Hey friends! Boy time sure doesn't fly when it's hot, muggy, and you have no internet. Thank goodness for free Wi-Fi around town, generally even in places with air conditioning. I expect to be offline for another month while I put other priorities first. If only a mothers pocket book was as deep as her love...sigh. On the plus side, in a few weeks I will be able to talk to Ian again, just as soon as I activate and send him "our" new cell phone. Currently he has no cell phone, or home phone, and I can only talk to him for a few moments here and there through his fathers work phone. I am SO looking forward to having regular chats with him again.
In other news, I'm in my 6th or 7th week of "skills" class and I'm really seeing a huge difference. I started the class because I was having trouble making some of the lifestyle changes that I need to make for bariatric surgery. It must be working, because not only have I been able to transition to a new meal plan AND keep my diabetes in check, but I've also lost 20lbs without even thinking about it. It's still a very long process, and I'll be continuing class for about 1/2 year. I'll revisit the surgeon in a few months, once I know I'm firmly planted on the right path.
Other than that, I'm leading an incredibly BORING life, and I'm finding it to be a particularly refreshing experience.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
They Call Me Breaky
Well, if you're on my list of Facebook Friends, you know that I had a run in with a pitcher of water two weeks ago. The pitcher won, sort of. I ended up with a broken hand. At first the doctor and I were worried that there may be some bone issues if something so completely innocuous as picking up a half full filter pitcher can break my hand. Thankfully, as it turns out, my hand was already broken, I just didn't know it until I went for a glass of water. Now I can chalk it up to the "old standby", which is, I did it in my sleep.
Over the years I've had some odd injuries that eventually led me to get the nickname "Breaky". Starting when I was 5, I broke my collar bone getting into bed, at 12, I broke my ankle HORRIBLY while standing on a stationary skateboard on a flat street. There were the times I broke my foot walking down stairs, sprained my wrist while trying on shoes (and was hit by a truck while I drove myself to Urgent Care), and knocked out my front tooth while I took a power nap before a job interview. That's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, as there are at least 5 other injuries that I've sustained while in the relative "safety" of my bed. I've broken my nose so many times that it makes a weird crackling noise when I wiggle it.
All in all, it makes for good storytelling, and it could be worse. The girl who nicknamed me "Breaky" was nicknamed "Burny". She used to catch on fire alot. o.O
Over the years I've had some odd injuries that eventually led me to get the nickname "Breaky". Starting when I was 5, I broke my collar bone getting into bed, at 12, I broke my ankle HORRIBLY while standing on a stationary skateboard on a flat street. There were the times I broke my foot walking down stairs, sprained my wrist while trying on shoes (and was hit by a truck while I drove myself to Urgent Care), and knocked out my front tooth while I took a power nap before a job interview. That's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, as there are at least 5 other injuries that I've sustained while in the relative "safety" of my bed. I've broken my nose so many times that it makes a weird crackling noise when I wiggle it.
All in all, it makes for good storytelling, and it could be worse. The girl who nicknamed me "Breaky" was nicknamed "Burny". She used to catch on fire alot. o.O
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
My Graduate
I'm Home! Ok, I've been home for a week and a half now, but I have real reasons for taking so long to post, I promise. First is doctors appointments, as usual, and second, I was a total dunder head and forgot to pay the phone/internet bill before I left town. I was out of service until last Tuesday. I always think it's funny that it's just a flip of a switch to turn you off, but takes several days restore. Oh well, que sera sera.
My bus trip down to Georgia was long and cramped, but blessedly uneventful. I had a great visit with Ian, I just wish it hadn't been so short and that I hadn't been so tired. We made the most of our time, playing cards, and goofing off together. There was some serious mother/son talking going on too, and we both got a lesson in ordering wisely from take-out. The graduation ceremony was nice, not too long, not too short, and surprisingly light (as in not stuffy and pompous LOL). The whole audience got a chuckle when the choir started singing Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. It sure was nice of them to choose a song us old timers would recognize. After the ceremony we had a lovely family lunch with his dad, step-mother, and her sister. Then we went shopping, talked about the future, goofed off some more, and played poker. The morning, and my bus, came all to quickly, and I was back on my way. The trip home was a nightmare and I arrived home sore, hardly able to walk, and with bruises on my bum, but I won't let that spoil my memories.
