EXTRA POST....assistance....

Thanks to a friend whose mom is also a cancer patient, I obtained a link to a website for an assistance program to help me pay my vastly increased costs for my monthly injection.

I got signed up, and today, the mail carrier brought what looks like a MasterCard debit card.

Hopefully, when I call to pay my bill with this card, that will be that.

Oh, and I can't remember if I posted WHY my costs went up so far....we were able to figure it out.  

I've been in the medical billing field for 18 years.

I had Dave call the insurance company and ask them what kind of forms my claims were coming through on before, and what kind of forms they're coming through on NOW.

My doctor's office used to be independent.  

In December, it was taken over by a large regional hospital system.

SO, how interesting..... in December, the method of billing the charges changed from using a HCFA1500 form, to using a UB04 form, which is used for hospitals. 

That makes it "okay" for the charges for THE EXACT SAME THING to go from $3266 to $11,154 PER ENCOUNTER.

SIMPLY BECAUSE St. Anthony Health System changed the designation of the clinic that I have always gone to from a doctor's office to an OUT PATIENT FACILITY.

That simple change makes it possible for them to charge four times as much for the exact same services.

I just keep praying that my insurance doesn't have a life time maximum.

Change of attitude

Last week's post was all about being aggravated about having to spend money on a Sunday plumber visit.

While what WAS very aggravating, it really was okay.  It hurt a little to have to spend three times as much money as we could have spent if Dave could have fixed it himself.

The fact is, though, that the plumber, with all of his fancy tools, and his well-practiced skills, had trouble getting the thing apart, too.

The fact is also that we had the money.

Sure, it could have been used for something less aggravating!  Maybe we'll take a couple of weeks off from having our once a week meal out, or maybe we won't.  We have to live our lives

It is what it is, until it isn't, as I like to say.

I just let it get to me.

Then, this past week, our really big windfall came via our tax return.  Owning two pieces of real estate helps us out a lot.  Re-financing my condo last year helped us a lot.

Our plans for home improvements for this year (we always try to use our refund to improve the functioning of our home in some way) are partially outdoors and partially indoors, and partially...well...DOORS.

Our refrigerator is still WORKING, but the door hinges are starting to fail.  It can't have items stored in the door shelves, because, when it does, it breaks through holes that it has created in the bottom of the fridge along the "threshold" area.

There are three little holes there, and if we store stuff in the door, we can't open it, and sometimes, it doesn't close all the way if we aren't paying attention to it.

So, the interior capacity of the main compartment is over loaded.  The glass shelves are actually bowed.

This fridge was here when we moved in, and the house was flipped in 2007, so it's most likely 11 years old.  Granted, that is NOT old for a fridge, but we need one that we can open, and that we know is closed when we close the door.

We looked on line a little, and we browsed at a couple of stores, and yesterday, we went to Lowe's and ordered a new fridge!

https://www.lowes.com/pd/LG-24-1-cu-ft-Bottom-Freezer-Refrigerator-with-Ice-Maker-Smooth-White-ENERGY-STAR/1000064389

We got it for a better price that in this ad, and we purchased the warranty as well.  We got the stainless steel finish color, and it will be delivered next Saturday!

Next up, we will get a quote for having a little bit of concrete work done along the driveway.  There are two narrow strips on the sides of the driveway under the carport that (for some reason) we did NOT have filled in with concrete when we had the big job done in 2013.

Those areas are full of cat shit from the wildings we care for, and they get muddy and messy when it rains.

Dave has talked about filling them in with gravel, but bags and bags of gravel are actually pretty expensive, and he'd have to lug them home and fill it in himself, and that shit is obviously very heavy.

Cats will also continue to poop there if it's just gravel.

And, last but not least, we want a storm door for the back, and a wooden screen door for the front.

The back is exposed to the elements, and the front is under the protective front porch.

That will help ventilation in nice weather SO very much, and will also help, in the back, with sealing a drafty door way.

Our handy man will also be giving us a quote for installing those doors, which we have already picked out at Lowe's.

I made dinner for a friend last night, and she hung out here for the evening.  That was fun.

Dave got his pop taken care of yesterday, and I did chores and laundry, and some weed whacking out back.

Then, last night, I made Moroccan food for the friend who brought me the preserved lemons needed to make the food!  It was delicious, and she hung out here with us until late in the evening. SO much fun.

Today will be easier.  We might go to the Tower Theater to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the big screen.  THAT would be fun, but it's $20, so we'll decide later.

Right now, I am off to start breakfast. Have a great Sunday!

Never fails...

Something that requires a house call for a repair always seems to happen on a Sunday or a holiday.

This time, it was the shut off water valve for the toilet.

Dave tried to take it apart to fix it himself, but it was frozen so tight with corrosion, that we had to call a plumber.

What should have cost us about $25 ended up costing $275.

Add that to the $1700 medical bill I just got because my monthly treatment nearly quadrupled in price when my doctor's office was taken over by a major regional hospital system, and our tax refund is already spent!

Oh, and I will get another bill for another $1700 for my February treatment, so I have that to look forward to as well.  That will meet my annual out of pocket before March!

Great.

Don't get me wrong.  We do okay.  We pay our bills, and we can afford the occasional luxury, but then stuff like this happens, and it's just so aggravating.

We've been fortunate, though.  The past few years, our annual windfall has made home improvements possible.

My medical bill fund raiser from a couple of years ago made those bills go away from the expensive chemo that I had to have every week.

I guess I'm just frustrated.  We had hoped to pay down some debt this year.  Not gonna happen.

Finally, some down time

This weekend has actually had some measurable down time for me!!

I got my monthly massage yesterday, and we got in the hot tub last night.

I really needed it, as I have been given a new task at work that is all data entry, and it has had my neck and shoulders in knots.

Had my monthly shot and a nurse visit on Thursday.  I was able to tell her about my increased fatigue, constant mouth issues (though the horrible canker sores are improved, they still do come, and there is also the ever present dry mouth and weird taste), and other side effects from the chemo pill that seem to be increasing again.

I wasn't able to schedule my scan day for April because the doc wasn't there to order it, but I should hear from them this week to get that set up.

Obviously, my hope is that everything will still be stable, and that maybe the chemo can stop for a while.

Today, we hope to FINALLY get to work on our taxes.  We've never done them this late before.

Dave was supposed to meet up with his son today, for the first time since the horror that was Christmas Eve.

Eric backed out.  So "the talk" still hasn't happened.  Oh well! 

I'm glad that Dave will be here all day, so that we can do the stuff we need to do.

I also have a couple of cooking projects, and some laundry to do.  We'll be going to get some sheets and towels first, but that won't take long.

I got a lot done yesterday, which was very satisfying.  Even cut back the artemesia plant out back that desperately needed to be tamed.

Best wishes for a nice Sunday to anyone out there who reads this!

Spring dance showcase....

Click images to enlarge!

The Spring Showcase for the dance studio was a month earlier than usual, so we had less time to prepare. As a result, most of the teachers did shorter choreographies for their classes, and there were no "drum" add ons at the end of the dances.

My class did a cute choreography that I really liked.  In the end, I was the only one in the class who actually remembered the full choreography, and performed it perfectly.

I wonder what the video will look like when we get to see it.... It will either look like I was the one who was wrong, or it will look like a jumbled up mess, HAHA!

Oh well, we had fun, and we got on stage.  That's what really matters.

 
ADDENDUM:  Here are some additional pictures.  Some taken by the pro at the show, and some taken by my teacher/director who was at my end of the stage....