June 16, 2012

Another acupuncture appointment with Susan yesterday, and this time she addressed my issues of periodic bone pain and god-awful fatigue.  I’ve had sporadic achy bones for months before the diagnosis in April; I saw my primary physician late last year because of it, and after running x-rays he found no reason for the aches.  Little did we know that Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was quietly skulking about, waiting to be discovered during the kidney stone shenanigans in March!  The fatigue can be fierce at times – if I could sleep continuously for days, it still wouldn’t be enough.  Most days I have an abundance of energy and others it’s a struggle to stay awake until I finally crawl into bed around 6:PM.  Such a glamorous life I lead!

I posted my fatigue issue to one of the lymphoma forums I regularly visit, and one member theorized that it may be due to “diagnosis depression.”  I had never even considered that possibility, because I haven’t been “depressed” since receiving the diagnosis.

However, there is a LOT of brain action that goes along with a cancer diagnosis.  Even the positive stuff – taking on a whole new education in biology and cellular dynamics, researching about nutrition and incorporating all that into daily living, etc. – takes a lot of mental power.  BUT, throw in the negative stuff – dealing with the insurance company is the biggest thing that comes to mind – and THAT is a tremendous brain drain.

For example, I’m still dealing with the insurance and ambulance companies over the bill for the ride to the ER in March for the kidney stone.

That was one expensive 6-mile ambulance ride!

The insurance company paid about $1,500 of it, but left me with nearly $500 of “denied” charges.  Their reason?  I didn’t obtain preauthorization for things like the EKG in the ambulance and the Zofran the paramedic gave me to try and stop the vomiting on the way to the ER.  Um, seriously?  Let’s conduct a quick review of the facts:  It was an EMERGENCY, I was alone, and I was semi-conscious and in tremendous pain by the time the ambulance got to my house!  And I was supposed to call the insurance company during that time and get preauthorization for things the paramedics felt were necessary?  Needless to say, I’ve filed an appeal with the insurance company to get them to pony up the balance.  In the meantime, though, I’ve had to pay that bill, because the ambulance company doesn’t care that there’s an appeal going on – they just want their money.  And THE LAST thing I want is to go into debt or have my credit rating compromised because of this cancer thing. 

The latest challenge in the insurance game is the bill I got today from the diagnostic company for the bone marrow biopsy in May.

The latest love notes.....

Ugh.

Yep, you’re reading that right:  $6,670.00 for a single procedure.  Now, the maddening thing is that the diagnostic company is saying that they billed my insurance company but the claim was denied:  “The service is not covered by this payer/processor.  Claim has been transferred to the proper payer/processor for processing.”  Excuse me?  What other “payer/processor” do I have?  I only have ONE insurance company!  And if they’re saying they didn’t pay it and have transferred it to someone else, WHO did they transfer it to?  I called the insurance company as soon as I got this bill in the mail today, but they’re closed on the weekend so the battle will have to wait until Monday.  Which brings me back to the ambulance ride:  HOW could I have obtained preauthorization in the first place since this occurred on a WEEKEND and the insurance company isn’t even open on the weekend?  Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!

Fatigue because of brain drain?  Yeh, you betcha!