serge, and Jacob and visit relatives over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

-- Perry

Babe's revenge?

I got electronic communication late Thursday from an organization that a former student of mine helps lead that argued that “swine flu” originated not in Mexico but in a North Carolina pig mega farm (factory farm). It turns out that – as with chickens – megafarms have developed that keep pigs – apparently for their whole lives – penned up in a small, single pen by themselves. Pigs find this stressful, and they’re more likely to get sick. The organization cited some evidence that the mix of pig, bird, and human flu that apparently begat the “swine flu” now infecting humans got it start maybe more than a decade ago in one of a handful of North Carolina pig megafarms.

Ironically, a high school friend of mine – after helping condoize St. Augustine (FL) Beach – got his big break in the construction industry helping build refrigeration for the pig slaughterhouses in North Carolina – slaughterhouses that I suspect killed and processed the pigs that grew up on these megafarms. Refrigeration helped make it possible to ship pig products around the country and around the world. Even with a recent push for people to “buy local” with their groceries, the push towards flying food around the country and the world means that it would be more difficult to contain, to localize an illness like this.

So we may not only be suffering now (by starting to contract “swine flu”) from failing to help Mexico and other countries beef up their health care systems and confront economic inequality and exploitation of people and natural resources by multinational corporations. We may also be suffering from permitting animal rights violations that have come back to haunt us (hence the blog entry title).

Other flu updates: While some affected states cancel some public events, Stephanie and I hung out early Thursday evening at the Pegasus Parade, a huge public event. An outdoor event like this is probably safer than hanging out with a bunch of people – some potentially sick – in an enclosed area (as Vice President Biden somewhat inelegantly reminded us of).

One of Stephanie’s favorite students confided in her that an older brother of hers – who stayed back in Mexico after they all went home for Christmas – is now in the hospital and she and her family fear he has the flu.

-- Perry

Cautiously good news

Cautiously good news on the health front: The surgeon examined my groin – including having me cough – and said she thinks I probably pulled on the scar tissue. She suggested I continued avoiding lifting/stretching/other activity that tugs on the groin for another month. If it still hurts, she’ll probably send me to have a computer tomography (CT) scan of my groin. She detected no hernia, but says very small hernias she can sometimes miss. In addition (I believe) to avoiding picking up heavy object, she said I might also stretch (in general) regularly (which will make it harder to irritate the scar tissue – if it’s more flexible).

I stopped at home and walked the dog (and Frisco and I got stuck on the other side of a very slow-moving train - see photo above and video below). Vincent seems mainly to be alternating between sleeping, eating, watching Cartoon Network, and going over to his girlfriend’s. He requested a ride home again today.

In other health-related news, swine flu has begun circling closer to us, showing up within the past 24 hours in South Bend, IN, and Columbus, OH.

-- Perry

Tuesday update

Vincent surprised me somewhat by putting away his laundry and cleaning his room – in advance of Wednesday, when the plumber is slated to be there to fix his toilet seat and when his father may stop by. Still no word on the A/C repairpeople. Vincent and his friend Samantha are slated to connect with his father, who apparently is returning from helping his parents move back to Florida. Vincent hopes to have Sam over for dinner (he may cook!) Friday and have her go to counseling with him Monday PM.

I came home from the doctor Monday with instructions to take antibiotics and prescription ear drops (they were out at the pharmacy and so I’m taking Vincent’s). I haven’t yet caught up on sleep and Stephanie says I’m spending too much time on church activities. Church meetings Wednesday night, Thursday lunchtime, and Thursday evening, plus Derby-themed Children’s Fellowship Wednesday. Tomorrow is my appointment with my surgeon about my possible new hernia.

Stephanie has recently enjoyed getting her room back after she managed to get a college work-study student who has done little work and increasingly got on Stephanie’s nerves transferred to the school library. After last month's disastrous part one (open-ended questionsof the spring administration of IN standardized tests) tests at her school – not enough time, test questions that were too hard and covered material students weren’t supposed to have learned yet – students are taking the second part (multiple-choice questions) of the spring standardized tests in Indiana – on Derby week no less. (For one year only - a transition year during which IN is shifting from fall administration to spring administration - IN students are taking the tests twice in one school year.) There is less pressure because these spring tests are a dry run and the scores won’t count. With this past fall's test scores, Stephanie’s school managed to crawl out of last school year’s standardized tests doldrums and earn “Adequate Yearly Progress” – passing – marks this school year (based largely on those fall scores).

Both Stephanie and Vincent’s school districts were originally scheduled to have Oaks day – this Friday – named for the Oaks, the Churchill Downs race of 3-year-old fillies that precedes the actual Derby by one day – off, but the storms and days off then wiped out that. Constituents of Stephanie’s school district did get an e-mail message from the county’s public health officer with advice and caution about the swine flu, which has now apparently killed its first U.S. victims, in California. As I mentioned earlier, Stephanie’s school may come under scrutiny because two of her new students just left Mexico a couple of weeks ago.

