Monday, May 21, 2007

Death by procrastination...

I think that is what the state of Michigan is going for...if they procrastinate long enough with regards to my medicaid application, I will die before they have to pay! It's the new budget solution!!!

I just spoke with my case worker after leaving yet another message for him and he informed me that he still doeesn't have all the paperwork from the hospitals. He is waiting for records from Bronson and Select. This is the same thing he told me 2 weeks ago and said that he would take care of it then! Well, he informed me today that he still hasn't gotten the records, so he will go ahead and send out a second request today/tomorrow. He said that either they didn't get it or maybe in the shuffle of everything he just didn't get the request out for those 2 hospitals...you know, he says, you did have a lot of places to send requests to. UGH! He then told me that once he gets those records, he will take my records to the MRT (medical review team) and see if it can be expedited. I tried to express to him that I am getting desperate. The hospital called me today to tell me that they won't be paying anymore COBRA, so as of the end of the month, I am out of insurance, which means I have no way of paying for prescriptions as of May 31. I asked my case worker what I am to do and he said that there is nothing he can do other than try to get me approved as soon as he can and that even once I am approved, there are likely medications that I take now that won't be covered. I realize that is the case, but it will cover some and we will try to make changes to get the others covered or try other medications that are covered. Until I get approval though, I am screwed!

I am also trying to decide what to do about my bankruptcy. I feel like I should wait until I have my medicaid approval before I file for bankruptcy because if by some chance I am not approved, I will end up with a bunch of other bills that will need to be included. The problem though is that I really need to get it filed so I can get some of these people off my back.

In addition, I have to decide what to do about school. If I include my school loans in my bankruptcy, I am done going to school. If I want to go back, then I can't file against them, but I still can't afford to pay them. I don't know if I am ready to admit that I can't do the work and thus there is no need to finish school. It's been a big step admitting that I can't work right now - I don't know that I am ready to say that I will never be able to go back into an office...

So, I went to the PCP today and discussed with him a couple problems I am having. One of them is that I keep falling asleep. There are days that I am so exhausted that I sleep probably 18-20 hours a day - it's ridiculous. For instance, I was watching American Idol last week with mom and kept falling asleep even while talking to mom and then I would wake up and be completely disoriented. Other days, it is no problem at all. So, we are trying another medication, Provigil, to see if that helps. It is likely a side effect of the pain meds because it has gotten worse since we had to increase the dose of the meds. Hopefully this will help, although I probably can't afford it after this month! I am also going to start checking my blood pressure upstairs on a more regular basis. I have been having an increasing problem with my legs getting very spaghetti-like and then a head rush after taking a few steps. Yesterday, it was so bad that I slammed into a cupboard in the kitchen and bruised myself. It had been happening on an infrequent basis, but in recent weeks it has gotten worse. I didn't want to worry anyone here, but I felt like I had to address it with the doctor because it has gotten worse. I worry that I am going to get hurt. Hopefully, we can figure things out. I don't know if it is a BP issue or a sugar issue.

On my way home, I took myself out to lunch. Today is the only day I had an appointment scheduled (other than my weekly wound care appointment) and so I thought it was fair to do that. I had a lovely sandwich and strawberry shortcake and read my book. I am currently reading "The Innocent Man" by John Grisholm. It isn't my favorite book, but it's okay. It definitely started out slowly, but it does seem to be picking up. I am looking forward to my next book to read - "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks. I have started reading it a little (I wanted to read out on the deck and the other book was downstairs) and it seems like a great book. After that, I think I will try to get my hands on either the new Maive Binchy or Jody Piccoult book...I want to read them both. I need to get to the library and pay my fine so I can read. I still have a fine from when I was in the hospital last year. I had a bunch of books out when I was admitted and somehow returning my library books were not on the top of my mind as I was laying there in the ICU! Go figure!

Anyway, that's about it from here. It's supposed to get really warm here this week (86-90 degrees!) and so I figure the AC will be turned on soon...I just don't tolerate the heat very well - never have, but these days it is even worse. I sweat bad enough on a cold day...imagine the puddles I can produce in the heat and humidity!

Hope you all have a great day!

Sally

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sally,

I'm sorry to hear that things are taking as long as they are. After watching my extremely ill aunt wait a very long time for disability, I thought it would be odd if you got it so quickly. However I did want to be wrong about that. I thought perhaps they had more on the ball back east, since we can't pull off something like that on the west coast.

I really hope that things start to improve for you. It really seems like there are limited solutions to your many medical issues and with the financial ones on top of them... well, I'm glad you took the opportunity to eat the short cake! One of my favorites! Is there any way any of your doctors can get you samples or get a you a three month supply through the online pharmacy?

From my perspective, I know it must be difficult, but it seems really unlikely, given what I've read in your blog and online that you might be able to work fulltime again. That doesn't mean that you don't have something to contribute, just that it doesn't seem likely (in my opinion) that you'd be able to finish school and work a serious schedule. I know you're a committment type of girl and a real go-getter, but I think your health is the more important thing here.

Hope you start to feel better soon and that things sort themselves out for you.

Diane