Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lost and not found

Nothing drives me crazier than having something misplaced. A huge part of the problem is I put something in a place I know where to look but then Steve moves it to who knows where (he is very forgetful and is becoming more so) or just throws it out. For really important stuff, I have a special place in a drawer that he can't touch but for other things like instructions for a colonoscopy, I put it on a table. Well the instructions are gone and I think no problem, I'll just have them e-mail me them. But no, they refused to so I just cancelled the appointment. Just as well. I wasn't looking forward to it and the aftermath, the aftermath being a probable months long battle with the insurance company. But if I die from colon cancer....

Insurance battles were a huge part of cancerfest. Part of the problem was that I switched plans 3 times (not by choice). My favorite was when the insurance company denied about $3000 worth of x-rays to check positioning during radiation. Back and forth on that with my appeals being denied. Finally someone at UM pointed out that there was a contract between UM and the sucky insurance company...it was not my battle. And dealing with Neulasta. The first insurance I had covered all medications totally. The next one had a 20% copay which doesn't sound like much until you see that the dose can cost any where from $3000 to $12000 a dose. So obviously there would be an incentive for me to find the cheapest provider which would be the provider that the first insurance company used. But no, I either had to use their pharmacy where it cost $8000/dose or have myself dosed at the hospital for $12000. Since the new pharmacy would only send it to me the day before I needed it when I was in chemo and noone was home to rescue it from freezing, I ended up having the it dosed at UM. When we were doing our own injections, they said the least painful place was in the belly. The most painful would be the arm. Guess where UM injects it?
I skipped the final dose. I no longer needed acceptable numbers to get my next chemo. Of course it probably wasn't wise to be on a plane for 5 hours a few days later with a very compromised immune system but I survived.

But it is pretty out here. I went to the Farmer's Market one last time to get cheap tuberous begonias. I will put them for storage where Steve can't throw them away (twice he has done that). They are so pretty! I probably can't fit any more flowers around my crowded patio.
Steve has staked out Ms. Hummingbird with his big fancy lens so now he has more impressive close-ups.

We picked up the dress yesterday which fits Naomi like a glove. She looks very beautiful in it. She doesn't want to wear a veil (she'll have her hair down but wants a tiara instead. She and her little family have moved into Josh's house to take care of it while he and Julia are on yet another trip. They will be staying in that glass pyramid In Vegas (Why see a real one in Mexico when you've seen a fake one? I told that to someone on his soccer team and she said that the canals in the Venetian smell much better than the real ones)Josh almost didn't make the plane.  He thought Who would be in the airport at 5am?


Answer: Many people.

2 comments:

Cheryl said...

Sue, figure that for someone like me, having a husband move things inside the home would be very frustrating. He manages outside, I do inside.
I am very grateful for our Healthcare System after reading about yours Sue.
Can't wait to see the photos of Naomi in her gown. Hugs

Sue in Italia/In the Land Of Cancer said...

Hi Cheryl
On my blog http://suzannekesten2.blogspot.com/2011/03/winning-dress.html
Dress 9 is the one she went with. Of course it looks better than the store model which had to be pinned up to fit her.
Our health care system needs an overhaul. I am lucky that I have some kind of insurance. If I were not an ex-employee, I could not get it on the open market because of my pre-existing condition. Cancer bankrupts many people in the US. If you have absolutely no assets, then you will be covered (like Naomi).

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