i'm not sure what's wrong with me but i haven't been feeling 100% for a while now.
last week it was the massive exhaustion. i figured that it was just stress catching up to me. or stress from the holidays. the last 2 days it's been back pain and waking up at 3am. throw in a little congestion when i first wake up (i attribute that to the fan that vrock has going at night) and the general feeling of lethargy and i don't know what to think.
i've got 6 weeks left at work, unless something drastic happens. i've got 8 weeks left of insurance unless we pony up for cobra, which i'm not sure will be possible.
all i know is i'm tired of being tired and of not feeling 100%. make it stop.
Showing posts with label illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illness. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
and we have relapse
vrock has a post op infection.
FUCK!
the last 14 months have been a trying time for us. some very good things have happened and some very bad things have happened.
good:
FUCK!
the last 14 months have been a trying time for us. some very good things have happened and some very bad things have happened.
good:
- we had our first anniversary and went to vegas
- we returned to vegas and got married
- we got our first apartment together
- we celebrated 6 months of wedded bliss yesterday
- i got a job in my industry again after almost a year out of it
bad:
- i got laid off
- i couldn't find a job in my industry, so i applied for & got a job as a 911 operator
- between moving, getting married & starting a new job i was sufficiently stressed to the point of being sick for 4 weeks.
- i ended up quitting the 911 gig because of the stress/illness
- within 3 weeks of getting married & returning home, we both lost our jobs (his permanent, mine temp)
- he's had a hell of a time finding a job that pays decent money
- he had sinus surgery & a wrist injury
he was to have started his new contract gig this morning. "was to" being the operative words there. due to his infection, the fact that he can't see the doc until tomorrow & the fact that since he can barely breathe he didn't get more than 30 minutes of sleep last night, he didn't.
luckily for us, the company he'll be contracting for is AWESOME and when he called his liasion this morning, he was told to go to his appointment tomorrow and come in on wednesday to start instead. THANK GOD! i was REALLY freaking this morning (and maybe not overly the caring wife i normally am) because we really need that money that he'll be bringing in & i was afraid that they'd just replace him for not coming in today.
can you say WHEW?!?!
Friday, October 17, 2008
how do you spell relief?
i spell it:
i-n-s-u-r-a-n-c-e
we had yet ANOTHER snafu with insurance coverage on wednesday after vrock's surgery.
quick back story:
when vrock went in for his doctors visit on 9/30 he was given an Rx for antibiotics. when he got to the pharmacy they told him that we didn't have coverage. excuse the hell out of me?!?!? after MULTIPLE phone calls, i got it fixed and i picked up his prescription the next day. (the pharmacy didn't have what he needed but it was coming in the next day's shipment.)
fast forward to wednesday. after being at the hospital from 8:30am to 2pm, we were both ready to go home. we made 3 stops: one at the pharmacy across the street for a specific nasal wash not carried at our normal pharmacy, one at my parents to drop something off and the third at our local pharmacy to pick up all of our prescriptions. he's still kind of loopy from the anesthesia so he stayed in the car. 40 (count them!) minutes and $85 later i FINALLY came out with our prescriptions.
seems that SOMEHOW there was an error in reporting and we were shown as having our coverage EXPIRE on 10/11. EXCUSE me? needless to say i was PISSED off. after multiple phone calls (pharmacy called, i called) to multiple places (prescription coverage, hr, etc.) i decided to just pay the $85 (no insurance rate) and take my man home to rest. i was PISSED though and made a few MORE calls yesterday when i got back to work. nobody can give me a satisfactory answer as to WHAT the hell happened, but it appears to be fixed for the moment.
all i know is that i better NOT have to go through this every 2 weeks. see, my hr updates the insurance company who in turn updates the prescription people every 2 weeks. and if i have to do this every time we need a damn prescription, heads are going to roll. that is just BAD customer service right there.