My bus trip down to Georgia was long and cramped, but blessedly uneventful. I had a great visit with Ian, I just wish it hadn't been so short and that I hadn't been so tired. We made the most of our time, playing cards, and goofing off together. There was some serious mother/son talking going on too, and we both got a lesson in ordering wisely from take-out. The graduation ceremony was nice, not too long, not too short, and surprisingly light (as in not stuffy and pompous LOL). The whole audience got a chuckle when the choir started singing Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. It sure was nice of them to choose a song us old timers would recognize. After the ceremony we had a lovely family lunch with his dad, step-mother, and her sister. Then we went shopping, talked about the future, goofed off some more, and played poker. The morning, and my bus, came all to quickly, and I was back on my way. The trip home was a nightmare and I arrived home sore, hardly able to walk, and with bruises on my bum, but I won't let that spoil my memories.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
I have NO symptoms but SO WHAT!
I went for the initial sleep assessment last week, and much as I feared, it turned out to be a completely frustrating event. Right away I was chastised for not having brought in any paperwork, even though I had not received any paperwork to fill out prior to the visit. It took my explaining that bit of information to 3 different people before I was allowed to keep the appointment that I had already shown up for.
Most of the visit with the specialist wasn't even about sleep because after an exciting (pronounced terrifyingly awful) drive to the specialty center my blood pressure was a little elevated. The doctor was extremely reluctant to accept that I do not have hypertension and he spent a fair amount of time trying to change my mind about it. When we finally did get down to discussing sleep issues it only took a few minutes for him to tell me that I have no signs or symptoms of sleep apnea. WOO HOO! I was thrilled for a brief moment. Too brief a moment unfortunately. In the same breath the doctor told me he was referring me for a sleep study anyway. I made the silly mistake of asking why. "Mrs. Cloud", he said, "You are obese", as if I didn't already know, "Even without symptoms I would be surprised if you did not have sleep apnea".
Once again, I couldn't possibly know my own body. Screw the fact that I have not a single symptom or complaint, I'm fat so doctors don't have to treat me as an individual. Hell, they don't even have to look for answers that can't be explained by my grotesque fatness. In the end, I'm nothing more to the medical community than a number on a scale. I suppose I should be grateful that they address me by my name instead of just calling me 317.
I've decided that I will not be participating in the sleep study. I find it frivolous and wasteful to undergo an expensive procedure based solely on my weight and no other supporting evidence. This will probably cause some trouble with my primary care doctor, but I've reached my tolerance limit for dehumanizing humiliation from self important medical "professionals".
Most of the visit with the specialist wasn't even about sleep because after an exciting (pronounced terrifyingly awful) drive to the specialty center my blood pressure was a little elevated. The doctor was extremely reluctant to accept that I do not have hypertension and he spent a fair amount of time trying to change my mind about it. When we finally did get down to discussing sleep issues it only took a few minutes for him to tell me that I have no signs or symptoms of sleep apnea. WOO HOO! I was thrilled for a brief moment. Too brief a moment unfortunately. In the same breath the doctor told me he was referring me for a sleep study anyway. I made the silly mistake of asking why. "Mrs. Cloud", he said, "You are obese", as if I didn't already know, "Even without symptoms I would be surprised if you did not have sleep apnea".
Once again, I couldn't possibly know my own body. Screw the fact that I have not a single symptom or complaint, I'm fat so doctors don't have to treat me as an individual. Hell, they don't even have to look for answers that can't be explained by my grotesque fatness. In the end, I'm nothing more to the medical community than a number on a scale. I suppose I should be grateful that they address me by my name instead of just calling me 317.
I've decided that I will not be participating in the sleep study. I find it frivolous and wasteful to undergo an expensive procedure based solely on my weight and no other supporting evidence. This will probably cause some trouble with my primary care doctor, but I've reached my tolerance limit for dehumanizing humiliation from self important medical "professionals".
