Insurance Woes..... again

Hello.... its me again....whining about insurance companies. Its not that we don't have good coverage. They pay great - for what they pay for.

You'll remember my issue about them paying for and then not paying for and then paying for and then NOT paying for my gastric bypass. Well, I guess I'm over that. We ended up paying for it and that's that. Its over.

Now, we are in a dispute between the insurance company, us and George Washington Hospital about a bill from December of 2006 !!!! The insurance company sent an Explanation of Benefits (hereafter referred to as EOB) stating that I only owed $1000 some odd dollars. The hospital keeps billing me for $5000 and I won't pay it. I called them and they said they haven't received the EOB. The insurance company says they will fax it to them when the hospital pays back $105 that they were overpaid. The hospital won't pay it back until they get an EOB. Well that's all fine until somebody gets hurt. Guess what. We have been turned into a collection agency THREE TIMES over this issue. I'm just furious!

Today topped it off then. I was referred to another doctor for my throat. Yes - the issue still remains. I can barely breathe. This new doctor is going to put in a stent and he wants to do it next week. It is important. He says it is urgent. The thing is, neither the doctor or the hospital is in our insurance network. Do you think its easy to get them added? If you said yes, then you may think again please. Their office said it is quite a process. I called Jay's office to see if they could lend a hand since his company is self insured. They have somebody to specifically handle this type of problem. She is out of the office all week. She'll be back in on Monday. The bummer is - I've met my deductible so if we can get this done before the end of December, its a good thing. IF we can get them added to the network. If not, once again - its out of our pocket.

I truly do not understand why this must be so difficult. I am very lucky to have health insurance - I know that. Many people don't have it and its really a very unfortunate thing. I shouldn't complain. But, I am. This is nuts.

Prancer

I'm afraid it was "one of those days". It was a Monday in every sense of the word. There was a voice message and an e-mail to greet me when I got to work that set a tone for the entire day. Something had gone wrong with the count of newsletters that arrived at the mailing house and they were 500 short. Not only that, they were short 700 of each of the three inserts. Nobody wanted to claim the mistake - not the printer and not the mailing house. I ran both offense and defense all day long and it ended with not much of a conclusion. I'm going to pray about it tonite. All I know for sure is that it wasn't my fault. Whew.

I had an overload of e-mails to deal with. There were a lot of new additions to my "To Do" list and I just had a horrid sense of being overwhelmed. I was glad when the day was finally over.

I drove home at 4:30 and it was already dark outside. It was cold, windy and rainy. I almost ran over a guy who darted across the street wearing dark clothing. I had to go to the grocery store. I was cranky.

When I got home, I had a short crying session that made me feel somewhat better. We had dinner and then Jay said that he had a surprise for me at 7:00. That in itself made me smile. So I patiently waited until 7:00. He had me sit in my recliner and gave me a Diet Coke. He sat down and turned on the DVD player on the TV. He had purchased Prancer and thought that tonite was a good time for us to watch it. I'd never seen the movie and was just glad to have something fun and full of Christmas to watch. It was great to take my mind off of everything and see a little girl's imagination unfold. What a wonderful idea to soothe the savage beast that was building up inside of me! :) I think tomorrow is going to be a better day!

Food Cravings

I was told that I would have a period of mourning (if you will) over food. Well, this past week I experienced that and it wasn't wonderful. It didn't last long - but the encounter with "what I won't ever eat again" was there and it made me sad.

I was thinking about all the fun times that Jackie Chestnut and I had making Christmas candy and cookies together. I can still do that - sure. But it won't be the same if I can't sample.

I wanted Chocolate Chip cookies - I wanted a fist full of them. I can probably have a bite, but I can't even really have one cookie because of a thing called "dumping". My system really rejects anything with a significant amount of sugar now. It just cannot handle it. My body sends out insulin too quickly now because it is absorbed so much quicker and I get sick, like the flu, for about an hour. Is eating one cookie worth it? Probably not.

I thought about cheesecake.

I thought about fudge.

I thought about a blizzard from DQ.

I thought about a Big Mac and large fries.

I thought about a big plate of pasta alfredo with soup and all the breadsticks you can eat at Olive Garden.

I thought about several slices of meat lovers pizza.

I wanted an ENTIRE cheeseburger with the bun. My stomach doesn't like bread at all. No way. It rejects it within about 10 minutes - if you know what I mean. And I think you do.

