Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Up one, down one

Eh - it's the story of how things go around here.

Right now, I'm having discussions with several medical suppliers (doctors, pathologists, labs, etc.) who seem to think that even though they came to the hospital to see Ron, they can bill me outside of what insurance pays (because they can) and force me to pay. Right now, I'm dealing with close to $1,000 (maybe more with the newest bill I just received) from providers who've said that we owe on top of what insurance has paid because that's how they do their billing.

Not fun... A couple are threatening collection. I'm not opposed to paying what we owe - I just don't think we owe these. When Ron was a patient at any Wichita hospital, we never, ever, EVER got a bill above and beyond what insurance paid (for any service provided or on behalf of the hospital). He starts going to Newton hospital and all I've done for months is fight charges.

It's getting old... Will sure put a big damper on things to try and work those into the budget. Not happening in January or February at all.

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Ron got a good report from Dr. A. yesterday. His potassium is finally back down to normal and we have avoided a hospital stay. Yay! Score one for him! He's lost well over 30 pounds since mid-December (and closer to 50 from early December when he was in for CHF). Dr. A. was very pleased and doesn't want to see him for three months. The home health nurse will continue to come 3x a week this week and next, then 2x week for a month, and then 1x week for a month. That's the most he's planned and may cut it down from there depending on how Ron does over the course of the next few weeks.

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Many years ago (I mean 30+), I worked for a company in NKC, MO with my former SIL. The company was relocating and had a contest for who could come up with the best moving slogan and poster. I'm no artist - I really can't draw at all. But, I can see (in my mind) what I want stuff to look like. My SIL could draw so I told her what I wanted and she drew the poster for me. I did the poem (it was cheesy but it was over 30+ ago so I can be forgiven). The theme was how everyone could help with the move.

Imagine a building at the top of the poster and another one at the bottom of the poster, then a winding road going from the first one to the other. Along the road, you have moving trucks, people carrying things, and animated equipment (servers, computers, desks, chairs, etc.) moving themselves to the new location. It loses some in translation, but it was really cute. And, I won. At the time, it was a whopping $5 prize (big bucks in 1979). The poem was something along the lines of "moving day is so much fun, we'll all help one by one. Count the days till moving day and ..." that's all I can remember. It had a calendar attached to it so the pages could be taken off each day.

Anyway, I had a dream a couple of nights ago about that poster, only instead of equipment and people lined up to move from building-to-building, it was people who'd pulled up in front of our 6-plex, they went in the front door, picked up something to load up, and out the slider to move to the new location. LOL - that would be so nice except I don't know that many people and last time I checked, my stuff hadn't grown arms and legs to move itself.

LOL - So if any of you know any way to animate furniture and boxes, let me know. I could use some magic here. hahaha!

ihs
Teresa

6 comments:

JeannetteLS said...

My magic wand is at the shop. I wave it and I wave it, and I wave it again. Nothing happens. Maybe when they've fixed it I can do something. Only they charge an awful lot.

Congratulations on the good report! I know how HARD it is to lose weight when you cannot move around. And I know how much you have gone through, and how much you both go through every day. I hope this year is kinder to you both.

SkippyMom said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Teresa. So pleased that Ron had such a good report, and weight loss as well. Hopefully that will make things a little easier for him,. getting around. Like Jeannette, I really do pray that this year will be much kinder to the both of you. You certainly deserve it.

BB said...

When we moved last time, we knew we couldn't do it by ourselves. We found a young kid on Craigslist who helped us move for $100. It was so worth it. Maybe you can find someone around to help you for a small fee? A lot of folks are still out of work so a few bucks their way would be helpful. Just a suggestion. Glad to hear Ron is going well.

Anonymous said...

Ah, glad to read the good news buried in here.
Damn insurance. ugh.

Unknown said...

It makes you wonder if you should not give doctor's permission to enter the room without signing a contract that they will not bill on the side for their "services". I just discovered your email. Thanks for calling my attention to it:) I hope things continue to improve. Something good is going to happen today!