Monday, May 3, 2010
Frazzled and Frustrated
What would a week in my life be like without any drama or crisis? I sure would like to find out. A girl can dream.
I spent most of the last week dealing with the absolutely frustrating and mostly incompetent people at my health insurance company. The first problem was a billing issue and their intent to drop my coverage which would have left me with just Medicare coverage and NO prescription coverage for the rest of the year. The problem was they had not billed me for my January and February premiums until after the due date for February. I had already been on the phone with them trying to resolve the billing blip even before I received the first bill. I'm not in a position to pay a double premium at once, especially while I was saving for the trip to my son's graduation, so I requested to make payment arrangements to pay the January premium in installments. I was told that it would not be necessary because I had a sixty day grace period. Having paid utilities and other bills for the better part of my life, grace period implied that if I paid within the allotted time the period would then start over again with the next billing cycle. That was not the case with this grace period but that bit of pertinent information was left out of the conversation I had with the billing rep. It was, in fact, a fixed grace period that I only get to use a few times a year.
Finally, after several attempts to resolve the issue and keep my coverage the company gave in and will not be dropping me. It did take a threat to call the state insurance commissioner and my insisting that since their phone reps do not document what they quote that the tapes of the actual calls were reviewed. After that review they had to concede that I had tried early on to resolve the issue. They didn't admit that I wasn't given a clear explanation of their policy, instead they said that they could see how I may have misunderstood. Irritating to be condescended to that way, but at least I'm keeping my coverage.
Since I am keeping my coverage I called to verify some points regarding my upcoming surgery and I was shocked when I was told that the criteria I thought I had to meet were not correct and now issue number two was in full swing. The criteria I was calling to clarify was given to my by one of their benefits representatives. The first thing I did was ask them to open the log and read the documentation for that original call. I was told, in an annoyed tone, that they do not document what they quote, they only document the time, date, and reason for the call. They could pull the audio recording but that needs an written request and would take weeks. I don't have weeks, I'm supposed to start the series of evaluations that will determine if I am a suitable candidate for surgery. I don't want to waste time on those if i can't be sure that I've met the coverage criteria first and I explained that and asked for the correct benefit information. That's when she told me that she could only give me a very vague synopsis of the requirements, that I would have to get it from the surgeons office. The surgeons office are the ones that told me to verify my benefit with my insurance company.
That started a crazy round robin of telephone tag with 3 other reps, each of whom told me something different than the person before them. I asked repeatedly to talk to a benefit coordinator, who typically has more in depth knowledge of the benefits. Apparently they do not talk to members, only providers. I asked for a supervisor, but they were all out of the office. As it stands, I still do not know what the qualifying criteria are, which means I am unable to get the correct records sent to the surgeons office. I have asked the surgeons nurse to call my insurance company, so hopefully I will have the information I need before I start the evaluation process.
I love the clinics that the insurance company owns, but I am completely flabbergasted by the utter lack of knowledge and professionalism of their member service. I used to work for one of their competitors and would not have worked there for very long if I had performed so incompetently. Unfortunately I cannot change to another company until next year. Hopefully I won't need to call them again.
I hope you are all doing well. I sure do miss you.
I spent most of the last week dealing with the absolutely frustrating and mostly incompetent people at my health insurance company. The first problem was a billing issue and their intent to drop my coverage which would have left me with just Medicare coverage and NO prescription coverage for the rest of the year. The problem was they had not billed me for my January and February premiums until after the due date for February. I had already been on the phone with them trying to resolve the billing blip even before I received the first bill. I'm not in a position to pay a double premium at once, especially while I was saving for the trip to my son's graduation, so I requested to make payment arrangements to pay the January premium in installments. I was told that it would not be necessary because I had a sixty day grace period. Having paid utilities and other bills for the better part of my life, grace period implied that if I paid within the allotted time the period would then start over again with the next billing cycle. That was not the case with this grace period but that bit of pertinent information was left out of the conversation I had with the billing rep. It was, in fact, a fixed grace period that I only get to use a few times a year.
