Instrument....

When Dan was about 10 or so, he was shot point blank in the face with a beebee gun by a friend of his (some friend). The beebee lodged itself into Dan's soft palate and just a millimeter short of his optic nerve. Because of it proximity to his optic nerve, the doctors chose to leave the bullet in his face.

We don't know when, but at some point in Dan's dental history, he had a couple of root canals done. He went back into the dentist this week for a simple follow up that he had been scheduled for and learned some shocking news. Upon examination of the XRay, the dentist noticed that stuck in Dan's gum (in one of his very last molars' area) that there was a small DENTAL INSTRUMENT that had broken off during a root canal years ago and was still there.

So today, Dan had to go back to the dentist and have his root canal opened up and have the instrument removed. The dentist was optimistic that they would be able to remove the instrument but in the worst case, Dan's molar would have to be pulled so that he could be deployable. HUH!? Until this issue is taken care of, the dentist put him on "not deployable" status because of the risk of major infection that could set in at any moment, all these years later.

We know that this situation has to be figured out because Dan's leaving in a few weeks to start his 15 months away from home. But come on!! Who could have ever expected this!? Definitely not me. So now, Dan's got a bullet and a medical instrument permanantly lodged into that pretty face of his.

Stay tuned on Dan's crazy medical issues....