Stinky situations

I'm so done with opinion after opinion after opinion.  I'm all talked out!  There's teeth and sewer...doesn't that sound yummy?

We were sent to an orthodontist when Chase was 7 because of a cross bite.  So, off and on for 4 years now, we've been getting opinions.  The first guy wanted us to pay $7,000 and start on an expander and brace phases immediately.  He told me by the time he was 11 his palate couldn't be expanded and would have to be broken.  When we couldn't afford to do that I felt like a terrible mother.  So, eventually, I went to get a 2nd opinion from the only other ortho in town.  This was two years ago and he told me $5500 for expander and braces.  Still couldn't afford it, so we held off.  This year we ventured to a city an hour away because there's more competition there, so it's less expensive.  This guy said no expander, but braces at $4900 with discount of paying off.  Okay, that was closer because he said I was in no rush as his crossed teeth were not hitting yet, but would hit in the next few years.  Right now it's his 3 ectopic permanent teeth that are a bit of an issue due to no room on top.

Me being the bargain shopper I am I called opinion #2 back since it had been 2 years and asked that he look at him again; before I commit to an hour away ortho.  He said he'd grown dramatically in 2 years and while something still needs done due to his cross bite and ectopic teeth he was going to try to be creative with our budget.  He said wisdom teeth can make all the difference.  So, after finding out that our backwoods dentist would only charge me $54 for a panoramic xray (because we pay out of pocket with no insurance) he said he would match it so that he could make a decision that day.  Turns out he does not yet have his wisdom teeth and since mine have still not come in on top he felt comfortable not using an expander, but rather pulling a couple of babies that are almost ready to fall out (free of charge) and then next year pulling a couple bottom baby teeth (under anesthesia due to the roots) and putting a few brackets on top and bottom to hold them in place and prohibit them from moving forward.  This will allow all of his ectopic teeth to move down into their places and shove his two front teeth together.  He said it won't be perfect, but he said it will look nice and be medically stable.  This for about $3500-4000.  Not that I want to spend the money, but it's pretty necessary and we'll take it.  So, at this point, it looks like next year we'll be putting one in braces.

We almost had 2 in braces.  I had to take Cole in for the consult too because our dentist was concerned about the crowdedness of his bottoms.  I told the ortho that we were very limited in funds due to septic problems.  He works with the menonite community, so he understood.  He said Cole's uppers were perfect and while his bottom doesn't look great he says it won't change and won't cause issues.  So he can due it at any time into adulthood.  With three kids younger, we decided it's better to treat the worst case right now, not knowing how the younger ones will be.  One win there!

We've been researching septic solutions for awhile now.  A couple of years ago when we added on our pantry and garage it changed the direction of rain drainage and we think is what contributed to our problem.  We planted a willow in the wet spot and hoped it would help soak up the moisture.  Three years later it's getting wetter.  It's not standing water, but when you can't mow even 6 days after a heavy rain, you have issues.  We had someone come in and redirect it to the woods as a temporary fix, but have been looking into our option ever since.  We don't, by law, have to fix it unless we sell, but I don't like the risk of the bugs and the wetness and the kids falling down, etc.  I've talked on the phone to several that are licensed with our county to do the proper work and some have even come out to look at it.  I've had every opinion you can imagine.  One said replace the whole system with an engineered system at $15,000-30,000.  One said they wanted to put in a $2,500 aerator.  One said we could do a lagoon, but that's illegal due to our restrictions in the neighborhood.  We have city sewer coming in 18 months.....IF we annex into the city.  So, I am trying to get the neighbors to discuss our options.  If they want to annex, now would be cheaper.  If we're forced to annex down the line it will cost more.  But, it's not a guarantee we will be annexed.  So, we're finally going to discuss as a neighborhood next month.  I know we cannot afford this new system.  There's no doubt.  I will NOT spend eight years of saving for Korea on poo!  We had yet one more guy come out last night and he thinks we have a crushed pipe at the end and it may just need an inexpensive repair and extended drain field due to the size of our family.  Luckily when we built our builder put in a bigger tank, so it's fine for our size.  He's going to get drawings from when we built so he can better figure out our options and give us a good estimate.  He said it won't be bad.  Finally, I feel like I have some hope on this one.  I've been so stressed about poop.  Isn't that awful!

I'll update on the poop situation after August 10th when we have our bid and our meeting.  The teeth will have to wait until they make their determination in November, 5 months after he gets some babies pulled out.