P.S. Also on tap this week: My sister is preparing for end of the spring term dance performances – both as a choreographer and as a dancer – at Piedmont Virginia Community College’s fine arts “Extravaganza.” One of the pieces that Penny choreographed works with a piano compsition that eight-year-old son Jacob wrote and recorded. Penny is considering pursuing some kind of degree or certification in modern dance (partly so she might be able to teach dance herself). Penny was interested in dance but focused on music as a child. She already has a bachelor’s degree in history and certification in spiritual healing. They may have some more of Jacob's piano composition's recorded.

-- Perry

Happy healing!

My cousin Peter e-mails from a hospital in Seoul that his mother, Aunt Songza (pictured above), had brain surgery for the second time last week but is now doing better. Songza may actually go home Wednesday.

-- Perry

Swine flu

We’re following news about the swine flu with interest, just like everyone else. An announcement at church reminded us that there are Presbyterian mission workers in Guatemala – many of whom we know – and the flu is starting to extend not only into the U.S., Canada, and Spain, but also – apparently more heavily – into Guatemala, where our church’s new partners in Izabal also are. Of course, I was in Guatemala exactly one month ago this weekend, and Stephanie got two new students two weeks ago who had just left Mexico.We’ll be thinking of these folks and others – including no doubt family members of Stephanie’s students threatened by the illness. We’ll also be listening for President Obama’s words about this global health threat and U.S. homeland security threat, as well as watching our own health. One reason I’ll try to go into the doctor this week about an apparent ear infection is the flu threat.A variety of additional events upcoming related to the health of the three of us and our home: I head to the surgeon this week about my groin and to the dentist next week about my mouth guard and allergist for an annual check-up. Stephanie heads to the dentist next week for her first step towards getting a crown over her root-canaled tooth. And Vincent heads today and next week to his weekly counseling visit and perhaps next week to the psychiatrist. We’ve called about getting Vincent’s toilet seat fixed and getting our central A/C fixed. In bathroom news, we picked up on elevated toilet seat for use when Mom comes to visit late next month (although possible hernia surgery has raised some questions about a swirl of activity planned during the furlough later next month).

P.S. It turns out that the original source of the swine flu may have been a Mexican pig farm – owned by a Virginia company – that neighbors have been complaining about for years. Chalk about another victory by U.S. agribusiness – and the penchant of we U.S. consumers for cheap hot dogs and bacon – over rural 3rd World people and – in this case – probably the global economy.

-- Perry

Wednesday update

One clear loser in the end of the house arrest (though still often profiting from Vincent not being at school everyday) is Frisco, who today for example is home alone for a protracted period for the first weekday day in a long time. I’ll stop at home to walk him in about an hour.Also – Great news on the school front: Unbeknownst to us at the time, Vincent failed his spring-semester junior-year social studies class (second-semester World Civilization) last spring, before he went to Denmark. (Of course, he also failed six classes last fall semester.) Passing World Civilization and passing one of his fall-semester classes (first-semester Senior English) are both required for him to graduate from high school (in addition to getting some eight or so more semester credits and passing second-semester Senior English). Today Vincent (after getting up at 6:45 a.m. and going out for a two-mile walk that would have been banned Tuesday morning) went to the Jefferson County High School main office – in the same building where he went to two disciplinary district meetings – and earned an 81 on the final (he said he forgot who Gorbachev was), passing World Civilization with a “B” (with a 92%).

Vincent said he picked up a job application at our local Heine Brothers coffee shop and may apply on-line when he gets to the Fourth Street Alive Borders Books and Music store (pictured above) (where he’s going to hang out now).Good going, Vincent!

P.S. Aunt June has started chemotherapy treatment (weekly) and radiation treatment (five days a week), but even with this her doctor says she probably has a year to live. She has trouble eating because her throat (which has throat cancer) hurts all the time. Please pray for June, her health care providers, and Barb, Sandy, Diana, Dustin, Jay, and Justice.

P.P.S. Vincent came home for a while and then went back out to one of his friends’ house within St. Matthews – and played four square, then had half a dozen of his friends stop by to “welcome him back” (from house arrest/being exited from school). Most of these were friends he started hanging out with this year, partly in connection with the Danish exchange.

-- Perry

He's out!

Vincent, Stephanie and I went to court today and met Scott Cox, the partner of the original lawyer we worked with (Mr. Mazzoli – who turns out to be the son of the longtime Democratic congressperson from Louisville). Cox used to work in the U.S. attorney’s office. He’s tall and has an imposing presence. He explained that he’d read Mr. Mazzoli’s interview notes and talked with him. He asked Vincent a few questions, then went straight in to negotiating with the prosecutors.

