Hello, to all of you out there who are struggling, please do not give up ! I survived, 2 abusive marriages, was hospitalized, with an almost broken neck, married a muslim, (bad choice for me, at that time .) (NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE BAD PEOPLE, I MIGHT ADD. I HAVE ALOT OF ARAB FRIENDS, WHO ARE WONDERFUL ! ) JUST TO CLARIFY THAT. Had 2 children with him, then remarried, had 2 beautiful daughters, and have been happily married ever since.
One child, who we lost to a car accident. I've been homeless, evicted, shuffled from place to place, lived in average sub-divisions, down to dirty shacks, having to clean filthy stoves with a putty knife ! Had to take cold showers in the winter, due to no hot water, and made to sleep on the floor ! I've been on food stamps, WIC, AFDC, and been there done that, all to take care of my kids and to survive.The main thing though is to not give up. As of right now, I'm living in a big old house that has no heat, (Long-story) so we're trying to stay warm with a few small space heaters, our furnace was from the 1940's, and was rusted away and went for scrap metal. We are very cold, but are making it.
We have faced foreclosure, bankruptcy, you name it ! I've also had bad teeth, all my life. When I was a teenager, I baby-sat to make payments to our local dermatologist, I paid him 2.00 a week ! To clear up my acne, but it worked and I made it, through that.
I went swimming in a local lake in Florida, and got a bad infection in my left ear, I had horrible ear aches crying myself to sleep, and would wake up with saucer sized puddles of yellow, gunk on my pillow case, with my hair stuck to it. Again, may dad, to cheap to take me to the dr ! Finally after my mom, begging him to take me to the dr. He did. But by that time, the infection had already damaged my middle ear, and I lost all hearing in my left ear.
And another time, I had an abcess on one of my front tooth, it made my mouth swell up big as a golf ball, draining and making me sick. Well the dentist drilled a hole underneath my tooth, to let the infection drain out, and left it like that. I had that hole in my tooth for many, many years. I had to suck out the bits of food, and decayed food with a toothpick, and I vowed to myself that if I ever got a good job, with decent benefits, I was going to get my teeth fixed. A few years later, I could no longer stand it, I ended up having my front tooth pulled, and nothing to put in its place. Well, I actually got a job as a meat wrapper, and saved my money, I rode a bike to work, no car, and got a good dentist, and paid him 500 down, and then made payments of 75.00 a week, until I had enough to get a bridge made. That was back in 1984, but I did it myself, and no one was going to stop me. I was 25 years old with no front tooth, and had several molars pulled out, so to make a long story short.
You have to make it happen, you have to go out there, and get some money together, and find a dentist willing to work with you. But, to expect it given free, from everyone else, is probably not going to happen. You have to make some effort on your end. My dad was so cheap he would not pay to have it fixed. I made it happen a long time later, but nevertheless, I wanted it bad enough to work hard for it. I still have that same bridge in my mouth today ! God Bless you all, and take care.
