No, there is too much. Let me sum up...
Breast Cancer Scare 2013
This story has a happy ending, and I'm in good health:
In January, I went in for my annual mammogram, only the second one I've ever had. They found a "new density," so a week later (the soonest appointment I could get), I had to go in for a retest. Got to the hospital on that second morning and was presented with a bill for $750 -- the hospital explained that my insurance (CIGNA) will cover one mammogram a year as a "well woman" visit. If you need medically necessary mammogram because they found something, then you're no well, and it hits your deductible. I refused to take the image until I spoke with my insurance company personally -- and glad I did! Got a really nice, knowledgeable person on the phone from CIGNA. She told me to ignore the bill, pay nothing, that CIGNA would cover it -- however, CIGNA would not also cover an ultrasound on the same day. If I needed the ultrasound, CIGNA advised me to come back even the next day, and they'd cover it. I had to go back and forth with the nurse on that, with her running messages to the radiologist since they preferred to run everything same-day. Finally, I put my foot down, apologized, and just insisted that I would refuse the ultrasound that day due to insurance.
Finally got into the imaging room, and during the routine screening questions, they asked if there's any chance I could pregnant. I told them that we're actively trying to conceive, so sure, there's a chance. They refused to do the mammogram! They told me I'd have to come back after my next period which was a few weeks away. I burst into tears! I'd held up well in anticipation of the appointment, but the insurance difficulty had worn me thin. We went back and forth on that issue for a bit, and finally it came out how long we've been trying. "Oh, so the chances that you're pregnant are slim to none?" the kindly 100 year-old woman asked me. With a sigh, I had to appreciate that logic was the ticket to getting the mammogram done which I wanted, but you can imagine that didn't feel too good otherwise.
After viewing the mammogram, the kindly old nurse, and the messages from the radiologist started using words like "mass." Then I was pretty scared until the follow-up ultrasound the next morning.
The next day, I called CIGNA again just to verify that the ultrasound would be covered. Got another really helpful, knowledgeable person on the phone. She even looked up not only the hospital but its imaging practice to verify that it was all in-network. She assured me that the two visits would be 100% covered. I can't tell you what an emotional burden was lifted from me when I heard that! I hadn't realized how, in the face of some potentially really scary health news, how much I was also worried about the financial burden. I'd just like to say that's a terrible reality, and I wish our health system did not even raise such questions. No one should have to worry about how to pay for healthcare.
The radiology interpreted my ultrasound results immediately, which was a great relief! We talked about my medical history, and the ultrasound I'd had for an earlier breast cancer scare around 1994. I told him I have two places, one in each breast, which are just naturally lumpy, have been my whole adult life, don't move, don't change, and which are caught in every physical exam. With that history in mind, the radiologist gave me a clean bill of health! The mystery spots are probably benign cysts. I had the option to go under the knife to find out for sure -- or I can just promise to come in immediately if the shape or feeling ever changes, and keep going in for annual mammograms. Yes, sir! Oh my goodness. You can imagine my relief!!
And now the rest of me...
The jury's still out on this one, and we don't know what's up.
Shortly after the end of Boobgate 2013, I went into the fertility specialist for some routine tests, including a full ultrasound. They found what the doctor refers to as an "unimportant cyst" on my ovaries. Meaning - it's not a danger to my health, and nothing I should worry about overall. Ovarian cysts produce hormones, however, which certainly aren't helping us conceive. In addition to the "unimportant cyst," the same side also has some mystery shadow over it, the likes of which are unknown. Further, they were hoping to find at least 11 eggs ready to turn into babies -- they found 7. This was not spectacular news. For now, it means that we wait a month, and then we'll have another ultrasound to check how my passengers are doing. Ovarian cysts apparently come and go all the time. It's possible that this one and its mystery companion might just disappear on their own. Or they could grow. We'll just check it out. Further on the topic of expensive healthcare: It was $520 with no insurance coverage for the ultrasound and bloodtests last time. Since we have to repeat some of those steps, it will be another $300. Bummer, really.
The routine bloodtests also revealed that I'm not immune to rubella! This week at my annual physical, I'll need to get an MMR shot like I'm two years-old. This means that 100% of the vaccines I have had which were later tested (hee hee, I originally wrote "testes") -- chicken pox, hep B, and rubella -- all failed! Urgh! Truly a very minor bummer here. It means we "shouldn't" conceive for 30 days after the shot, and odds were looking pretty dim that we could've anyhow. It just pushes this entire dream back one more month which is just another little lemon juice in the paper cut of a "fuck you" along this whole road.
I will say, however, that I am highly impressed with the customer service/bedside manner of my fertility practice. I got a phonecall from my nurse to discuss my blood test results. She appeared unhurried, had time for questions, put my hold a truly short while to get answers on billing or check with my doctor. I have rarely experienced such patient, thorough attention! That was truly a balm in this whole thing, both to the emotional upset of not being able to make babies in the first place, and their understanding that this is an expensive process which we're covering entirely out of pocket. I was truly pleased with their attention.
Haven't updated much lately because I knew I had this whole story lurking. I didn't feel like I could ignore it, and move on with the quotidian little stories of what the cats did and whatnot. It also took a truly relaxed, quiet few hours like I have today to get this down.
