One-Hundred Papercuts
This past week I've been going through it, just little things on top of little things.
Wednesday night the bottom corner of my left eye swelled up badly and painfully. I didn't know if it was a bad allergic reaction or a stye, and the allergic reaction was more potentially dangerous. I went to a local walk-in clinic, only to be told that they no longer accept Medicaid, even as a secondary insurance like I have it. The whole chain of CityMD clinics won't accept Medicaid now. So anyone who thinks it's okay that Queens lost so many hospitals because there are walk-in clinics are even more wrong. (Walk-in clinics also close at like 7 or 8 pm.)
I pondered going to the emergency room with it and spent 45 minutes and walked over a mile around the building to find its entrance, but the ER was jam packed and I was tired so I just went home and to bed instead. Thursday I got an appointment for my eye doctor for Friday morning. Friday morning I found out it was a stye, probably caused by pollen or particulates in the air from all the road work in my neighborhood as ancient pipes under the streets are being replaced.
I'm to do heat compresses and he prescribed an ointment. I called CVS to make sure they got it and get an idea of when to pick it up. They said 30 minutes. When I arrived, they told me they didn't have it. I had them send the prescription to a different CVS that supposedly had it in stock. It would take a half hour to be filled, I was told. I called in 30 minutes and was told they needed another 20. Exhausted, I went home to rest for a while, and when I arrived at home found a voice message waiting for me saying that, oh, this second CVS doesn't actually have it either, ooops. They'll send it to a third CVS that's even farther from my home and it should be ready in an hour. I went to bed and died for three hours, then drove to the third CVS that evening that actually had it.
If I didn't have a car and had to rely on mass transit during this, it would have been 100 times more frustrating and exhausting.
Monday, I finally finished the paperwork for my Medicaid recertification and was ready to mail it out, eight days before the deadline. (Medicaid is such a disaster that even eight days to get it sent to and certified as arrived in the Brooklyn office might not work out.) One of the needed proofs was a verification of deposits from my trust. I got it weeks before and took a look to see that it was a verification of deposits letter. Monday I realized that it was for a different person's deposits, not mine. I know how much money John Zabinski sends NYSARC each month. Major security breach. But my big thing is that I need my proof immediately. I called, told them about their mistake, and asked them to e-mail it to me. 30 minutes later it showed in my Inbox, I went to the library to print it up, and put the envelope containing my paperwork into the post box in the post office an hour before it closed for the day.
My pain management doctor also failed to send my Nortriptyline prescription, the med I told him I desperately needed a refill on, to my pharmacy, so I had to call his office and get that done.
It would be nice if I didn't have to keep improvising my way out of unnecessary problems.
The area under my left eye is still very swollen.
Wednesday night the bottom corner of my left eye swelled up badly and painfully. I didn't know if it was a bad allergic reaction or a stye, and the allergic reaction was more potentially dangerous. I went to a local walk-in clinic, only to be told that they no longer accept Medicaid, even as a secondary insurance like I have it. The whole chain of CityMD clinics won't accept Medicaid now. So anyone who thinks it's okay that Queens lost so many hospitals because there are walk-in clinics are even more wrong. (Walk-in clinics also close at like 7 or 8 pm.)
I pondered going to the emergency room with it and spent 45 minutes and walked over a mile around the building to find its entrance, but the ER was jam packed and I was tired so I just went home and to bed instead. Thursday I got an appointment for my eye doctor for Friday morning. Friday morning I found out it was a stye, probably caused by pollen or particulates in the air from all the road work in my neighborhood as ancient pipes under the streets are being replaced.
I'm to do heat compresses and he prescribed an ointment. I called CVS to make sure they got it and get an idea of when to pick it up. They said 30 minutes. When I arrived, they told me they didn't have it. I had them send the prescription to a different CVS that supposedly had it in stock. It would take a half hour to be filled, I was told. I called in 30 minutes and was told they needed another 20. Exhausted, I went home to rest for a while, and when I arrived at home found a voice message waiting for me saying that, oh, this second CVS doesn't actually have it either, ooops. They'll send it to a third CVS that's even farther from my home and it should be ready in an hour. I went to bed and died for three hours, then drove to the third CVS that evening that actually had it.
If I didn't have a car and had to rely on mass transit during this, it would have been 100 times more frustrating and exhausting.
Monday, I finally finished the paperwork for my Medicaid recertification and was ready to mail it out, eight days before the deadline. (Medicaid is such a disaster that even eight days to get it sent to and certified as arrived in the Brooklyn office might not work out.) One of the needed proofs was a verification of deposits from my trust. I got it weeks before and took a look to see that it was a verification of deposits letter. Monday I realized that it was for a different person's deposits, not mine. I know how much money John Zabinski sends NYSARC each month. Major security breach. But my big thing is that I need my proof immediately. I called, told them about their mistake, and asked them to e-mail it to me. 30 minutes later it showed in my Inbox, I went to the library to print it up, and put the envelope containing my paperwork into the post box in the post office an hour before it closed for the day.
My pain management doctor also failed to send my Nortriptyline prescription, the med I told him I desperately needed a refill on, to my pharmacy, so I had to call his office and get that done.
It would be nice if I didn't have to keep improvising my way out of unnecessary problems.
The area under my left eye is still very swollen.