Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Cheryl takes a vacation

I have to wait to talk to my contact at Cyberonics, for she is taking some time to be off. What has occurred is that I have contacted the insurance company and I will have to, if my estimate of the charges is right, have to come up with $10,000 for the procedure. I have released the need to the universe. God, help me now. We will see what comes of this. Several things come to mind. My IRA. A new refinance of the house. Perhaps a better job, that has better benefits.
A better job, is what Dr. Figeuroa has suggested. Easy for him to say. But we will look for what we can. This would happen to anyone that is facing a high cost medical procedure.
Thank God that it is not life threatening, quality of life threatening, yes. It is a wake up call about the high cost of insurance and the fact that I can not make much more money at the job that I am at, I am topped out. I am beginning to look at options.


Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The co-pay Sucks

On October the tenth the insurance company came through with the coverage for the implant of the VNS device. But there is a big block to getting the procedure because of the copay of 1000.00 and the need to pay 30% of allowable costs. My work place insurance has over the years been cut bit by bit and now I am thinking of getting some kind of supplemental insurance.
Cheryl called me on Friday last and said she could talk to me about the copay. I've not have had the time to call her back; I've been working long hours and all day shifts. I will get back to her very soon.
I believe the cost of the procedure is 30,000,and I don't have that kind of funding.
A co-worker reported that maybe I can work out a deal with a surgeon that would just take the amount that the insurance pays and not want anymore. This type of deal is called assignment. I will take that up with Cheryl and the doctor.As yet I have not been assigned to a surgeon.
Doctor Figeuroa said that he wanted me to wait for three months to see what the Cymbalta will do. I am at 90 mil of Cymbalta, 200mil of Provigal, 60mil of paxil, and 50 mil of melaris. I am hoping if I have this procedure done that the amount of medications will go down, that I will be more stable emotionally, that the medications that I do take would work better and that I can better manage the disease.
I have noticed that when I am up and not on the borderline with depression that I am
more confident, less sheepist, quicker in response, more witty in combating sarcasm, and less clingy to negative thoughts. That is in essence the quality of life is there. I can handle life better in many ways. This may indeed sound selfish, but I don't have the time to sit and stew and try new self help plans that sound good, but in the end go nowhere.
In the vein of self help, I have tried everything under the sun. Nutritional pathways have worked for a few weeks, and then they are impotent and I am at square one again.
This up and down, uneven life that I have had to live only makes problems seem larger than life itself.