Trace
This story has a happy ending, and I'm in good health:
In January, I went in for my annual mammogram, only the second one I've ever had. They found a "new density," so a week later (the soonest appointment I could get), I had to go in for a retest. Got to the hospital on that second morning and was presented with a bill for $750 -- the hospital explained that my insurance (CIGNA) will cover one mammogram a year as a "well woman" visit. If you need medically necessary mammogram because they found something, then you're no well, and it hits your deductible. I refused to take the image until I spoke with my insurance company personally -- and glad I did! Got a really nice, knowledgeable person on the phone from CIGNA. She told me to ignore the bill, pay nothing, that CIGNA would cover it -- however, CIGNA would not also cover an ultrasound on the same day. If I needed the ultrasound, CIGNA advised me to come back even the next day, and they'd cover it. I had to go back and forth with the nurse on that, with her running messages to the radiologist since they preferred to run everything same-day. Finally, I put my foot down, apologized, and just insisted that I would refuse the ultrasound that day due to insurance.
Finally got into the imaging room, and during the routine screening questions, they asked if there's any chance I could pregnant. I told them that we're actively trying to conceive, so sure, there's a chance. They refused to do the mammogram! They told me I'd have to come back after my next period which was a few weeks away. I burst into tears! I'd held up well in anticipation of the appointment, but the insurance difficulty had worn me thin. We went back and forth on that issue for a bit, and finally it came out how long we've been trying. "Oh, so the chances that you're pregnant are slim to none?" the kindly 100 year-old woman asked me. With a sigh, I had to appreciate that logic was the ticket to getting the mammogram done which I wanted, but you can imagine that didn't feel too good otherwise.
After viewing the mammogram, the kindly old nurse, and the messages from the radiologist started using words like "mass." Then I was pretty scared until the follow-up ultrasound the next morning.
The next day, I called CIGNA again just to verify that the ultrasound would be covered. Got another really helpful, knowledgeable person on the phone. She even looked up not only the hospital but its imaging practice to verify that it was all in-network. She assured me that the two visits would be 100% covered. I can't tell you what an emotional burden was lifted from me when I heard that! I hadn't realized how, in the face of some potentially really scary health news, how much I was also worried about the financial burden. I'd just like to say that's a terrible reality, and I wish our health system did not even raise such questions. No one should have to worry about how to pay for healthcare.
The radiology interpreted my ultrasound results immediately, which was a great relief! We talked about my medical history, and the ultrasound I'd had for an earlier breast cancer scare around 1994. I told him I have two places, one in each breast, which are just naturally lumpy, have been my whole adult life, don't move, don't change, and which are caught in every physical exam. With that history in mind, the radiologist gave me a clean bill of health! The mystery spots are probably benign cysts. I had the option to go under the knife to find out for sure -- or I can just promise to come in immediately if the shape or feeling ever changes, and keep going in for annual mammograms. Yes, sir! Oh my goodness. You can imagine my relief!!
And now the rest of me...
The jury's still out on this one, and we don't know what's up.
Shortly after the end of Boobgate 2013, I went into the fertility specialist for some routine tests, including a full ultrasound. They found what the doctor refers to as an "unimportant cyst" on my ovaries. Meaning - it's not a danger to my health, and nothing I should worry about overall. Ovarian cysts produce hormones, however, which certainly aren't helping us conceive. In addition to the "unimportant cyst," the same side also has some mystery shadow over it, the likes of which are unknown. Further, they were hoping to find at least 11 eggs ready to turn into babies -- they found 7. This was not spectacular news. For now, it means that we wait a month, and then we'll have another ultrasound to check how my passengers are doing. Ovarian cysts apparently come and go all the time. It's possible that this one and its mystery companion might just disappear on their own. Or they could grow. We'll just check it out. Further on the topic of expensive healthcare: It was $520 with no insurance coverage for the ultrasound and bloodtests last time. Since we have to repeat some of those steps, it will be another $300. Bummer, really.
The routine bloodtests also revealed that I'm not immune to rubella! This week at my annual physical, I'll need to get an MMR shot like I'm two years-old. This means that 100% of the vaccines I have had which were later tested (hee hee, I originally wrote "testes") -- chicken pox, hep B, and rubella -- all failed! Urgh! Truly a very minor bummer here. It means we "shouldn't" conceive for 30 days after the shot, and odds were looking pretty dim that we could've anyhow. It just pushes this entire dream back one more month which is just another little lemon juice in the paper cut of a "fuck you" along this whole road.
I will say, however, that I am highly impressed with the customer service/bedside manner of my fertility practice. I got a phonecall from my nurse to discuss my blood test results. She appeared unhurried, had time for questions, put my hold a truly short while to get answers on billing or check with my doctor. I have rarely experienced such patient, thorough attention! That was truly a balm in this whole thing, both to the emotional upset of not being able to make babies in the first place, and their understanding that this is an expensive process which we're covering entirely out of pocket. I was truly pleased with their attention.
Haven't updated much lately because I knew I had this whole story lurking. I didn't feel like I could ignore it, and move on with the quotidian little stories of what the cats did and whatnot. It also took a truly relaxed, quiet few hours like I have today to get this down.
Trace