Saturday, September 17, 2011

Gettin' By With a Little Help From My Friends....


There are times in this life when I just
shake my head and think...
'how did I become so blessed?'

I ask you to please bear with me
through this post because there is
some pretty amazing people doing
a pretty self-less thing..... 

Many of you may have heard that I recently
had to have emergency oral surgery which resulted
in the removal of my front teeth.
As a child, I struggled with brittle teeth due to
some health concerns and my parents did all
they could to ensure that I went into adult-hood
with the best teeth possible.  Unfortunately with age,
the brittle teeth became a problem again and well,
long story short, the dentist recommended that
I bite the bullet and have them all replaced.

In the meantime, he HAD to remove my front teeth
which had become broken over the weekend
and were not 'fixable'.

I made the appointment, had the consultation
and was handed a piece of paper that said to
bring $4,000 with me to have the rest of the teeth 
taken out.  I was in shock because the dentist made
reference to the idea that 'it could all be worked out' ; )
But when I sat down to talk payments, personal payments
are not accepted...no financing available to one income
and the insurance is used completely.

Well, here I am today, missing front teeth (and a few others)
and being frustrated because I believed that this was
a procedure that would be taken care of quickly.
The unfortunate thing, is that THAT amount was JUST for the
removal of the rest of my teeth...it does not account
for the 'permanent teeth' that would need to be put in place.

When my teammate Nicole Rixon of
heard what had happened, she contacted not only
our design team, but a variety of other friends
and teammates of mine and the following was born...


There will be a benefit blog hop called 
'Operation Julie's Smile' 
that will take place Oct 7-9.  
There are a variety of
companies and design teams who will be participating 
in this hop to help raise funds for this benefit. 
So far, over $2000 in prizes have been made available 
and will be awarded for both participants 
and those who donate. 

Operation Julie's Smile 
is now asking for designers/teams who would like to 
be a part  of the benefit hop.  

If you are interested
in getting involved in this creative fundraising event, 
please contact Nicole Rixon at nicolehrixon@gmail.com   
The deadline to be
a part of the hop is Wednesday, Sept 28th.  
Participants will be notified of the blog hop order 
between Oct 3rd-5th.
This blog hop is an opportunity to have fun, 
feature your blog and raise money for a friend in need.  
A donation button
will be made available to all who participate.

Every little bit helps and each donation that
comes in makes it possible for me to regain
a true smile...whatever your part in our
event, I thank you from the
bottom of my heart.....

Operation Julie's Smile



12 comments:

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Ohhhhhhhh that is sooo AMAZING they are doing this for you!! WOW WOW WOW!!! And how ironic too... we are both Julie's...and if you notice... I never smile in any photos of me :) There is a reason for that :):):) *wink* :)

Wowwwwwwwwwwww! This is AWESOME! I will be praying and thinking of you as you go through all of this! :):):):):):):):):):):)

Lindsey Wood said...

Oh Julie, I'm so sorry! I can't imagine how hard it must be missing your front teeth! Count me in! My prayers are with you and I hope things will get resolved soon!

*Alison* said...

Julie... I am so sorry you are going through this at this time.. I can't even fathom how hard this is for you.. I have already donated, if there is anything else I can do .. PLEASE let me know.. :) hugs

Sarah Anderson said...

I was so thrilled for you when Nicole contacted me. I'm so glad that the internet community can help in such a life-changing way. Love you loads, and so, so glad you were able to say 'yes' to this blessing :)

Anonymous said...

So happy to be a part of this! You are a truly an amazing person Julie! I am awed by the outpouring of compassion here in blog land and so thankful for everyone. So blessed to have you in our lives Julie, God bless everyone and I can't wait for the blog hop :)

Sharli Schaitberger said...

Julie,
Sending prayers and coin to help. I think dental woes are some of the worst!
HUGS!
Sharli

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) said...

You deserve every bit of the love that's given back to you now, sweetie! You're such a kind-hearted person and I'm sure you'll soon be able to greet us all with a broad smile again. Best of luck! xxx

Keri Lee Sereika said...

Julie I am so sorry for the frustration and stress you are dealing with! I am soooo going to take part in the blog hop! I hope you are up and smiling again REALLLY SOOOOON!!!

Marlena M. said...

What a blessing! ;)

Chriss America Real said...

Oh Julie, I am so sorry to read this news! I am a new follower, but I will try and help you in any way. I had the same thing happen to me, but it was a back tooth and I never have had it replaced, there is just a hole where the tooth used to be. Why do oral surgeons do this? I, like you, believed my insurance was going to pay for the new tooth. So sad!

www.chrissandlou.blogspot.com
america57@comcast.net

Lindsey said...

Oh, Julie, what a horrible thing to be going through. But then you get to see how much you are cared about, so that must be a little bit of a silver lining!

Kary said...

Oh Julie, I'm so sorry to hear about this. I don't have great teeth too so I think I can understand how you must feel. I am amazed at how the crafting world has rallied to support you. I'm looking forward to it. {{hugs}}