Finally, after several attempts to resolve the issue and keep my coverage the company gave in and will not be dropping me. It did take a threat to call the state insurance commissioner and my insisting that since their phone reps do not document what they quote that the tapes of the actual calls were reviewed. After that review they had to concede that I had tried early on to resolve the issue. They didn't admit that I wasn't given a clear explanation of their policy, instead they said that they could see how I may have misunderstood. Irritating to be condescended to that way, but at least I'm keeping my coverage.
Since I am keeping my coverage I called to verify some points regarding my upcoming surgery and I was shocked when I was told that the criteria I thought I had to meet were not correct and now issue number two was in full swing. The criteria I was calling to clarify was given to my by one of their benefits representatives. The first thing I did was ask them to open the log and read the documentation for that original call. I was told, in an annoyed tone, that they do not document what they quote, they only document the time, date, and reason for the call. They could pull the audio recording but that needs an written request and would take weeks. I don't have weeks, I'm supposed to start the series of evaluations that will determine if I am a suitable candidate for surgery. I don't want to waste time on those if i can't be sure that I've met the coverage criteria first and I explained that and asked for the correct benefit information. That's when she told me that she could only give me a very vague synopsis of the requirements, that I would have to get it from the surgeons office. The surgeons office are the ones that told me to verify my benefit with my insurance company.
That started a crazy round robin of telephone tag with 3 other reps, each of whom told me something different than the person before them. I asked repeatedly to talk to a benefit coordinator, who typically has more in depth knowledge of the benefits. Apparently they do not talk to members, only providers. I asked for a supervisor, but they were all out of the office. As it stands, I still do not know what the qualifying criteria are, which means I am unable to get the correct records sent to the surgeons office. I have asked the surgeons nurse to call my insurance company, so hopefully I will have the information I need before I start the evaluation process.
I love the clinics that the insurance company owns, but I am completely flabbergasted by the utter lack of knowledge and professionalism of their member service. I used to work for one of their competitors and would not have worked there for very long if I had performed so incompetently. Unfortunately I cannot change to another company until next year. Hopefully I won't need to call them again.
I hope you are all doing well. I sure do miss you.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sleep Disorders are all the Rage
Somewhere around 12 years old I started snoring. I'm fairly positive that I can link it to the sudden and explosive "blossoming" of my girlie parts which made it impossible to sleep on my stomach any longer. Since then no one has ever noticed that I stop breathing while I sleep, and I've never had any sensations of not being able to breath outside of the occasional asthma attack. I do sleep on an incline, but that's to alleviate reflux and chronic pain in and around my now non existent gall bladder. I also have the occasional bout of insomnia, but that's all about stress and my inability to adjust to being a night sleeper. 15+ years working graveyard and swing can have that effect.
Why am I going on about my sleep issues? I'm going on about them because, yet again, my doctors don't believe that I know diddly squat about my own body. I'm being forced to participate in a sleep study because if they can add sleap apnea to my list of issues, it's another co morbidity to add to the list in determining my eligibility for surgery. Great! except that I already have more than enough extenuating circumstances that will guarantee a quick and painless pre approval.
I don't want to do a sleep study, and not just because I don't want to deal with the stress of the actual test, but because I worked in the insurance industry and I rarely ever saw a billing for a sleep study that didn't also include an order for a CPAP. Things become trendy in the medical world, and when CPAP became trendy, the slightest snort during a sleep study was all that was needed to push the machine on the patient for their own safety.
Don't get me wrong, I know that some people really do need CPAP and I really want them to have it. I'm sure I don't need it, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep with it on, and I'm sure that if I have to use it I will have to sleep in a separate bedroom because it will make sleeping more difficult for Keith. I'm also sure that I cannot afford it, even at 20% of approved cost.
In the end, this thing that they think will facilitate a surefire quick approval for surgery, will actually turn my already surefire quick approval into a denial when I refuse to get the machine. My primary care doctor does have some kind of personal issues going on at the moment, and is being a bit scatter brained (which better stop after she deals with whatever the issues are). I'm hoping that the pulmonary doc will be more open minded to my position and not try and shove me on the CPAP bandwagon.