since it was finally fixed and it had been less than 7 days since the pharmacy had run the prescriptions through the system, i called and had them rerun them so i could get credited the difference. which means that we get almost $40 back after all is said and done.
too bad i have to do some grocery shopping this weekend. i'd much rather use that $40 to soothe my stress with either thai or chinese for dinner.
i-n-s-u-r-a-n-c-e
we had yet ANOTHER snafu with insurance coverage on wednesday after vrock's surgery.
quick back story:
when vrock went in for his doctors visit on 9/30 he was given an Rx for antibiotics. when he got to the pharmacy they told him that we didn't have coverage. excuse the hell out of me?!?!? after MULTIPLE phone calls, i got it fixed and i picked up his prescription the next day. (the pharmacy didn't have what he needed but it was coming in the next day's shipment.)
fast forward to wednesday. after being at the hospital from 8:30am to 2pm, we were both ready to go home. we made 3 stops: one at the pharmacy across the street for a specific nasal wash not carried at our normal pharmacy, one at my parents to drop something off and the third at our local pharmacy to pick up all of our prescriptions. he's still kind of loopy from the anesthesia so he stayed in the car. 40 (count them!) minutes and $85 later i FINALLY came out with our prescriptions.
seems that SOMEHOW there was an error in reporting and we were shown as having our coverage EXPIRE on 10/11. EXCUSE me? needless to say i was PISSED off. after multiple phone calls (pharmacy called, i called) to multiple places (prescription coverage, hr, etc.) i decided to just pay the $85 (no insurance rate) and take my man home to rest. i was PISSED though and made a few MORE calls yesterday when i got back to work. nobody can give me a satisfactory answer as to WHAT the hell happened, but it appears to be fixed for the moment.
all i know is that i better NOT have to go through this every 2 weeks. see, my hr updates the insurance company who in turn updates the prescription people every 2 weeks. and if i have to do this every time we need a damn prescription, heads are going to roll. that is just BAD customer service right there.
since it was finally fixed and it had been less than 7 days since the pharmacy had run the prescriptions through the system, i called and had them rerun them so i could get credited the difference. which means that we get almost $40 back after all is said and done.
too bad i have to do some grocery shopping this weekend. i'd much rather use that $40 to soothe my stress with either thai or chinese for dinner.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
aftermath
vrock's surgery went very well yesterday. so well, in fact, that he's not even taking his pain medication. his only complaint (other than a faint headache), so far, is that the rinsing agent he has to squirt up his nose forever (ok, only 4 times a day for 3 weeks!) kinda burns his nasal passages. so far, no black eyes.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
update
i'm in a better place this week than i was last week at this time. which is good.
here's what's on tap for this week:
here's what's on tap for this week:
- vrock is having his surgery tomorrow. while he's doing that, i'll be having my own doctor's appointment. might as well kill two birds with one stone.
- tomorrow, i'll be nurse/taxi driver/wife to vrock's patient/husband/crankypants
- i'll try to catch up on tivoed shows tomorrow while he's resting
- work
that's about it. i've been reading up on the recovery and it doesn't sound like fun AT ALL. i hope that the surgery goes well and that it takes care of all of vrock's sinus issues.
keep your fingers crossed, k? thanks!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
and the hits just keep on coming
how do you know if you're passing the tests that God gives you?
is it if you DON'T break down and cry (& scream & throw things) that you know you're going to be ok?
because i REALLY think i'm being tested.
and i don't know if i studied hard enough.
is it if you DON'T break down and cry (& scream & throw things) that you know you're going to be ok?
because i REALLY think i'm being tested.
and i don't know if i studied hard enough.
i feel 300 pounds lighter
ok, maybe not 300 pounds lighter. but definitely lighter.
yesterday i started to write a post about how frustrated i was with the people at the doctor's office. the doctor that is doing vrock's surgery next week. i was so angry i was on the verge of tears all afternoon.
