Insurance - SURE it is!

Our company decided to switch insurance providers this year (first time in 3 years). That took effect on the first of this month. That first week, I had chemo scheduled. While the doctor was hooking me up, I chatted with him and told him about the insurance switch.

Good thing he hadn't hooked me up yet (He was about to. The needle was ready - all he had to do was pierce) or I would have had to pay for it out of pocket since you need pre-authorization for chemo.

We tried to call everyone. HR in our company had not yet submitted our papers since the decision was made close to the switch date. I knew I could not get authorization until at least 2 days after we were in the system. I finally got my insurance card on the 15th. Unfortunately, my doctor was gone this week and I had a conference to attend out of town.

I faxed my doctor's office my new card so they can get the authorization done. Best case scenario, I'll get treatment next week.

I was off treatment for 3 whole weeks. I'm happy and grateful for the break but I'm starting to get nervous. I notice every single ache and pain. I'm doing all my energy healing just to calm me down but I want to be back in treatment. (Never thought I'd say that.) But I know that it's keeping me alive and in good shape.

The title is whiney about insurance, I know I would never afford the treatments on my own. (Who can?) It's just really darned inconvenient when all medical procedures have to stop and wait for paperwork. I work for a software company. Information is supposed to pass faster than 3 weeks (OK, 2 weeks - the third week was separate conferences that were scheduled in advanced for me and my doc). Good thing it's not a matter of life and death. Oh, wait a minute...

Moving in

I thought we had it planned so well. We got the house one whole month before we had to get out of our apartment. We were slowly bringing stuff over every night and weekend. By the time we actually had to move out, we still had a LOT of stuff. Where did this stuff come from? When Kel and I moved here in 2001, we just had 2 suitcases each. Now, we had to hire movers???

The first couple of days, I couldn't even find my shoes. I was going to work in my slippers. At least, Kel had his sandals. He dressed them up with socks hoping no one would notice. Well, it is summer. And for the next couple of weeks, it was a mad hunt for the little things. We couldn't find the rice cooker - take note: it had cooked rice in it. It took two days of opening boxes and life-size Tetris to find it. It wasn't edible when we did, but at least it didn't stink - yet - too much. I couldn't find our pool passess either. (Found them the Monday after the pools closed for the summer. Bummer!)

Little by little, we got things organized. I lost about 10 pounds just hauling stuff up and down those stairs. Don't worry, I gained them back. (sigh).

For a litte while, we didn't have TV. The cable guy came and hooked us up only to find that he only hooked up the basement. Kel had to figure out how the wiring went up to the living room. Now, we're truly hooked up.

I miss the days that we didn't have TV. I thought Burke would drive us bonkers but she found ways to entertain herself. We played board games or her toys (we love Magnetix - it's something we all play). I actually got things done around the house (Well, I don't think I could have lasted so long going to work in my slippers). More on this in a later article...

My proudest achievement was painting Burke's room. (Now I know why they call it painting - it's such a PAIN!) Early on, I asked her what color she wanted. "Rainbow!!!" was the enthusiastic answer. After thinking about it for some time, I knew I didn't want to sign up to do a mural in her room. I negotiated with rainbow polka-dots. It was truly worth the effort. (That is staying up there until she can paint over it herself.)



We're still settling in. The basement is still a mess. (That's one of the reasons why I can't host my house-warming yet since that's the only way to the backyard.) The couch isn't here yet. We have yet to figure out our daily routines and just how to live in our house. We've got time.