Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Insurance, Numbers and Gyro II

Yesterday, I arrived at the hospital early. It was going to be a long day. I had bloodwork scheduled, an appointment with my oncologist and then my photopheresis treatment. I'd come prepared with lunch, books and my cell phone.

I was only able to do my labs and see the doctor. Marty started a new job yesterday, and the company is changing insurance companies. I'm covered, but there's no account number yet. This meant I had to cancel my photopheresis treament. My numbers were all good: wbc: 7; hgb, 11.3; platelets: 113.

One of the hospital administrators said she's look into having me pay for the treament with a credit card and then be reimbursed. It turns out, each treatment costs $10,000, so that wasn't an option. A woman who was sitting next to me excused herself for overhearing the conversation and adding her two cents. "Honey, they have to give it to you for free." She was elegantly dressed, with bright red lipstick and perfectly coiffed hair. I'd say she was around 75. She started complaining about how tired she was, and that you have to have so much patience for this. I said that I'd learned to be patient during my illness. I decided to leave rather than talk to her some more.

Because I got home so early, Harry and I did a little shopping for clothes and a new cell phone. Today we plan to go up to Macys, not that we want to buy anything, but we want to go to Gyro II for the best gyro in the world.

3 comments:

Ronni Gordon said...

When in doubt, getting something good to eat is a good plan. Hope you enjoyed the gyro.

Ann said...

Insurance changes are always a pain. Hope you enjoyed the gyro.

Anonymous said...

Hi PJ, it's been a while! Today's my first non-working day in what seems like a decade. So I popped in to catch up with you. Hope you'll get that insurance stuff sorted out soon. I'm so happy you got the Disability "Jackpot" (not much of a jackpot, considering what you've been through to be eligible for it). Keep running! Brenda