our insurance kicked in on 9/1 and knowing that, we didn't go to the doctor until after that. we have a $3000 deductible and a health reimbursement account of $750 from my work. basically that means the hra pays the first $750 and we pay the remainder. after that everything is covered at 80%. because our insurance didn't start until 9/1 though, both amounts were prorated for the rest of the year. (at $1000 and $250) vrock had to have a ct before we could officially determine he needed surgery. then he had to go see the surgeon so he could look at the scan. neither item has been billed to our insurance yet.
that being said, when the surgeon's office called the insurance they were told that we have a $1000 deductible and a $250 hra account. so what does the surgeon's office do? they called vrock yesterday and basically said "you need to bring in your deductible amount before surgery so that you can have your surgery." excuse the fuck out of me! so he called me and told me and i went ballistic. i called the office and our exchange went a little something like this:
me: this is vrock's wife. i understand that you called my husband & told him that we had to bring $1000 in to your office before he could have surgery.
snotty bitch at surgeon's: that's not exactly what i said. i called your insurance company and they stated that your deductible has not been met. with a high deductible, the doctor requires that it be met prior to surgery.
me: wtf?!?!? look. yes, we have a deductible of $1000. we also have a hra which is $250 so that our portion is only $750. on top of that, vrock has had a ct scan on 9/15 AND been to see you last week on 9/30. NEITHER of those have been billed to my insurance yet, but i KNOW they will run close to the $750 that we are responsible for.
sb: oh. well, let me look and see what the allowable amounts are for those and i'll call you back tomorrow to let you know what i find out.
that was the MUCH abriged version of that conversation. i've never heard of a doctor's office requiring your deductible to be met before they'll perform surgery. that's just ridiculous. i called my insurance company and they verified that it does happen, although they ask the doctors to not do that. it's all turned out fine (we don't have to pay anything up front) but i was SO upset yesterday that i gave myself a headache.
it's funny to write this now after all the angst of yesterday. it's almost anticlimactic in a way. (that's probably because i'm not feeling homicidal at all anymore.) i did talk to the office this morning and they pulled their heads out of their asses and figured out what the allowable billing amounts were for the 2 visits he's already had and how much of that would translate to our deductible. when they did that our responsibilty comes to $330 which, since it falls UNDER the $500 mark, they don't collect up front.
yesterday i started to write a post about how frustrated i was with the people at the doctor's office. the doctor that is doing vrock's surgery next week. i was so angry i was on the verge of tears all afternoon.
our insurance kicked in on 9/1 and knowing that, we didn't go to the doctor until after that. we have a $3000 deductible and a health reimbursement account of $750 from my work. basically that means the hra pays the first $750 and we pay the remainder. after that everything is covered at 80%. because our insurance didn't start until 9/1 though, both amounts were prorated for the rest of the year. (at $1000 and $250) vrock had to have a ct before we could officially determine he needed surgery. then he had to go see the surgeon so he could look at the scan. neither item has been billed to our insurance yet.
that being said, when the surgeon's office called the insurance they were told that we have a $1000 deductible and a $250 hra account. so what does the surgeon's office do? they called vrock yesterday and basically said "you need to bring in your deductible amount before surgery so that you can have your surgery." excuse the fuck out of me! so he called me and told me and i went ballistic. i called the office and our exchange went a little something like this:
me: this is vrock's wife. i understand that you called my husband & told him that we had to bring $1000 in to your office before he could have surgery.
snotty bitch at surgeon's: that's not exactly what i said. i called your insurance company and they stated that your deductible has not been met. with a high deductible, the doctor requires that it be met prior to surgery.
me: wtf?!?!? look. yes, we have a deductible of $1000. we also have a hra which is $250 so that our portion is only $750. on top of that, vrock has had a ct scan on 9/15 AND been to see you last week on 9/30. NEITHER of those have been billed to my insurance yet, but i KNOW they will run close to the $750 that we are responsible for.
