Ok, this post title may not seem connected to my blog, but it really is. I'm going through one of those phases again where I'm feeling guilty for not bringing home the bacon. In reality, I know that there's not much that I can do about it right now, but my brain keeps telling me that I should just force myself to find a job and try to suffer through it...even if I get fired in the first 2 weeks for missing 5 days of work because my chronic pain took over and I had to go home, or worse, stay in bed all day from the pain...at least they'd have to pay me for the time I did work, right?
Anyway, what brought this on was the fact that we've had a super expensive month, including a hail-damaged roof. So, it's been an expensive month, mostly because all of these unforseen things keep happening along with the forseen (is that a word without the "un"?). Aside from that, as I've blogged before, my hubby drives 120 miles/day to work and we haven't been able to sell our house to move closer and save on gas funds because of this crazy economy where many are losing jobs and even their homes because they are in worse situations than we are. I know that our tight budget is the story of most people, so I'm preaching to the choir, but when it is paired up with health problems, and even worse, one half of a couple that is almost constantly in unrelenting pain, the stress and worry goes through the hail-damaged roof. (couldn't resist that one).
OK, now for a quick update/example of a poorly-run healthcare office. My pain level spiked, I called my pain clinic, also mentioning that my last nerve block was no help, and aside from that left me with a numb upper-leg. They took 2 days to call me back, even though they have that crappy 24 hours for a call back policy. I missed the callback as usual, took another day to get them back on the phone. Was told to make an appointment to see my Dr. Called to make an appointment, they said it would be 2 weeks to get in. I was angry. By chance, an appointment opened up for the next morning (last Friday) with a Physician's Assistant, so I took it. She focused only on the numb leg, drug-tested me, scolded me for taking more pain killers than prescribed (which I didn't, she was actually mis-informed), upped my number of percosets to 120 for the next month, told me that insurance probably won't approve nerve blocks any longer because the last 2 didn't work (even though I maintain that the Dr. missed the last 2 times), had no other suggestions for me, and then ordered an MRI for my numb leg, telling me it would probably take 2 weeks to even get a call to SCHEDULE the MRI. I know, that was a run-on sentance, but I'm OK with that. She then told me to schedule a follow up after the MRI was done. Here's where I admit that I cried through the second half of the appointment and my entire 35 minute drive home because a) I'm in pain and b) because I was casted aside with no plan. Note again that the leg numbness is not my complaint, just a symptom that I reported after my last nerve block. I can't remember if I mentioned that I clearly remember a giant pain running down that part of my leg during my last nerve block, but that's exactly what happened.
My next steps were as follows:
- I had my husband call the Dr's nurse to ask what the clinic's next steps are to deal with the pain...I signed a release for the clinic to talk to them anytime I want because frankly, I take it very personally when I'm not treated well by a healthcare professional and I tend to yell, whereas my husband's charming personality gets results.
- I obtained a referral for Physical Therapy with a highly-recommended PT from my new OB/GYN so that I can try again to improve my pain through non-surgical methods
- I also obtained a referral for a second opinion at the pain clinic in the same health system as the new OB/GYN
- My husband received a call from the clinic administrator instead of the nurse, and he made sure that they included my request to try cheaper alternatives, like a TENS unit, along with his request for a very specific short-term and long term plan for my care.
So, with all of that taking place, I did receive a call from the place I was referred for an MRI in only (insert sarcasm) a week's time, and guess what happened? The place they wanted to send me, which from the business degree's that my hubby and I have, we figured out that they have a kickback deal for referrals, tells me that they are out-of-network from my insurance. I promptly told the lady that I will not be setting foot (or lumbar) in her office, and she tried to tell me that I had to schedule with her. Yeah, right. So, I called the pain clinic back to explain, and gave them the name of the hospital where all of my new doctors are, and asked for the order to be sent there. Then, I received a call later that day from the pain clinic (which nearly gave me a heart attack, since I never receive same-day service from them), saying that I can call the hospital I provided to them to schedule the MRI, and she gave me that hospital's scheduling number. Guess what happened when I called...seriously, guess....They had no record of the order being received!!!!! So...as I'm standing in the grocery store on that Friday, on my way to my weekend vacation, I left a message for the general voicemail of the pain clinic, which promises to return my call on the next business day explaining that the order was not received, and provided the fax number where they can resend the order. It is now Monday, and guess what...yes, you guessed it, the pain clinic never called me back, and I didn't not hear from the hospital, which is fabulous at handling business, to schedule the MRI.
So to summarize, as I did on my Facebook account the other day. Can we puh-leeze fix the healthcare system? Pretty please?
Anyway, all that said, I've done no proofreading, so if anything is unclear...I'll probably fix it another day. Probably.
-S
