Dear Bones,
I just read more of your story. It is heartbreaking.
I have a question (I am an aggressive advocate for people asking for what they need.) Even though you've been told orthodontia is impossible now, would you consider going to Johns Hopkins Otolaryngology clinic and finding out what they think? Doctors still do some "pro bono" work. I was thinking as I read your story that if a doctor could read that account, and understand why you were never treated as a child, they may be motivated out of compassion (and by the challenge, surgeons do that a lot) to give you the latest corrective treatment without charge. Or, at very reasonable rates.
Major research centers, as I'm sure you know, can be amazing resources for high-end care. And they will often make arrangements for special cases. Someone who was denied care because of child abuse but comes to them as an adult, is a moving opportunity for them to use their skills when they know it will change a life.
And I would want the "nothing can be done" from a place like Johns Hopkins before I accepted it as the final word.
Just a thought for your new year...
love,
Hops