Mr. Cox said the prosecutors wanted Vincent to do 24 weeks of anger management classes, which he said the court usually sends abusive spouses and boyfriends to, and which he said is an ordeal. They also wanted Vincent to plead guilty to something. But apparently he pushed – brandishing Vincent’s lack of previous problems with the law, his week in inpatient treatment, and his continued counseling with Jodi Klein (he said the prosecutors seemed to be aware of her and were impressed that that was who he was seeing).

What Mr. Cox came out with was quite different – a de facto year of informal probation – but, formally, nothing. He said the prosecutors would for all practical purposes drop the charges and would allow Vincent to seek to have the charges against him expunged from the record in a year, when he turns 19. The provisions would be: Vincent would have to keep going to counseling or keep taking medication as professionals recommended. Mr. Cox said de facto we as his parents would continue keeping an eye on that and in general, and so that if we came in and said he wasn’t taking his medication, going to counseling, or even not doing other things he was supposed to, that would be a problem for Vincent. Also, Vincent was supposed to stay away from the schools (Mr. Cox said Vincent going to JCHS to take the final exams for his on-line classes would be OK – but he did say don’t go to school functions like basketball games etc. – Brown has already gotten Vincent banned from all Brown-related events.) Mr. Cox encouraged Vincent to press on ahead with school and hopefully go to college.

Belatedly, Mr. Cox and then Judge Prather stressed that if evidence came up that Vincent was not doing something he was supposed, Judge Prather could hold him in contempt of court – meaning, I think that he could be jailed even without a trial – that only a limited amount of evidence could get him in trouble. Also, if in a year Vincent were to seek to have his record expunged, if it turned out that Vincent had gotten in any kind of trouble – particularly with the law – at any time in that year – it might doom his expungement.

Vincent and we asked a few questions, and then Vincent said he agreed to it. After chit-chatting with Mr. Cox for a few minutes, we were called into a courtroom, and, while we sat down, Vincent and Mr. Cox went before the judge. Judge Prather and Mr. Cox talked about the deal and – like I said – Judge Prather warned Vincent about the possible contempt of court option. He also asked Vincent in a couple of different ways whether he understood the deal and whether he was OK with it. “Yes, sir, I understand” – was a phrase Vincent repeated a couple of times.

We are to call Mr. Cox back in a year to try the expungment – assuming nothing goes wrong.

Vincent consented to having us take him out to lunch at Fourth Street Live, but then he was off to go visit with his friend and Pablo, who has just returned from Arizona. He was meeting them a little closer to school that we would like and going off without washing his hands or really without perfect clothes for this weather (he wore a new short-sleeve short Stephanie had bought him for Easter to court (plus had his old winter jacket). But he came back to mention that he was still interested in spending the night at Pablo’s (you’ll recall I reminded him that Samantha will have school Wednesday). We have mixed feelings about some of this because – as I mentioned – we kind of liked having Vincent around. Being able to go out will help him get more exercise, and hopefully he’ll still find time to do his 30-45 minutes of school work per day four days a week and maybe even look for a job. Our month of having Vincent back is apparently over. Hopefully, the better habits he developed especially in the past month about being more cooperative at home and even doing some stuff with us will continue a little bit. Now, he not only has the experience of doing stuff with us and getting along with us again, but he also has this de facto supervision we have hanging over him a little. The lawyer said – I’m still learning new things everyday, at age 49, getting a little wiser, and I’m sure you are too, to Vincent. May it be so.

Thanks to Stephanie for hanging with Vincent when I was ready to give up and for arranging for the mental health inquest and persuading Vincent to go to Jodi Klein, for all of the professionals at Kosair and Wellstone and others (Jodi Klein, Dr. Knox) for helping with Vincent – and Mr. Mazzoli and Mr. Cox, to Grandma Martha for helping us connect with the lawyers, and for many friends and other family members who provided advice, support, and prayers (including our pastor, Jane) during this difficult time. Good work also, Vincent, for hanging with (and staying calm during) the week of in-patient treatment, the four weeks of house arrest, and the two court appearances. With a year of informal probation, seven plus classes still to finish, and no job yet, Vincent isn’t out of the woods yet. But he’s a lot closer now.

(Vincent and Stephanie went today to get him a bank account separate from ours, and he still needs to register for the would-be draft. Stephanie also got a root canal this morning. Grandma is also trying to get used to (apparently) losing another of her portfolios, the one that gives her a chance to find equivalent scores for several different standardized tests.)

Belated happy birthday! Enjoy and be responsible with your freedom, and stay in touch!

