I had another set of CT scans scheduled for Monday. Then, I received a letter from our new insurance on Friday, announcing that they were denying said scan, giving me no time (weekend only) to work it all out.
On Monday, I called the clinic at their earliest time to inquire.
Notes were made and nurses would call me back.
My idea of nurses calling back seems to be different than theirs.
I finally had to call THE NURSES back, after giving them several hours to respond to my request about whether or not I should even waste time coming down to the clinic (because I was NOT going to have scans done on a new insurance, with no promise of any of it being covered.) Monday was not scheduled an appointment with Dr. Cole or any infusions. It was simply for accessing my port, drawing labs, time for drinking the delicious shake prior to scans, and scans. The scans that insurance did NOT want me to burden them over.
Minutes ticked on and on with still no callback. It was time to either drive to the clinic or skip it all. I still didn't have a simple, straight answer on whether or not to ac. I decided to take the leap and go. At least I could see whether or not it was time for another blood transfusion.
I checked in and no one was exactly clear on my plan for the day. They had me sit in the waiting room and wait for further instructions.
Within minutes of following orders, my imaging Guardian Angel, Lance, appeared before me. He works downstairs in a completely different part of the building, but happened to be right where I needed him to be. Instead of passing the buck and relying on someone else to call back or find out my insurance questions, he returned downstairs, gathered information, and gave me clear instructions. Soon, my port was accessed and I was waiting for a scan, which HAD been approved! And, Lance did it all with a smile and without me needing to pull any cancer cards at all. (Good, because I might be running low on stock of those babies!)
All my peeps in Imaging were killing it that day: (I truly apologize for not remembering all the names, but......chemo brain? They all played an important role for me that Monday, as I was starting to lose my mind and my confidence in health care in general. There was The Manager, who heard about me and my day from Lance, who described what had been going on with insurance and that I wasn't hearing much from the cancer clinic. I love The Front Desk Angel who used to be a little coarse, but has softened with me, through kindness and care about her day and her story. She now knows my story and actually understands that my body does NOT need a pregnancy test BECAUSE I HAVE NO OVARIES, among other friendly and understanding comments about prepping for the scans and that she would have me wait a few minutes longer, so Lance could be back from lunch, rather than someone I didn't know. (It's amazing how kindness can change people, especially when dealing with different races and the current difficulties of these trying times.)
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Soon, Lance was back early from lunch and ready to take me back to the scan room.
His "work wife," Suzie, (another favorite) was also there. I got settled into the machine, had brain, abdomen/pelvis and chest scans with and without contrast, and a few minutes later, it was time to pull out the needle from my port and head home to finally eat!
The hardest part of so many things is all of the unknown. Today, I it was unknown whether or not this appointment would happen. Now, I have an unknown that I cannot do anything about. The waiting part. Waiting for results.
I know about the waiting part, as I've experienced it MANY times before. I guess it's not so bad this week because I'm living the break week from one of the chemo pills, the meanest one.
I plan on sleeping well, getting stuff done, and thinking good thoughts about these scan results.
P.S. Later in the day, the oncology nurses FINALLY responded to my messages and apologized for not being more on top of things. I guess I'll forgive them and keep fighting.
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