My Journey with CHUCK

[WARNING] If you easily get grossed out by sores or don't like the sight of mouth craters - then please click on another blog. Viewer discretion is advised.

Many of you know that I (Nathan) had a bump in the floor of my mouth this past summer.  For those of you who didn't know...Here is an update:
     Right when I started my job at Hershey Park in Hershey PA I woke up with a bump in the floor of my mouth in early May.  At first I didn't think anything of it - because I figured it was some kind of cyst or sore that would eventually go away over time. Well the next day my bump actually popped and some juice came out - "yay, my bump is gone!"

Noooope, I looked in the mirror and the bump is still there somehow... weird I thought. Well, now it's been about a week or two so I decide to call my mom because she knows all the answers when it comes to weird health problems. (She is a nurse!) My mom had no idea what it could be and advised me to swish with warm salt water a couple of times per day.

A month has gone by and the bump is still in my mouth so I decided to go to a doctor. I call my mom again to see which doctor I should go to and which would be best for my insurance. My mom informed me that she just found out that I am no longer covered on her insurance because I graduated from College and it's now past May 31st. "WHAT??? I thought I would be covered until I was 25 or something?" Well, apparently mom got switched to a different plan through work and I was indeed NOT covered. She told me that I could get on a Cobra plan with the same benefits that I was on, but it would be $350 per month!!! Clearly I couldn't afford that kind of premium per month so I declined.

Meanwhile - my bump is still nesting in the floor of my mouth. By this time my lovely fiancee and I decide to name bump, Chuck, because clearly by now bump Chuck has developed a personality, STUBBORN. We are now in June and I don't have health insurance and I have this alien living in my mouth. Luckily it doesn't hurt. Getting more and more frustrated as the days go by I call my mom and vent to her on how I could have cancer and no one knows. She, being the nurse that she is, convinced me that it was probably nothing and that I should try poking it with a pin or needle to see if it will go away. In between shows of Ultimate Road Trip at Hershey Park, I'm trying to poke stupid Chuck while swishing with warm salt water. Finally, I poke it... what's happening... ow!... okay now it's bleeding... mmmm... still bleeding... ow... oh no... okay good it stopped... what now?

Now it's been two months and Chuck decided to take out a second mortgage!!!!

I've got to get health insurance and fast so I can go to a doctor and get this thing removed.

I look online for health quotes and decide to put my information in a pool of health insurance companies so they can contact me with the best options. A couple of days later I got a call from TransAmerica NBAA Health Insurance. The coverage sounded great so I signed up - right there and then - gave them my payment and they said I would be mailed my card withing 10 - 14 business days.

2 long weeks went by and still nothing in the mail...

Meanwhile I had gotten an appointment with an oral surgeon.

I Called the Insurance company and asked what was going on... they said it was coming...

Finally received the card - the card said "this is NOT health insurance" but a medical savings program. WHAT??? I immediately called and apparently I got coaxed into this dreadful coverage that was more confusing than anything I had ever heard of - I cancelled it and got a refund except for my $100 processing fee. Now, I was LIVID. I just got ripped off and Chuck is now stealing from me and not paying me rent!

I decided to go to the oral surgeon appointment anyway without health insurance and the doctor looked at it and was thoroughly confused. He took an x-ray (oh no... is this x-ray going to cost alot of money since I'm not covered?) He said it was not a duct stone and he didn't think it was cancerous. He told me to just see what happens over time. I could not believe it!!! This is absurd - why am I not getting answers. The visit cost me $110 and I got nothing out of it. Well mom thought it was great news - Nathan, the doctor said you don't have to worry about it, so don't.

Now, 3 months have gone by...

Chuck has now grown - actually one morning it was the size of a grape! I'm not kidding - I wish I had taken a picture of it - Chuck was living large people! And he was loving it - but I was not! During the day of shows, it was nearly impossible to articulate.

I decided I needed legit health insurance, so I made an actual appointment with Highmark Blue Shield to talk about my options. I applied for Blue Direct and would be covered by the start of the next month.

One week later I found out I was denied coverage because my history with asthma. I mean what is the Lord trying to teach me? I have done everything. I felt literally defeated. I had the option of appealing the letter so I did and had my home doctor send them information regarding my asthma. 

YAY - it worked, I was going to have health coverage!

I called the oral surgeon again and explained to him that Chuck wasn't going anywhere and that he needed to be removed. He agreed and had me come in for removal in a week.

I went to that appointment and he looked at it again and told me he didn't feel comfortable with operating because it was right over my salivary duct gland and removing it may cause infection which could later cause the entire gland to be removed. So... he referred me to an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor.

2 weeks later, finally my appointment. ENT doctor said the same exact thing the oral surgeon said... too risky, might affect your gland. See what happens. Don't worry. But come in if it changes drastically.

Okay - I guess I'm supposed to just have this bump in the floor of my mouth for the rest of my life.

The summer is coming to a close and I'm getting married and Chuck will be there... good. fine. whatever. this is the worst. stupid Chuck. I hate him.

So now its been 4 months.

Whitney and I leave Hershey - move back to Tennessee - get married - go on honeymoon.
Move to Lancaster, PA - she goes to rehearsals right away and I have another 3 weeks off.

One afternoon Chuck was growing and it became very very painful! Called the ENT doc and demanded to be seen right away.

The next day I went in for my appointment and he told me that it was finally time to do something. He asked me if I would mind if he could remove it right then and there. Are you kidding me? YES! YES you can!!! He numbed the floor of my mouth all over and he removed Chuck - and then I passed out... I guess the sight of bloody Chuck freaked me out and everything was going black. They extended my chair down and I started to feel better. Doc told me that I would be fine and he prescribed me with antibiotics. I left for the pharmacy and looked in the mirror and could not believe my eyes when I saw a huge crater in my mouth completely open!

On my drive home the numbing started to ware off. I was in excruciating pain!

I came home to Whitney and started crying because of how much pain I was in. She gave me ice and I took 4 ibuprofen. We could not believe they didn't give me any pain killers. I ended up just switching ibuprofen and extra strength tylenol.

After a couple of weeks, my mouth finally started to look normal again. No more Chuck. I kicked him out for good!!! We found out that Chuck was a harmless mucucoele. Have no clue what caused it.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE

1. Always be covered with Health Insurance - know what kind of coverage you have or need and it's better to pay a premium per month than to not have it at all.
2. BE PATIENT - live off of the Lord's timing rather than your own. It worked out perfectly for Chuck to be removed while I was not working.
3. Be grateful for good health.