So there you are. Poor me. Poor, poor me. I realize in the grand scheme of things, this is absolutely nothing. And I'm really over this for the most part. I'm much healthier, food is NOT my life, and I do not need cheesecake. Deep sigh. I don't need cheesecake. I don't need cheesecake......

Things I like about the city......

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Well then......

A "Punny" Statement

It hasn't been a great week for me physically. Everything with the bypass surgery has been going really well. The eating is fine and I've lost 40#. No worries.

But - since a week ago Saturday, I have been dizzy and had no air. That is a worry. I get this dizzy thing every November practically. I guess its no different here in Virginia. I've been told its an allergic thing that causes my inner ear to act up and create vertigo. I get really dizzy when I lay down, when I move my head too fast or when I change positions back upright. Its not great. Last weekend was a bust - we didn't go anywhere or do anything. Jay had to drive me to work last Monday. I'm driving now but believe me, I felt a lot safer driving in Clay Center than I do here. You kinda have to pay attention here. ANYWAY, its better but certainly not gone. It is very annoying to me and I want it to be gone. I have an appointment with an allergist this Thursday and maybe he can do something to make this stop.

Then - the breathing thing is happening again. The thing that was supposed to stop when I had the gastric bypass surgery. I am out of breath walking up the steps to our apartment. I get out of breath just during a normal conversation. I wake up in the night gasping for breath. This is so annoying because it wasn't supposed to happen again. I have an appointment with Dr. B who takes care of my throat and this time - I want to know what's going on.

I've been a little cranky about this - mostly because by losing the weight etc. I've been feeling so darn good. And now a double whammie. I'm not a very good sport when it comes to this. I want it fixed and I want it fixed now please.

So - on to the punny statement. We did make it to church Sunday and we were telling our friends the Olson's about all of this. John said... you know.... allergies are nothing to sneeze at.

Made me think I was talking to Gail Habluetzel! :)

My Kids

My girls. What can I say? I love the silliness that they have. I love the things that they remember that are funny - we have "sayings" that go way back to childhood that still trigger laughs. When they were in Jr High, they were awful to each other. I used to say to them "Do you want to grow up to be like Grandma and Aunt Vivien?" They said that it would never happen and thankfully, it didn't even come close. They share a friendship like none other and it makes my heart warm to know that!

Miss Rachael. Pooh. She is one of the most creative people I know. I always loved watching her dance and twirl. I could watch videos of that all day long. She can make something out of nothing - and is a great 2nd Birthday party thrower! She is a wonderful mama, a terrific sister, a great friend and a daughter that is so very loved!

Joshua Aaron - my boy. There is a tie between a mother and a son that is special, to be sure. I love it when he "opens up" to me and starts talking. We took a trip out to St Francis together a couple of times and we had some of the best conversations ever. I don't need to tell you what a miracle his life is - every single time I look at him I remember what a blessing it is to have him breathing air. He has such a good heart and he really knows how to live life. I love my boy!

Chelsie's other name is Da-Chee and with good reason. Among her many talents, she is an aunt to Braylon John aka Big Nut. She does that job with a great ability and love. Being child #1 carries with it a great responsibility, whether you're aware of it or not. She handles that responsibility quite well I think. She is so gifted with her musical talent. I love listening to and watching her sing. Sometimes when she sings, her words are attached to her heart and she cries a little bit. That makes her music even more wonderful. I loved watching her in Tiger Chorale and listening to her in band. I remember having so much fun playing piano for her when she played the flute and we played Christmas Music together. I love this girl!

My kids - I am so blessed. I am absolutely blessed beyond measure. How I love them!

I may not be a city girl.......

Thursday at work I needed to call a restaurant to get directions for my boss. I had googled the restaurant but I couldn't tell what side of the street the restaurant was on. Here is the conversation:

Restaurant: Hello - Peking Restaurant

Me: Yes, hello. Could you tell me which side of the street your restaurant is on, east or west?

Restaurant: Well, it depends on where you're coming from.

Me: No, I mean east or west.

Restaurant: Where are you coming from?

Me: From Fairfax City

Restaurant: Then it would be on your right, so that would be west.

Small pause......

Me: OK, well thank you then.

I may not be a city girl, but where I come from, being on the right is not necessarily west. I'm just saying.........