-- Perry

Birthday

After I'd gotten back from presbytery meeting and errands and Stephanie had gotten back from tutoring, Culture Club, and a training in a new system, Stephanie, Vincent, and I went to Sakura, a Japanese restaurant in a nearby shopping center that our friends the Hardys had recommended. You might recall that for my birthday and for our Danish exchange student Jon's birthday we had gone to Kobe, a similar Japanese restaurant over the 2nd Street bridge in Jefferonsville, Indiana. Sakura was closer and had a broader menu, though our chef (cooking - as at Kobe - right in front of us) wasn't the same kind of showman and some of our food wasn't as good as at Kobe. We ordered sushi and Stephanie and I shared grilled chicken and scallops, and Vincent had something not on the menu at Kobe - grilled calamari.

We'd also gone out to Japanese for Vincent's 17th birthday - a more sushi-specializing place on Frankfort Avenue, with two of his friends (Aaron and what's his name) (this was instead of the 30 plus kids who were at Vincent's 16th birthday birthday party at Laser Blaze during Thunder two years ago). But a year ago Vincent wasn't on house arrest and was able to see his friends. Half a dozen friends from school and Vincent's father did call today to wish Vincent Happy Birthday. After dinner we went for a walk around the shopping center, bought worms for the turtles, and in the process essentially got Vincent job applications from two businesses we frequent: Feeder Supply (the pet store) and Borders Books and Music (Vincent frequents two different Borders locations, just as we used to frequent the Borders down the street from them in Columbus).

At home an ice cream pie from another prospective employer that we also frequented in Ohio - Graeters - and presents awaited Vincent. Apparently this was all a little of a surprise even though I feared that Vincent had figured out one of the presents. Stephanie put candles on Vincent's ice cream pie, that the Graeters manager had decorated, and Vincent had no trouble blowing them out.

In fact, I had a lot more trouble cutting the pie than Vincent had blowing out the candles. I ate too much, but it was good - cookies and cream with three oreo cookies on the top.

Vincent opened cards/notes from Aunt Penny and her family and from Grandma Martha - plus a box, card, and gifts from Meemaw Nancy and Papa Bob.

The pants and three shirts/sweaters that Meemaw sent seemed to fit (while a shirt I had bought Vincent in Guatemala was unfortunately too small - and I had really agonized about the size).

But a top gift was something Vincent had wanted for a couple of years and he had asked to get several weeks ago at the Target in Clarksville, IN (partly because a couple of years after being released they're stil very hard to find anywhere). I had said - correctly - that we couldn't afford it. But later that evening I had went and gotten the next to last Nintendo Wii gaming system as a birthday present for Vincent.

You'll recall that Vincent was essentially not allowed to play video games for most of his time in high school. He's had a series of Nintendo game systems, and most of the games he has can move up from the Nintendo Gameboy systems to this Wii system. Two recent games, however - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and a generic Dance Dance Revolution - both Christmas presents - we got in versions that only work with his old Sony Playstation gaming system. Already, Vincent wants new games, but he may have to get a job to pay for that (he has gotten one check for his birthday - plus payment of legal fees). The basic Wii comes with the five-sport Wii Sports and uses a moveable controller to mimick sports actions. Vincent and we first tried Wii bowling which I have to confess I wasn't bad at.

Vincent then set up an "identity' with a name (Vince) and facial features (see below).

Vincent and I then tried Wii Tennis, which I liked. Lastly before going to bed, Vincent tried Wii baseball, which seemed OK.

