Phone Call Stress

Hubby
Hubby Member Posts: 325
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I don't know how a you women get through the stress of scheduling all of this at the same time as going through it.

Today I had to call my insurance company twice to verify once and for all if a wig will be covered (it will, yah!!); and ask them if they had gotten preauthorization requests for the mugascan and chemo (they didn't); call the hospital which will be performing the mugascan test to give them some number from the prescription; call Sloan to see why the mugascan and chemo preauthorization hadn't been requested (nobody returned my call), get them to mail a prescription for a cranial prosthetic (doctor isn't in today) check the status of the doctor's letter for Cleaning for a Reason (not sent yet; thank you again to MyTurnNow for the link); change all my meetings from next Wed. to Tues; then my wife gets a call back from Sloan that the chemo is scheduled for Tuesday, not Wed., and she has a pap smear on Tuesday, which she needs to get done before chemo, so I have to call back Sloan, but the woman who schedules the chemo is gone for the day; so I tell the poor guy who aswered my call that I'm not gettin' off the line until I talk to someone; so I end up talking to one of the building administrators who assures me that I will get a call back by 10:00 tomorrow morning, and the issue can be resolved.

And I don't have cancer. Sorry for this rant; just needed to vent.

Comments

  • Megan M
    Megan M Member Posts: 3,000
    #2
    We get thru it because we
    We get thru it because we have to. All of what you wrote about is done to save our lives, so, any stress is worth it, not welcomed, but, the end result is worth it. Yes, there is a lot to do, yes, it is frustrating, but, so is living with a deadly disease. My husband did so much for me and he never uttered one bad word or frustration for it. Like he said, his feelings or frustration were wayyyyyyy on the back burner to what I was going thru. Good luck!
  • KayNYC
    KayNYC Member Posts: 495 Member
    #3
    Not easy
    Go ahead and rant. No, it is not easy to have to make a dozen phone calls to get our medical care, talk to several people before talking to the one that can assist us or to call and be told "call back later or she/he is not here today." Very frustrating and emotion provoking especially if we are not feeling well and are more emotionally vulnerable. However, we do whatever is necessary to get what we need to fight for our lives. Should it be this way, hell no, but for the sake of remaining balanced, I have banished the word "should" from my vocabulary. Things are the way they are and what matters most is that we are effective in reaching our objectives-getting the necessary medical care. Sounds like your contact with the administrator will prove to be effective. You will probably get that phone call early tomorrow. When you do, congratulate yourself for being effective and a big help to your wife.
    :) K
  • Christine Louise
    Christine Louise Member Posts: 426 Member
    #4
    I think you're a great guy.
    I think you're a great guy. I'm so impressed with the men on this board. The women in your lives are preoccupied right now (!!!), but I'm sure they know what super fellas they've got.

    Sorry for your frustrating day. Thank goodness for your tenacity.
  • Kat11
    Kat11 Member Posts: 1,931 Member
    #5
    Christine Louise said:

    I think you're a great guy.
    I think you're a great guy. I'm so impressed with the men on this board. The women in your lives are preoccupied right now (!!!), but I'm sure they know what super fellas they've got.

    Sorry for your frustrating day. Thank goodness for your tenacity.

    Hang in there, you only have
    Hang in there, you only have 6 - 7 months of this to go. LOL
  • sea60
    sea60 Member Posts: 2,613
    #6
    Multi-tasking
    Bless you for wearing the multi-tasking hat. And with ALL that to do, you still have to contend with roller coaster emotions! Calgon take me away............

    I thank God for people like you. My sister and boyfriend were just angels in my eyes having to be up on everything and helping me. But I have to admit, being a single, working mom used to doing it all myself, I had a hard time letting them take over.