We shall see, until then I'll be snoring happily LOL.
Why am I going on about my sleep issues? I'm going on about them because, yet again, my doctors don't believe that I know diddly squat about my own body. I'm being forced to participate in a sleep study because if they can add sleap apnea to my list of issues, it's another co morbidity to add to the list in determining my eligibility for surgery. Great! except that I already have more than enough extenuating circumstances that will guarantee a quick and painless pre approval.
I don't want to do a sleep study, and not just because I don't want to deal with the stress of the actual test, but because I worked in the insurance industry and I rarely ever saw a billing for a sleep study that didn't also include an order for a CPAP. Things become trendy in the medical world, and when CPAP became trendy, the slightest snort during a sleep study was all that was needed to push the machine on the patient for their own safety.
Don't get me wrong, I know that some people really do need CPAP and I really want them to have it. I'm sure I don't need it, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep with it on, and I'm sure that if I have to use it I will have to sleep in a separate bedroom because it will make sleeping more difficult for Keith. I'm also sure that I cannot afford it, even at 20% of approved cost.
In the end, this thing that they think will facilitate a surefire quick approval for surgery, will actually turn my already surefire quick approval into a denial when I refuse to get the machine. My primary care doctor does have some kind of personal issues going on at the moment, and is being a bit scatter brained (which better stop after she deals with whatever the issues are). I'm hoping that the pulmonary doc will be more open minded to my position and not try and shove me on the CPAP bandwagon.
We shall see, until then I'll be snoring happily LOL.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The Plans are Set
After a lot of back and forth about how long I should stay in Georgia I've finally settled on a plan. Staying there for a long period of time was just not going to be possible financially so the plan is to leave Minnesota on May 30th, go to Ian's graduation on June 1st, have a nice dinner and overnight visit, then head back. It's not going to give us a lot of time together, but Ian and I talked and he can come up later in June, or we will make plans for Christmas.
I'm a little freaked out about the bus ride because I only just realized that 2 days on a bus, making frequent stops, and filled with strangers, is probably not the best place to sedate myself. I'm working on some meditation and breathing techniques to help me get past the anxiety. I may break my no drinking policy and have a shot or two as well. It's not approved therapy, but it sure can take the edge off in a pinch. I'm looking into getting an extra battery pack for Priscilla the Laptop, and if I do, I'll occupy some of the ride with good old fashioned Sims therapy. *giggles*
Once I get back home I'll be doing several weeks of testing in preparation for the bariatric surgery. More than likely the surgery will happen in August, after my little brother gets married, but there is a small possibility that it could be as early as the beginning of July. If July is possible it would have to be in the first week so I can be sure that I'll be up to the road trip to the wedding. Keith will be driving, and while I would normally take a pill and sleep the whole way up north, I'll need to be semi lucid to make sure that he doesn't get lost.
Oddly, just having the basic timeline set out is more reassuring than I had expected it to be. Now I'm hoping that as plans get more detailed I'll get more settled. *fingers crossed*
I'm a little freaked out about the bus ride because I only just realized that 2 days on a bus, making frequent stops, and filled with strangers, is probably not the best place to sedate myself. I'm working on some meditation and breathing techniques to help me get past the anxiety. I may break my no drinking policy and have a shot or two as well. It's not approved therapy, but it sure can take the edge off in a pinch. I'm looking into getting an extra battery pack for Priscilla the Laptop, and if I do, I'll occupy some of the ride with good old fashioned Sims therapy. *giggles*
Once I get back home I'll be doing several weeks of testing in preparation for the bariatric surgery. More than likely the surgery will happen in August, after my little brother gets married, but there is a small possibility that it could be as early as the beginning of July. If July is possible it would have to be in the first week so I can be sure that I'll be up to the road trip to the wedding. Keith will be driving, and while I would normally take a pill and sleep the whole way up north, I'll need to be semi lucid to make sure that he doesn't get lost.
Oddly, just having the basic timeline set out is more reassuring than I had expected it to be. Now I'm hoping that as plans get more detailed I'll get more settled. *fingers crossed*
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