Frustration!

So not only did I catch a cold, but I'm dealing with the most stupid insurance glitch you can imagine! It turns out my oncologist is only an in-network provider at her Berkeley office not at her Oakland office (why she has two offices less than five miles apart I don't really understand). This means that we're getting billed 20% of the cost of my treatment (thankfully we have an out-of-pocket limit of $2000/year, but still...). To deal with this snafu, I've been transferred to the Berkeley office. This would all be fine and good if this hadn't happened Friday afternoon when I'm due for chemo on Monday morning, URGH! Feel free to stop reading, I'm just going to continue my rant...

So before I can get any treatment at the Berkeley office, I need to have an appointment with my doctor (just bureaucratic BS that is necessitated by the fact that the Berkeley office is a much larger place than the Oakland office). So I go today at 11:30 to meet with the doctor, explain what's going on, tell her I have a cold, pass on the good news about the ultrasound from last week and talk through how to organize treatment. She seemed hopeful they could squeeze me in today and then her nurse came in to help coordinate the appointments. The nurse said there was no way to get in today, but she'd work on it so I could get in as soon as possible (usually it takes a week to get in - not acceptable!).

So Mom and I leave (yeah, my Mom is back! Poor thing is bored out of her skull since Keith and I are both wiped out from this cold). I get home and call my "member champion" at the insurance company. Yes, I have a personal contact at the insurance company to help me navigate this crap (thank goodness). I asked her if she could help expedite the approval of my chemo meds (that have already been approved for use in Oakland) so I can get treatment this week. She was super helpful and while she doesn't do the approvals, she gave me the number of the person who does. I tried the number and only got a voicemail. We'll see how this all shakes out... I'm just in awe of how difficult it is to get the same treatment from the same doctor in an office just 3 miles away. Stupid!

Now I'm going to lie down and read a stupid book and try to relax (and get over this cold) while other people try to figure this shit out.