    Keeping you guys in prayer!
  • New Flower
    New Flower Member Posts: 4,294
    #7
    KayNYC said:

    Not easy
    Go ahead and rant. No, it is not easy to have to make a dozen phone calls to get our medical care, talk to several people before talking to the one that can assist us or to call and be told "call back later or she/he is not here today." Very frustrating and emotion provoking especially if we are not feeling well and are more emotionally vulnerable. However, we do whatever is necessary to get what we need to fight for our lives. Should it be this way, hell no, but for the sake of remaining balanced, I have banished the word "should" from my vocabulary. Things are the way they are and what matters most is that we are effective in reaching our objectives-getting the necessary medical care. Sounds like your contact with the administrator will prove to be effective. You will probably get that phone call early tomorrow. When you do, congratulate yourself for being effective and a big help to your wife.
    :) K

    it is tough for sure. Priority is the key.
    My advice is to prioritize. There are big events and small ones. You cannot do them all. Plus you need continue working. Both you and your wife need a rest as well.Looking back from my experience the most important is to move forward with your wife's treatment. Wigs and cleaning are secondary.
    Good luck with Chemo,
    New Flower
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #8
    sea60 said:

    Multi-tasking
    Bless you for wearing the multi-tasking hat. And with ALL that to do, you still have to contend with roller coaster emotions! Calgon take me away............

    I thank God for people like you. My sister and boyfriend were just angels in my eyes having to be up on everything and helping me. But I have to admit, being a single, working mom used to doing it all myself, I had a hard time letting them take over.

    Keeping you guys in prayer!

    I agree you are a great guy,
    I agree you are a great guy, sorry you got the runaround!
  • GregStahl
    GregStahl Member Posts: 188
    #9
    Hey Hubby
    Sent you a couple of PVT messages responding to yours.
    I have to say that we are lucky that Ruby works for the hospital that is doing everything and since she decided to wait to have the bi-lateral done we could get everything schedualed out with out issue.
    She handles insurance billing so she can see in the systems what is going on with pre-certs, claims, payments, and charges and get "errors" cleaned up before they become problems.

    Keep in touch buddy and good luck.
    Greg
  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #10
    Hubby,
    A big hug to you...we've all been there.

    I was always so relieved every week when Sunday finally came, and no offices were open for me to have to call, and no mail to bring me more medical bills to have to deal with! I tried my best to take advantage of that, and make Sundays "Cancer-Free Days" as much as possible.

    I agree with New Flower -- prioritize. I think things are so overwhelming right now that you're trying to do EVERYTHING at once. Chemo and scans and paps are important -- wigs and cleaning can wait. Spending a little time with your wife is more important than a clean house, any day.

    And don't forget to breathe.

    :-) Traci
  • Hubby
    Hubby Member Posts: 325
    #11
    Megan M said:

    We get thru it because we
    We get thru it because we have to. All of what you wrote about is done to save our lives, so, any stress is worth it, not welcomed, but, the end result is worth it. Yes, there is a lot to do, yes, it is frustrating, but, so is living with a deadly disease. My husband did so much for me and he never uttered one bad word or frustration for it. Like he said, his feelings or frustration were wayyyyyyy on the back burner to what I was going thru. Good luck!

    It is worth it!
    It is worth it, and I rant here and get it out of my system; then I don't bring it home to my wife.

    Thanks again for all the kind words from all of you.
  • MyTurnNow
    MyTurnNow Member Posts: 2,686 Member
    #12
    It is a pain in the you know
    It is a pain in the you know what getting everything scheduled and I think you are a diamond in the rough. I'm glad that you take on this role and save your wife from the stress of it all. Soon, all the testing, etc. will be done and you will just be dealing with all the effects of the treatments. Doesn't it sound like fun? No, really, I hope your wife has minimal to no side effects. They actually have some great meds nowadays to counteract most any side effect. Good luck and keep venting to us and save you wife that stress, too!!
  • New Flower
    New Flower Member Posts: 4,294
    #13
    TraciInLA said:

    Hubby,
    A big hug to you...we've all been there.

    I was always so relieved every week when Sunday finally came, and no offices were open for me to have to call, and no mail to bring me more medical bills to have to deal with! I tried my best to take advantage of that, and make Sundays "Cancer-Free Days" as much as possible.

