Ever have one of those days where you just want to complain? I was watching a Saturday Night Live sketch and the line “Really?” is now stuck in my brain.
Sometimes the HPS life has the dumbest problems. This is one of those weeks when I’m grateful I don’t have a traditional job. Between the GI issues, the wacky sleep issues because of the GI issues, and the time I’ve spent on the phone fighting with insurance companies etc – well, who has time for work? Groan.
I’m having a CPAP issue. My last mask has a crack in it so it whistles. Who can sleep with a whistle going off every time you breathe? So, I tried to order a new one, only I haven’t needed new CPAP supplies in a while. My insurance company requires that I order this through a mail order company rather than a local provider, and the mail order place has changed. This might be the cheap idea, but it isn’t always the best idea. When you get a new mask through a local provider, you get to meet with a respiratory therapist. They check out your machine, make sure it’s calibrated correctly and allow you to try out new products that might actually work better for you. I went to order the mask thinking I could have it overnighted before my trip. Guess what? You have to have a current prescription to order it. What am I going to do, overdose on a mask? I can see it for the machine, but the mask, the same mask I’ve used for years? Really? Are you kidding me? Really?
Of course, my pulmo hasn’t seen me for sleep issues in a long time and so doesn’t want to “write a script” until after we meet up at the end of June. Really? It’s a mask. A plastic mask – that’s it.
The next problem was the ostomy supplies. Thanks to all of the GI issues I’ve had, I’m going through supplies at lightning speed. I used three weeks worth of supplies in a 24-hour period just because of a bleeding sore. It isn’t like you have a choice. You do what you have to do. The insurance company must think there’s some kind of black market for ostomy supplies or something because they don’t want to pay for the extra supplies. Who could possibly need that much, after all? Who could possibly want ostomy supplies is my response? It seems like we go through this two or three times a year. I eventually usually win, but still, it’s a time-consuming hassle.
After I won that battle, I ordered the supplies and they were supposed to arrive last Thursday. I waited Friday, Monday, and then I started to panic. Where are my supplies? My existing supply was at dangerously low levels. If I had another horrible bleeding day I’d be in trouble. I called the company, and after 20 minutes on hold discovered my order had never been shipped. Why? Because my co-pay had changed by $10. Really? No one could have called me to tell me this so the order could get moving? Could it just be possible a patient is desperately waiting for these supplies? Really?
I’m missing my art class today because I had to wait around all morning for the UPS guy. I was afraid to even get in the shower for fear I wouldn’t hear him knock, or that I wouldn’t be able to jump out of the shower and throw on clothes before he left. If I missed him, I’d be headed for New Orleans with no supplies – and that would have been very bad.
Instead, this afternoon I’m running the errands I would have run this morning so I could go to class.
No one thinks about how these seemingly little problems can end up being major life disruptions.
Sometimes the HPS life has the dumbest problems. This is one of those weeks when I’m grateful I don’t have a traditional job. Between the GI issues, the wacky sleep issues because of the GI issues, and the time I’ve spent on the phone fighting with insurance companies etc – well, who has time for work? Groan.
I’m having a CPAP issue. My last mask has a crack in it so it whistles. Who can sleep with a whistle going off every time you breathe? So, I tried to order a new one, only I haven’t needed new CPAP supplies in a while. My insurance company requires that I order this through a mail order company rather than a local provider, and the mail order place has changed. This might be the cheap idea, but it isn’t always the best idea. When you get a new mask through a local provider, you get to meet with a respiratory therapist. They check out your machine, make sure it’s calibrated correctly and allow you to try out new products that might actually work better for you. I went to order the mask thinking I could have it overnighted before my trip. Guess what? You have to have a current prescription to order it. What am I going to do, overdose on a mask? I can see it for the machine, but the mask, the same mask I’ve used for years? Really? Are you kidding me? Really?
Of course, my pulmo hasn’t seen me for sleep issues in a long time and so doesn’t want to “write a script” until after we meet up at the end of June. Really? It’s a mask. A plastic mask – that’s it.
The next problem was the ostomy supplies. Thanks to all of the GI issues I’ve had, I’m going through supplies at lightning speed. I used three weeks worth of supplies in a 24-hour period just because of a bleeding sore. It isn’t like you have a choice. You do what you have to do. The insurance company must think there’s some kind of black market for ostomy supplies or something because they don’t want to pay for the extra supplies. Who could possibly need that much, after all? Who could possibly want ostomy supplies is my response? It seems like we go through this two or three times a year. I eventually usually win, but still, it’s a time-consuming hassle.
After I won that battle, I ordered the supplies and they were supposed to arrive last Thursday. I waited Friday, Monday, and then I started to panic. Where are my supplies? My existing supply was at dangerously low levels. If I had another horrible bleeding day I’d be in trouble. I called the company, and after 20 minutes on hold discovered my order had never been shipped. Why? Because my co-pay had changed by $10. Really? No one could have called me to tell me this so the order could get moving? Could it just be possible a patient is desperately waiting for these supplies? Really?
I’m missing my art class today because I had to wait around all morning for the UPS guy. I was afraid to even get in the shower for fear I wouldn’t hear him knock, or that I wouldn’t be able to jump out of the shower and throw on clothes before he left. If I missed him, I’d be headed for New Orleans with no supplies – and that would have been very bad.
Instead, this afternoon I’m running the errands I would have run this morning so I could go to class.
No one thinks about how these seemingly little problems can end up being major life disruptions.
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