Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Wednesday, October 1
A very big day for me, medical finance wise, as today I go from private insurance to Medicare. I have worked hard on this and think I have my ducks in a row. However, it was much harder than I thought it would be. I can see lots of scope for fraud and just plain mistakes being made.
There are so many plans for Medi-gap and drug coverage insurance that it seems impossible for an average person to be sure they are getting the correct ones to cover their needs
For the Medi-gap I went with a plan connected to the the Mississippi state retirees system.. I think they may be a healthier group than normal and thus the cost will be less. Also they cover overseas care.
For the drug benefit, I went with the medium AARP plan. This one I know for sure is not the cheapest or best choice. But I was desperate and thought this would suffice for now. I can change in December.
Right now I am feeling better than I have felt in six weeks or so. I am coming off a bad week as I was very sick Wednesday through Saturday. Then Saturday night I started feeling better. I started calling people because I wanted to be with them. Thank goodness for Carol and Richard Henderson. I watched the last hour and a half of the LSU-Mississippi State game with them on the phone. Of course, in this game we were for opposite sides. I think the 24 points State scored was terrific and I am proud of them.
Richard continues to improve. With glasses he has 20-20 vision in one eye but has very limited vision in the other. He hopes he gets a new retina for that eye and that they put in a sac for lens. But he is grateful for the vision he has considering the catastrophic damage done to his eyes
Yesterday was chemo day. Julia and I both have learned to enjoy these days. She enjoys the freedom it gives her to indulge herself and just relax. I enjoy knowing I am doing something to aid my recovery.
Next week may be my last chemo session. Depending on what the Ole Miss doctor says, I may be referred to the surgeon at Vanderbilt. Julia and I sat by the window yesterday and his SUV with Ole Miss front plate was facing us in the parking lot. yikes.
Beth arrived last night. She flew into Nashville and rented a car to get here. It is one of those cute little boxy subcompacts but she doesn't like it. I went out to look; it is a PT Cruiser.
It is wonderful to have her here. Saturday Anne and family visit. These are my best times.
I like for other people to visit, too. A 30 minute visit would really brighten my day.
Beth has a long to-do list but she enjoys being busy and then she enjoys just really lazying around.
Thanks to Julia, I did find a pharmacy that could fill the prescription for my pain killer medicine. There is a compounding pharmacy in north Jackson that will do it. Beth and I will go pick it up today. He says insurance may not cover it but the regular medicine is very cheap so I hope the extra will not put it out of reach.
Right now I am in almost no pain. Occasionally I take two ibuprofen tablets but I can't remember when I last took the prescription stuff. However, I take great comfort in having it there if I need it and would be in distress if I didn't have it. I don't know if that is called dependency or not.
A very big day for me, medical finance wise, as today I go from private insurance to Medicare. I have worked hard on this and think I have my ducks in a row. However, it was much harder than I thought it would be. I can see lots of scope for fraud and just plain mistakes being made.
There are so many plans for Medi-gap and drug coverage insurance that it seems impossible for an average person to be sure they are getting the correct ones to cover their needs
For the Medi-gap I went with a plan connected to the the Mississippi state retirees system.. I think they may be a healthier group than normal and thus the cost will be less. Also they cover overseas care.
For the drug benefit, I went with the medium AARP plan. This one I know for sure is not the cheapest or best choice. But I was desperate and thought this would suffice for now. I can change in December.
Right now I am feeling better than I have felt in six weeks or so. I am coming off a bad week as I was very sick Wednesday through Saturday. Then Saturday night I started feeling better. I started calling people because I wanted to be with them. Thank goodness for Carol and Richard Henderson. I watched the last hour and a half of the LSU-Mississippi State game with them on the phone. Of course, in this game we were for opposite sides. I think the 24 points State scored was terrific and I am proud of them.
Richard continues to improve. With glasses he has 20-20 vision in one eye but has very limited vision in the other. He hopes he gets a new retina for that eye and that they put in a sac for lens. But he is grateful for the vision he has considering the catastrophic damage done to his eyes
Yesterday was chemo day. Julia and I both have learned to enjoy these days. She enjoys the freedom it gives her to indulge herself and just relax. I enjoy knowing I am doing something to aid my recovery.
Next week may be my last chemo session. Depending on what the Ole Miss doctor says, I may be referred to the surgeon at Vanderbilt. Julia and I sat by the window yesterday and his SUV with Ole Miss front plate was facing us in the parking lot. yikes.
Beth arrived last night. She flew into Nashville and rented a car to get here. It is one of those cute little boxy subcompacts but she doesn't like it. I went out to look; it is a PT Cruiser.
It is wonderful to have her here. Saturday Anne and family visit. These are my best times.
I like for other people to visit, too. A 30 minute visit would really brighten my day.
Beth has a long to-do list but she enjoys being busy and then she enjoys just really lazying around.
Thanks to Julia, I did find a pharmacy that could fill the prescription for my pain killer medicine. There is a compounding pharmacy in north Jackson that will do it. Beth and I will go pick it up today. He says insurance may not cover it but the regular medicine is very cheap so I hope the extra will not put it out of reach.
Right now I am in almost no pain. Occasionally I take two ibuprofen tablets but I can't remember when I last took the prescription stuff. However, I take great comfort in having it there if I need it and would be in distress if I didn't have it. I don't know if that is called dependency or not.
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