I'm super duper sad today. I was super duper sad yesterday too. To the point of tears. Miss America mascara tears all over my face. Makeup smudge marks on a sock (that was all I could find to wipe my face with... IT WAS CLEAN) and on my pillow case, it was a real mess.
Oh LC, you feel my pain too? How sweet!
I was supposed to meet with my ophthalmologist yesterday after 13 months of not seeing her (don't worry... it's normal. I'm only supposed to see her once a year). I switched insurance in November and I had taken all the necessary steps to ensure that these visits with these particular doctors would be covered. I dotted my Is and crossed the Ts, I had this taken care of. My new friend Julie at the Health Benefits office gets to hear my voice more often than my momma does, to give you an idea of how on top of this I've been recently.
Many, many, many phone calls and missed calls and voicemails later, I was informed that my new insurance company had granted me out-of-network referrals for my two doctors (ophthalmology and neurology) and that I should be seen without any problem. Hooray!
Cue yesterday, 3:44pm: I pranced into my ophthalmologist's office, presented myself to the receptionist and gave her my new insurance card. She starts typing in some info, told me I was "so cute" and then hesitated. HESITATED. She says, "I'm sorry, we can't accept this. You're out of network," to which I reply, "I KNOW, but my BFF Julie at the Health Benefits office approved my out-of-network referrals through the end of 2013."
The nice receptionist lady went to a back office to talk to someone and came back to inform me that I couldn't be seen without an authorization code. Umm... what the what? Not in any of my communications was I told ANYTHING about authorization codes. Defeated, I left the office and called Health Benefits... again. No answer, so I left a panicked voicemail.
I sat in my car, my heart racing, not sure if I wanted to cry or to punch something. I made the decision to turn my feelings into something productive and called my neurologist's office to see if they also needed these authorization codes. A brief moment on hold and I was informed that they wouldn't take my insurance at all so I had to cancel that appointment too.
Long story short, my INSURANCE COMPANY is willing to let me see my regular doctors for regular visits, and any procedures they need to perform will be covered under my normal co-pay and co-insurance rates. Can I just take a moment to say how monumentally wonderful that is? Insurance companies are so typically painted out to be villains but the people I've dealt with have been so damn wonderful. The issue lies with the hospital that I normally visit, they and their associates (for reasons unknown) aren't willing to file claims with my very willing insurance carrier. It seems pretty stupid that the hospital would be willing to take me uninsured even though I would have absolutely no way of paying those expenses out-of-pocket, but they'll absolutely refuse me with proper insurance.
The hardest part about all of this is that I feel like I'm not asking for much. I want just enough time with my neurologist to kick this condition for good, and I feel confident that this is the year. Just one year of unfettered insurance coverage is all I ask. JUST ONE YEAR. I pay way too much to be having to make compromises in my care when I've already made such HUGE personal sacrifices for my health.
So end of story: I'm sad. And I don't know what's going to happen. And I had to cancel both my appointments and I'm unable to reschedule until I know what's going on. And I'm going to run out of meds soon. I'm so very freaking sad.
Onward.
today's weight: 222.0 (woo hoo, progress!)
workout: 6.17 km in 46:30 (7:32/km pace, 636 calories burned)
food -
brunch: glass of milk, slivered almonds, water
snacks: one whole pomegranate
dinner: greek salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, olives, feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette)
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