Then Vincent went to bed and I started blogging. Stephanie was already asleep on the couch. Tomorrow is a big day. Stephanie goes to the endodontist at 7:45 a.m. and will probably have her first root canal (which will then probably be followed by our dentist drilling off half her tooth - which has bothered her for more than six months - and replacing it with first a temporary crown and then a permanent one - perhaps with the root canal coming against the advice of our dentist). Then Vincent goes for his big court appearance, at 1 p.m., immediately before which his lawyer will attempt to negotiate a plea agreement for Vincent with the prosecutors which the lawyers and we hope will not lead to Vincent having to plead guilty to anything. After that, Vincent hopes to be off house arrest and be able to visit/pal around with friends like those who called him (including a friend of his who's a bit of a delinquent like him - who also exited Brown this year, like Vincent - but who nevertheless has apparently managed to finish all of his on-line classes (unlike Vincent who's just about to finish his first of eight he's slated to take this year)). Later this week, we hope, Vincent will take and pass his Western Civilization final exam and will start job-hunting - even in this difficult job market - in earnest. We've enjoyed this 3 1/2-week period in which Vincent was not gallavanting around instead of working on school work (instead he was sleeping, watching TV and videos, and playing video games at home instead of doing school work) and we got to see him more and he was willing to do some stuff with us (and he was in a better mood - perhaps due to medication and counseling). (It was a bit like when Vincent was five, Stephanie said - or, as I put it, we got Vincent back for a little while.) We'll see if this all comes to a screeching halt after tomorrow - if the house arrest ends. As I mentioned, I've reminded Vincent that just because the house arrest doesn't mean that he can't still hang out with us some times. Either way, it doesn't seem that - even with his 18th birthday and even if the house arrest is lifted - that Vincent still seems gung ho about quickly moving out. (he tried to get our endorsement of him spending the night at someone's house Tuesday night - I told him we don't really know what will happen with the house arrest and - besides - it's a school night for almost all of friends - although Vincent implied that he'd at least let us know what he was doing rather than simply doing it and us finding out after the fact. ) (It also remains to be seen whether he and his friend will revert to the pattern of the last 3-4 months before the house arrest - of him hanging out at her house all of the time except for the few times she visited us.) We'll see if Vincent stays somewhat civil and cooperative whether we've dropped our dream of kicking him out (even if he doesn't get a job and make a monthly utilities contribution and even if he makes only very slow academic progress). (Either way, I can now figure out how to recycle an Ohio domestic law book I ordered about five months ago when I thought we might try shifting custody of Vincent to his father.)

Let's hope for appropriate, safe, and relatively pain-free dental procedures for Stephanie and a successful, not too too stressful court appearance by Vincent and his lawyer (and I guess let's hope for the end of the house arrest even though I kind of enjoyed it).

-- Perry

Health challenges

My stepmother, Renee, fell in the shower on Easter morning and is now home recuperating from surgery to her leg. I’m told her recovery will take quite a while. She’s always been strong and maintained an active, post-retirement lifestyle in California – golfing several times a week (including sometimes on the nine-hole golf course, pictured above, that's in their condo complex) – and so I imagine this period has been quite an adjustment for her. It may have also been an adjustment for my father, as – since his remarriage - he has typically been the one with health problems. He may be trying his hand at cooking again.Those of you who pray might pray for healing for Renee and for patience, strength, and creativity for both Richard and Renee.

P.S. I talked with Dad and Renee. Renee slipped and broke the bone immediately above her knee between her knee and thigh badly in three places in the bathroom at the condo complex gym/clubhouse where they have taken showers since they moved there. Luckily a young man was in the clubhouse and came to Renee’s rescue (dialing my Dad and 911 for her) after she fell – Otherwise, she might have been all alone for hours, in pain with her leg bone sticking out. Renee underwent four hours of surgery on Easter Sunday afternoon and now has pins, etc. in her leg. The doctor has ordered her to stay in bed at least until an appointment she has at the end of this month. (Apparently she has a walker to go to the bathroom.) At some point after that, physical therapists will start coming out to their condo to work with her. Her doctor and she expect that she will recover fully, including playing golf, but it will take a lot of hard work on her part. She said my father has surprised her by doing what the doctor ordered: cooking for her and bringing to her bedside three meals a day. He’s apparently still managing to do a little work on his translation into English of letters by 19th-Century Korean Catholic martyrs. But I imagine the two of them will come out of this with themselves and their relationship a little transformed. Unfortunately, both of Renee’s daughters are busy with school, work, or families, and although I’d like to help I’m not yet jumping on a plane to California.

P.P.S. Meanwhile, my Mom is attending a Florida American Association of University Women conference – the same state meeting that Stephanie or I have attended with her three times – at a hotel (pictured below) in Gainesville, the town where Penny and me grew up (which I tried to take Stephanie and Vincent to visit, once) (at a hotel not too far from where I learned how to swim.)

-- Perry

Tuesday PM update

Vincent and I went to see his brand-new psychiatrist over in Jeffersonville Tuesday. The main purpose was to get a longer refill of his prescription for medication that he started when he was in treatment in Indiana. She did a full-blown initial visit, asking him/us a series of questions. Vincent said he did not think he needed the medication and planned to get off of it as soon as he was allowed to (it wasn’t 100 percent clear to me what he meant by allowed to). Vincent also said he didn’t think they really did anything when he was in Indiana. He described his experience in Denmark etc. as getting a taste of freedom, then being expected to come back home and still be treated as a child. He said more – which unfortunately I don’t really remember – about his mystery concussion in Georgia back when he was 10 or so.

