6/12/24

 I was so frustrated this morning. Ethan and I went to go get his blood drawn at the lab and our wait was 30 minutes or less, which is fantastic.

They called his name and he went back. When he came out I asked him “did you do the urinalysis?”  I am not sure why I asked that. He replied “No”. Literally this is one of the more important tests they use to assess kidney function. Since his kidney function has been questionable since last fall, I was really hoping the results of this test would help me leverage pushing for more testing.

I waiting in line to ask the medical team sitting behind the desk. They looked in Ethan’s file and let me know that all of his urinalysis tests that had been ordered were “used up”. 

It’s not their fault. They can only run tests they have orders for. We were told that he had standing orders. Ugh!

I was frustrated with this because we specifically went to the lab to get tests done to evaluate Ethan’s kidney function and one of the main tests that we needed to complete. There were no orders for.

It was hard for me to understand why there would be a limit on the number of tests in the computer for a kidney patient where urinalysis is a crucial test to evaluate its function.

Not only did this waste my time it wasted Ethan’s time then it even cost more time as I had to communicate with the Nephrology office and ask why these tests weren’t readily available.

So I submitted a note to the doctor inquiring about it. 

Later on, we had to reschedule one of Ethan’s meetings with the Social Security office. On the slip of paper that we get, they assign a time to have our appointment. The time that was assigned was not convenient for us. When we called the number listed on the sheet to reschedule we were told that there was absolutely zero times available to reschedule and that their schedule was 100% full up until August 7. 

If Ethan could not make this appointment, he could call his local office but likely they won’t do anything because their schedule is the same as the one 800 numbers schedule.

After completing the phone call, I wondered aloud why we even got the letter saying that if we couldn’t make our phone call to call and reschedule? It was literally impossible!

Why bother I mean we’re gonna be told that there’s nothing they can do about it anyways. This to me seems like a broken system.

After this phone call my next phone call was to the collections agency. We still owe on a bill from October 2023. When I inquired about Ethan’s insurance coverage, they said that insurance was denying his coverage.

 I followed up with what Ethan‘s current coverage was and they said they would try to resubmit it, but if insurance didn’t cover it, then we were on the hook for the bill even though we have pre-authorization form saying that the bill should be covered. This also makes no sense to me.

I decided at that point that maybe I should be done making phone calls.

Why is everything so difficult?

I also decided that I wanted to enjoy some time up at camp. My afternoon was light, so I packed up the dogs and went to camp. It was beautiful there. I made the right decision.

I spent the evening catching up on work while watching the sun set. It was my gift for a frustrating day.

Happy Birthday Heather!!!!!