Insurance and Pipe Cleaning....all in a day's work!

This week marks a week with brand spankin' new frustrations. It's been continually annoying dealing with insurance personnel. We have Priority Health HMO (which seems to stand for 'Hours and Minutes On-hold'), and we have found it completely impossible to get where we need to go without meeting some large problem. Dr. #4 feels that B will receive the best care (or have the best set of eyes review things) at U of M, however, this is an out of network appointment, so the insurance company has denied the appointment.

At this point, B's health has no cost, as we kindly explained to the idiot lady (Gail from Dr. #4's office, here's talkin' to you) in charge of outside referrals, who thought setting an appointment for another facility was fine. We explained that we would sell our wedding rings to fly B to china if that meant he would be cured and walk away from this. Overkill? Maybe....maybe not?! Either way, it appears that at this point the desire to see the Doc at U of M, per Doctor #4's request has set into Gail's head. Still, no appointment has been set, but it does seem promising, thanks to the help of some family muscle (by muscle, of course we mean B's aunt who works in the medical field and made some calls for us). Thanks Auntie R! By the way, we were planning on attending this 2nd opinion appointment in full Spartan regalia, but since it's a medical issue and we're actually looking for accurate care and diagnoses, we may hold off on that (at least with the top layer).

As we left it last week with Dr. #4, B was to complete an ultrasound, have a colonoscopy, go to U of M for a second opinion, and then back to meet with Dr. #4 to determine the best plan of action. Most likely, this means scheduling surgery to remove the tumor in B's lung. That surgery will finally give Dr. #4 and his pathologists enough tissue to determine where the cancer originated, then chemo can begin to kill any cancer that might be left behind. We go back to see him March 10th, so the plan was to have all of these tests and 2nd opinions finished(except the surgery, obviously) BEFORE we went back.

So far....ultasound done, colonoscopy tomorrow (which means fasting all day today, except for clear liquids and popsicles), and then onto U of M. Setting the colonoscopy appointment was a pain in the ass, too. These people make setting an appointment seem like brain surgery. It took them 5 days to give B a time for the appointment, and it was ONLY 5 days because they set it while I was on hold for 15 minutes...on my 4th call to the scheduling office!



*Breathe Breath, Ahhh.* Needless to say, B is not looking forward to the prep for the colonoscopy, but DBone and I gave B what most would consider the prep for a colonoscopy a few weeks ago. When B was clogged up from all the meds during his collapsed lung episode in the beginning of the month, DBone and I went to CVS to try and help get the pipes moving again. $35 and two grocery bags later, we had all the products under the CVS sun necessary to induce said pipe-cleaning. For obvious reasons, and a potential laxative overdose, we didn't see much of B that night. Just his back as he ran/hobbled/crutched from couch to toilet at least a dozen times.

I keep trying to tell B it can't be worse than that, but I guess we'll find out tonight and tomorrow for sure. Well, I'll hear about it. I'm leaving today after work for Chicago for a few days to attend a work conference. B ends radiation tomorrow, so him and Big D will say their goodbyes to all their friends they have made at the cancer center, then DBone will come to take B to the official plumber.
Supposedly, B won't remember anything, but they told him that when he got his hip biopsy and he distinctly remembers them jamming the needle into his hip, so we'll see. He's hoping he can bowl tomorrow night, but it'll be a TBD until he leaves the recovery room. I'm pullin' for ya, B.

As for our readers, thanks for your continued support. We know it's been awhile since our last update, but there hasn't been much change or anything to update you on. The next 2-3 weeks will be full of appointments and information, so I'm sure we'll be updating as often, if not more, as we were when we first fired this thing up.

SHOUT-OUTS FOR THE WEEK - there's a few, so bear with us. Liberty and Mrs. Liberty welcomed a baby boy into this world, so congrats to them! Alexander, I'm sure, will be another good-looking, tall drink of water like his daddy. Jake and X got engaged, so a big welcome-to-the-wonderful-world-of-wedding-planning-congrats to them, too!

Lastly, a huge thanks to Big D for all the rides and talks we've shared the last few weeks to the Cancer Center. You helped me keep my cool and take this all in stride, and I appreciate it. I'll miss our weekday early-lunch hangout time! Don't forget to have your ticket stamped :)