(Later Vincent also mused about going to Indiana University Southeast starting spring semester next year, then transferring to an out-of-town school like Western Kentucky after two years of college. He hasn’t said much about this sort of thing for a while. He’s going to be acquiring a few college credits by taking some high school/college dual enrollment courses on-line – if he finishes them. Vincent also said he’s lost complete touch with his friends, because they’re treating him as a persona non grata (my words). I think he’s exaggerating this, and – to the extent to which it’s true – there are probably a number of causes, not just the one he’s mentioned: he had already shifted/ditched many of his friends in connection with the whole Danish exchange experience last year (both in Denmark and while the Danes were here), he shifted/ditched his friends even more thanks to hanging out with his friend all of the time, just by not being in school and then being under house arrest he’s lost more touch with his friends, and the persona non grata thing may be mutual: he may feel sheepish about contacting them too. Plus one more thing: Some of this is just three months early what might have happened anyway – to an extent – after graduation when he wasn’t seeing people daily anyway.)

(I also said it appeared to us that the medication was working, but with a couple of caveats. Vincent is getting along with people better and not repeating incidents like back in February, although he’s not making quite as much progress completing school work and getting a job as we’d like. Also, so many things in his life have changed – undergoing a week of treatment in Indiana, exiting his school and shifting to on-line school at home, going to weekly counseling, being under house arrest for the last three weeks, and taking medication – that it’s hard to know what’s responsible for what.)

Vincent also talked about some side effects: drowsiness (which unfortunately is a common side effect) and blurred vision right after he takes the medication.

The doctor gave us another prescription and said this was probably not a good time to make any big change (with court coming up April 21). (Shifting medications takes some time to get one out and then the other into the system, and then experimenting and adjusting dosages and medications.) But she did say Vincent could experiment with taking three pills at night instead of one in the morning and two at night. When I pressed her about the long-term side effects we had read about on the Web, she said this medication was not a good long-term solution (since she wouldn’t prescribe it much more than six months).

We scheduled a new appointment for four weeks from now.

(Vincent got a hair cut and we had lunch in Jeffersonville (restaurant pictured above)on the way home.)

Other news: The superintendent of Stephanie’s school district, who is a fan of her program, is stepping down to take a job when a former deputy of his in the IN state education department. It’s remotely possible that another friend of her program might become the new superintendent. There are some three or four superintendent vacancies in Southern IN school districts. Two elementary schools other than Stephanie’s in her school district are possibly on the chopping block through closure. Stephanie’s school is not on the list partly because her program has boosted the school's enrollment. If one or both of the schools is closed, it will help boost enrollment at her school more. That could be good, because they’ll get more teachers. But it also could be bad, since overcrowding could force Stephanie to share a room with her other English as a new language colleague (which she had to do in two long-term substitute ESL teaching jobs in MN).

My newest colleague, Gail, passed her three-month probationary period Tuesday. Focus groups I’ve been running with colleague Joelle – including two scheduled at night this week – have been going OK, although not necessarily completely as the World Mission clients we’re doing them for want them to. Also, I’m having some hardware problems with my work dockable laptop computer, which I’m a little worried about.

-- Perry

Dangers

Bad weather in Kentuckiana and especially in North Florida – where tornadoes seem headed from the west to Tallahassee – has me worried.

Vexing health problems also abound. Every week I tell the dentist that I’m finally done with them for a while and the next week I’m always exposed as a liar. Tuesday I got my teeth cleaned and Friday I stopped by the endodontist’s office (and besides making a possible root canal appointment for Stephanie for next week – I got a recommendation that I go back to my dentist this week to get fitted for a mouth guard).

Plus I’m worried I’ve got another hernia or re-injured my old one and am off to the doctor about that Friday.

And Vincent is headed to a new psychiatrist Tuesday – partly in hopes that he can keep taking medication while ameliorating some of the tiredness and blurred vision after taking the pills he experiences.

P.S. On health dangers to us, Aunt June went to the doctor today and – somewhat to our surprise – they’ve slated her for nine weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. She will lose her hair. She may lose her voice as the throat cancer expands.

P.P.S. Aunt Songza recovered enough – apparently with no brain damage – to go back to her condo in Seoul. However, she is still facing some pain and some air in her brain that must dissipate. One by one her children are visiting her there.

- Perry

Snow!

After temperatures in the weekends in the 70s (see "More signs of spring"), it snuck below freezing earlier this week. As I arrived for yet another dentist visit Tuesday, it was actually snowing at a nice clip - on April 7, no less - although it did not stick. Lest this seem too odd to us, Stephanie's colleagues let her know that once upon a time it snowed on Derby day. Hopefully, we're not headed towards anything like that, this year. (If you want to see the snow flakes better, click on the picture to enlarge it - They're there.)

