nothing new really

Life goes on...Liz has finals and is zeroing in on her last 2 behind the wheel sessions with her driving instructor. Laura is planning out her outfits and awaiting the big ski trip for Catholic Schools Week. Jeff works, even in the bitterest cold, and continues to donate time to the fire department for just about anything. I have been spending a lot of time on the really user-unfriendly site of Jeff's insurance provider, trying to determine simply whether Dr. Kopell is an in-network provider for them. Can't find him anywhere in the provider look-up system, but I see many of his colleagues. Can't get ahold of a real live person on the phone to just simply ask either. Tomorrow I will try again. I'm just trying to figure out if I should stay on my COBRA plan or switch to Jeff's coverage...simple really.

I have always felt for people who don't understand all of that insurance paperwork and detail. In hospice I saw and spoke with so many who had no idea what it all meant or even where to start, and the mail just piles up...and they are so sick or so worried and worn out from taking care of the person who is ill. That was one of the ways I knew I was helping them. Social workers are not shy about diving right into those problems and helping them sort through their questions and get some answers. However, there have been many times through this whole thing that I have felt frustrated by all the written information coming into my mailbox in addition to the inability to get information! I should say, though, my insurer, Security Health Plan has really been easy to deal with and very very helpful. I have a case manager named Lori who calls regularly to see how things are and to provide encouragement or information, or to make some connections, or to make things go smoother.

Work has called. I can work again, very part-time, between now and surgery time to help out. A social worker has resigned and they are pretty short-handed. I am interested in trying again, with really specific social work duties for a limited day. The return to work form is on my neurologist's desk, so when that's done, I'll go to the office again. Of course, it makes me nervous since when I returned to work before (Aug/Sept) my pain blew out like crazy, but I want to work some if I can.

My surgery date should be set soon. They did call last week with an earlier date than had even been hinted at in the consult visit, which caught me off guard, but also because it was on my birthday 2/24, I just couldn't accept. I'll admit I did have a quick flash of the irony of possibly dying on my birthday and got spooked by that, but then I quickly snapped out of that kind of thinking and acknowledged that I don't want my surgery/hospitalization to interfere with Liz's 16th birthday 2 days later. So the schedulers were patient with me and agreed to go back to the drawing board to get it coordinated for a day in March.