"Bills, Bills, Bills"

It has been a frustrating week for me personally and professionally but everything ironed out...for the most part. Work is work. We all have those days where you are up to your eyeballs in issues. Eventually they work themselves out. I look at it this way: Its not life or death. I am not a doctor or a nurse.

Wednesday morning I opened up my email to find out I had a bill from UH for almost $700. I about threw up when I saw it. It was for my shot in January. I had not received a bill for my previous shots because I had reached my out of pocket max in 2012. So I had really no clue how much these shots were. The shot is almost $4,000. That would be:




Needless to say I panicked:

"Are you fucking kidding me??!!"
"Who can afford this??"
"What the hell am I going to do?"

I got into work and immediately emailed Marla my nurse practitioner. Explained the situation and she understood my challenge. I mean $700 a month? I cant do it. Hell, who can? And I am not happy about $700!! But I guess I know where most of my tax return is going to, right? I have an appointment with her next week. We will go over my options. One of which is a hysterectomy to remove my ovaries. Only question is:

WILL INSURANCE COVER IT?

Insurance companies are not going to pay for a surgery you don't need. So its my doctors job to explain why I need this. Why I am high risk. Why I need my ovaries out. And the reason why, for some that are wondering, is that breast cancer feeds off of hormones which your ovaries produce. That is why I was on Lupron. Lupron shuts your ovaries down. So if there is any cancer cell that got away from my chemo 5 years ago or from my recent diagnosis, I have a higher chance of ovarian cancer then a "normal" female. My other option would be to go back on Tamoxifen which I was on for almost 5 years last time. This is a much cheaper option. It is not as effective as Lupron but a good alternative. My plan is to go on that for awhile and, if approved by insurance, do the hysterectomy next year. I do not want to do any surgeries this year. Sorry, but no. I am tired. My body aches. I just need a break.

Speaking of my body aching, the Lupron is doing a number. In a way I am glad I am getting off of it. I cant tell you how much pain I am in. Knees, ankles and hips. When sitting at work, then I get up to walk, I feel like I am 95. I am constantly stretching. What scares me is if what would be happening if I wasnt getting to the gym 5 days a week?

On a positive note, my $6,000 bill that Anthem wasnt going to cover as a part of my reconstruction surgery in November was all cleared up officially yesterday. I followed up with the head of billing at UH to see where it was and she confirmed that the bill had been paid. I felt so much better knowing that. Look, I am a single girl and I have no means to be fighting this out with a lawyer. I knew I was right. I knew what the law said. What frustrates me is that people coded something wrong and didnt do THEIR job. And shit like this stresses me out.

I am looking forward to the weekend. Kim, Brian and I are going to dinner. I am taking her out for her 40th as a part of her gift(her other part being Griffin House tickets. Then we will probably head up to Gunselmans for drinks. I am looking forward to a fun night out!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

XOXO
B