-- Perry

Aunts' health

The health of two of my aunts has taken a turn for the worse. Very serious health problems had already plagued Aunt June (pictured above at the December 2008 family Christmas party in Marysville, Ohio), my mother’s half-sister (the youngest of Grandma Beck’s children). In the past week or so she learned that she has throat cancer (Stage 4). June apparently has genetic abnormalities that make her veins and arteries very narrow and make her body rejected transplants and any inserted items. For this reason, she is a very unlikely surgery candidate. She goes to the doctor next Monday to find out what options she has. June is a widow whose disabled son died some 10 years ago. Sister Barb currently lives with her. Daughter Diana (pictured below with husband Jay) and her family live 10 miles away, and son Dustin (pictured further below) lives 25 miles away.

Another widow, Aunt Songza, the middle of my father's three sisters, has a condo in Seoul, South Korea. She was visiting Seoul and walking down the street several weeks ago and a car hit her (much like me in NYC 15 years ago) (Seoul city street pictured below). Like Natasha Richardson last month, Songza thought she was OK. After a longer period than Richardson, Songza began to experience terrible headaches and went to the hospital, where they found she had swelling on the brain. They drilled small holes in her head and drained the hematoma. One of her daughters, Cathy, who I’ve visited in New Jersey, has flown in, and she is apparently recovering OK.

June is only 3 ½ hours away in Ohio, and so we may see her soon. I saw her twice in late 2008, once in the hospital. To my discredit, I have not seen Songza for some 10 years, but I will try e-mailing her (as at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, there is wi-fi, I’m told, in the hospital, in Seoul). If you pray, you might pray for these two women, with apparently different prognoses, and their families. And for Stephanie’s mother, stepbrother, and grandmother, and for my grandfather, all ailing.

-- Perry

Root canal

For several years my Louisville dentist has been pushing me to get “veneers” – essentially a new crown and a cover to an existing tooth. This year we appeared to have enough health care flexible spending money to do it. During the past couple of years I had to get 2 ½ root canals with crowns. The problems with my two front teeth go back to that Tokyo playground accident 35 years ago, somewhat botched dental surgery in Gainesville a year later, and then two more occasions in the past 20 years in which I’ve chipped one of those teeth.

But since I had the two veneers affixed last week, the tooth which mostly remains has been very sensitive to hot and cold and essentially hasn’t been able to touch tooth (let alone actually bite down). Today I went in to my dentist to ask about this, and also about this veneer jutting out somewhat. The dentist suggested I brush and floss more and use Sensodyne toothpaste and let it sink more. She identified two steps she had taken – other than shave back the existing tooth a little and disturb the tooth twice – shaving it and placing a temporary cover on it and then rmoving the temporary cover and affixing the permanent veneer – One was to laser the gum back a little to match the gum line on the all-crown front tooth. The other step was to coat the tooth with a substance with opened the pores to help the veneer stick. Both might make the tooth more sensitive.

But – because I am to go out of the country Friday – Dr. Burton went ahead and sent me right back to the endodontist I’ve seen two or three times, mainly for these root canals, for a “pulp vitality test,” which mainly involves applying cold substances and judging my reaction. Dr. Norton also took a second digital X-ray. No surprise to me – he said my reactions to the cold were off the chart – and a mark on his X-ray and my reaction to a little hammer-type pressure to the tooth suggested that deterioration was reaching the end of the nerve and the bone.

Then the question was whether I would get a root canal – which involves killing the tooth by taking the nerve out and filling it in with another substance – today, later in the week, or perhaps even after my trip. Dr Burton had thought Dr. Norton would give me antibiotic and let me wait until after the trip. But he was pushing me to go ahead, and when I found that Dr. Burton could get me in Wednesday morning to finish the job – by putting a permanent filling in part of the tooth that Dr Norton would drill out and called in to a client who had been set to met this afternoon trying to postpone the meeting a day or two – I said I would go ahead in 30-60 minutes after he had done someone else’s root canal.

Something else that swayed me – despite not wanting to have to be flown back from Guatemala to the United States – in the middle of our mission trip – was this: I thought that Dr. Norton would have to drill out the existing veneer cover and we’d have to do it all over again (maybe with both veneers – since they were designed to match). But Dr. Norton and Dr. Burton insisted that he could just drill a small hole through the tooth and preferably not touch the veneer.

After some more phone calls, I was back in the chair and Dr. Norton and his colleagues were relatively quickly doing the root canal – something that is apparently easier with front teeth, then the two molars I’d had root canaled easier. Last time the teeth were also apparently quite infected, and Dr. Norton had to just pump me full of novacaine so that the root canal wouldn’t hurt so much. This time that was not the case. Again, the whole thing is unpleasant – and I’ll have to get more painful novacaine shots at Dr. Burton’s tomorrow morning – and I feel bad killing this tooth – especially as a result of questionable actions I’d taken in the past (including perhaps this elective cosmetic dental surgery that I thought we could afford).