sb: oh. well, let me look and see what the allowable amounts are for those and i'll call you back tomorrow to let you know what i find out.
that was the MUCH abriged version of that conversation. i've never heard of a doctor's office requiring your deductible to be met before they'll perform surgery. that's just ridiculous. i called my insurance company and they verified that it does happen, although they ask the doctors to not do that. it's all turned out fine (we don't have to pay anything up front) but i was SO upset yesterday that i gave myself a headache.
it's funny to write this now after all the angst of yesterday. it's almost anticlimactic in a way. (that's probably because i'm not feeling homicidal at all anymore.) i did talk to the office this morning and they pulled their heads out of their asses and figured out what the allowable billing amounts were for the 2 visits he's already had and how much of that would translate to our deductible. when they did that our responsibilty comes to $330 which, since it falls UNDER the $500 mark, they don't collect up front.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
and the verdict is in
and that verdict is:
SURGERY
ugh. even though we were 99% sure that was what the doctor was going to say, it's never what you want to hear.
so it's scheduled for the 15th. which means that i get a day off in the middle of the week (yay!) but it also means that my husband is going under general anesthesia for the surgery (boo!).
keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and that this will resolve his sinus problems.
SURGERY
ugh. even though we were 99% sure that was what the doctor was going to say, it's never what you want to hear.
so it's scheduled for the 15th. which means that i get a day off in the middle of the week (yay!) but it also means that my husband is going under general anesthesia for the surgery (boo!).
keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and that this will resolve his sinus problems.
today's the day
vrock finally gets to go see the specialist today about his chronic sinus infections. i'm at work, so i won't be going with him to ask all the questions i want answers to. damn. i did talk to vrock last night about the main things i wanted answered, so hopefully he remembers to ask those, at least.
we're both figuring that he's going to have to have surgery. what we don't know is the following:
1. will he have to be put completely under? if so, will he need me to stay home that day to "watch" him for the first 24 hours after surgery?
2. how long will he HAVE to be out from work? he just started this job last week and they sent him home last night because on top of all his sinus issues, we think he's getting a cold too.
3. when can he have the surgery? if he hadn't already promised his brother that he'd feed their damn dogs from the 3rd to the 13th, he could do it this friday without too much disruption of our lives. as it is, he did promise so it would be a major hassle to try to do it this weekend. then, next friday, my brother & his girlfriend are coming up for the weekend from california. THEN, on the 25th we have the uw vs. notre dame football game. so, you see the dilemma. right now the IDEAL weekend would be the 17th. hopefully that's an option because we don't want to push it too far out. and if he is getting a cold, they probably won't want to operate until that passes.
his appointment is at 1:15 and it's only 9:37 here. so i'll have to hang out all day and wait to hear from him, hopefully around 2 about what the verdict is.
have i mentioned that patience is NOT my strong suit?? ugh!
we're both figuring that he's going to have to have surgery. what we don't know is the following:
1. will he have to be put completely under? if so, will he need me to stay home that day to "watch" him for the first 24 hours after surgery?
2. how long will he HAVE to be out from work? he just started this job last week and they sent him home last night because on top of all his sinus issues, we think he's getting a cold too.
3. when can he have the surgery? if he hadn't already promised his brother that he'd feed their damn dogs from the 3rd to the 13th, he could do it this friday without too much disruption of our lives. as it is, he did promise so it would be a major hassle to try to do it this weekend. then, next friday, my brother & his girlfriend are coming up for the weekend from california. THEN, on the 25th we have the uw vs. notre dame football game. so, you see the dilemma. right now the IDEAL weekend would be the 17th. hopefully that's an option because we don't want to push it too far out. and if he is getting a cold, they probably won't want to operate until that passes.
his appointment is at 1:15 and it's only 9:37 here. so i'll have to hang out all day and wait to hear from him, hopefully around 2 about what the verdict is.
have i mentioned that patience is NOT my strong suit?? ugh!
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