The root canal is done. I didn’t get back to work until 4:30 p.m. I had to postpone my important client meeting until Wednesday morning, after my dentist appointment. I went ahead and ate Chinese food at church, even though I had to be very careful because with the anesthesia still lingering I can easily bite myself, etc. I will also be taking pain killer and antibiotic through the start of the mission trip. We’ll see how my teeth and mouth behave by the time we travel from El Estor back to Guatemala City.

Pictured above is me and my two front teeth at the office of Dr. Norton, the endodontist, in between the pulp vitality test and the root canal.

-- Perry

Dental saga

Dental professionals have been working on three different teeth of mine over the last few months. I think back in January the crown over one of the two teeth I had root canaled a couple of years ago – the same crown that came out once before – came out half a dozen times. Finally, my dentist sent me straight to the endodontist (office pictured above) who had done the root canals and he did a mini-root canal, where he went back into the tooth, pulled out some of the stuff, and put in a pin that would keep the crown from coming out. My dentist then put in a temporary crown, ordered a new one, and a couple of weeks later put in the new crown – this was seven or eight visits to my dentist – at no cost to me, our dental insurance, or health care flexible spending (including for the new crown).

Also in December and January my dentist – who like many modern dentists also specialized in cosmetic dentistry – made her annual pitch to get two front teeth veneered – my crown replaced and my one good tooth covered over with a thin matching veneer. I smiled as usual – figuring we wouldn’t have the time or money (and I wasn’t dying to have more dental surgery and haven’t been terribly dissatisfied with my metal-based crown (even with the dark edge around the gum) and the real tooth chipped and filled in three different times). But then I recalled that we actually had almost $3,000 left in health care flexible spending (tax-free) (use it or lose it) money for 2008 that we had to spend by March. At the beginning this was before I went to the hospital in Florida (and early one even before Stephanie went to the hospital for the blood clots?) – and before we sent Vincent to the hospital after he got suspended from school (all of which cost some health-care-flexible spending money). Partly not predicting all of that, I would ahead and signed up for getting the veneers.

I also started committing to this before I realized how many times I’d have to go to the dentist for the other crown.

My front teeth had gotten crowned and chipped as a result of a playground accident in Japan. A Japanese dentist who subsequently retired had done the root canal and crown. The crown was metal based and covered in porcelain. But the veneers would be ceramic. A risk with the reshaping the good tooth for the veneer was that it would damage the tooth enough that a root canal would be required.

Pictured below is my face and teeth through various phases of the four-hour process that day – from my old teeth to the temporary crown, etc. (including some ugly in-between photos - that harken back to that day when I came home from the playground - as it turns out - on the way to the dentist - and smiled for my Mom - and freaked her out since much of my one front tooth was gone - a gap.)

During the four-hour visit several weeks ago, the dentist – a woman who works 3 ½ days a week and takes spring break and Christmas break off to be with her kids – with her assistant out sick – drilled out my crown and shaved my good tooth some – and burned my gum on one side back – after pumping me full of anesthetic. She then fashioned two temporary crown/covers that didn’t look bad. Next, I went to a Korean American lab tech (pictured below) in New Albany – across the street from Stephanie’s old school – who confessed when he learned that I have a metal pin protruding from the root-canaled tooth that it would be challenge to make the veneers look their best – so the light shines through them like real teeth. He looked at the molds the dentist had made and looked at the color of my teeth (that I had been bleaching for almost a month – which makes them sensitive) and also told me some about the secular part of the local Kentuckiana Korean American community.

When I showed up at the dentist this week – two weeks later – Mr. Young was in fact there – but delivering someone else’s fake teeth. For two hours I was in there again – as the dentist shaved off the teeth again and replaced them with the brand-new custom-made teeth. The dentist encouraged me to goo over them – but with the anesthetic and tired it was hard for me to evaluate them on the spot. I have a feeling that they look much better than my old teeth. But with all of the work I’ve missed with all of these dental activities – when I’m behind on projects and missing work due to Vincent goings on and we’re all worried about my job and we’ve spent more of the health care flexible spending in other ways even without this and these teeth – more fragile that my old tooth – may end up feeling a little funny in comparison – it’s hard to know if I would have done all of this if I had to do it all over again. At least I’ll never wonder how I’d look with better-looking teeth – since I’ve already got them. Pictured below is me through phases of this shorter process – with the last two photos with my new (permanent) teeth.

Thanks much to Dr. Burton and her staff. One of many reasons why I went ahead with the switch was that she did all of that free work for me – with the crown that she felt bad kept falling off – that I thought I should have her do some paid work – and – even tax-free – it was paid. Back in February I did a $1,700 charge on my health care flexible spending card – certainly one of the biggest charges of any sort I’ve done. Good work , Dr. Burton, Dr. Norton (the endodontist), Mr. Young, Brittany, Libby, and colleagues!

-- Perry