    I agree with New Flower -- prioritize. I think things are so overwhelming right now that you're trying to do EVERYTHING at once. Chemo and scans and paps are important -- wigs and cleaning can wait. Spending a little time with your wife is more important than a clean house, any day.

    And don't forget to breathe.

    :-) Traci

    My dream is no mail delivery on Saturdays
    They keep talking about it , but still have been delivering. I used to receive all of my denials on Saturdays. Eventually I stopped taking mail from Friday to Monday morning.
    Traci, have you file your Profile?
  • Jennifer1961
    Jennifer1961 Member Posts: 137
    #14
    Just wanted to say you are a
    Just wanted to say you are a very supportive husband. Not every husband will make calls and do the stuff you do for your wife. Please know that your support means the world to her. I too have been having issues with insurance, finance, hospital and doctor's office. It's a pain, but it's important to stick up for yourself and your wife. I sometimes think they count on people's frustration with illness and all and try to take advantage of us. Don't let them get away with it.
  • GrandmaJ
    GrandmaJ Member Posts: 209
    #15
    Jennifer1961 said:

    Just wanted to say you are a
    Just wanted to say you are a very supportive husband. Not every husband will make calls and do the stuff you do for your wife. Please know that your support means the world to her. I too have been having issues with insurance, finance, hospital and doctor's office. It's a pain, but it's important to stick up for yourself and your wife. I sometimes think they count on people's frustration with illness and all and try to take advantage of us. Don't let them get away with it.

    Tests
    Wow...I can't believe you had to do all that.

    I didn't do any of that. My oncologist's office and surgeon's offices scheduled all my tests, PET scans, MRI, echocardiograms, chemo, radiation, surgery etc., and got authorization for all of them. I didn't have to make even one phone call. I didn't realize how lucky I was.

    Judy
  • Mariannemm
    Mariannemm Member Posts: 136
    #16
    Jennifer1961 said:

    Just wanted to say you are a
    Just wanted to say you are a very supportive husband. Not every husband will make calls and do the stuff you do for your wife. Please know that your support means the world to her. I too have been having issues with insurance, finance, hospital and doctor's office. It's a pain, but it's important to stick up for yourself and your wife. I sometimes think they count on people's frustration with illness and all and try to take advantage of us. Don't let them get away with it.

    My Husband
    Dan, my husband, has been just as supportive as you are. I don't know how I would of made it through all of this with out him. I had my surgery on Dec 31st 2009, that very next day January 1 2010 our insurance company changed. That was due to my husband's company changing not us doing it! In hind sight we probably should of waited to have the surgery until the new insurance kicked in. It cause my husband lots of stress to work everything out. Our dining room table was covered in paperwork and he went through all of it and sure enough found out the problems. The hospital was sending us to collections due to their mistake not ours! I can't say enough about the people that support us during our fight, lots of hugs and kisses!
  • Kgy
    Kgy Member Posts: 30
    #17
    Mariannemm said:

    My Husband
    Dan, my husband, has been just as supportive as you are. I don't know how I would of made it through all of this with out him. I had my surgery on Dec 31st 2009, that very next day January 1 2010 our insurance company changed. That was due to my husband's company changing not us doing it! In hind sight we probably should of waited to have the surgery until the new insurance kicked in. It cause my husband lots of stress to work everything out. Our dining room table was covered in paperwork and he went through all of it and sure enough found out the problems. The hospital was sending us to collections due to their mistake not ours! I can't say enough about the people that support us during our fight, lots of hugs and kisses!

    Husband
    Keep up the great work! I know that your wife appreciates all that you do for her. As some have said earlier not all Husbands do what you do! I wish mine would at least listen and if nothing else just place a call or two.
  • Hubby
    Hubby Member Posts: 325
    #18
    No Ranting Today
    So I got a call before 9:00 am on my way to work saying that they rescheduled the chemo to start on Wednesday the 23rd, and had the approval for the mugascan. I got a second call a couple of hours later saying they spoke with the insurance company, and don't need the chemo preapproved, and that they are working on the cranial prosthetic presription and doctor's note.

    A much lower stress day today; no need to vent!! Thanks for all the positive responses, you're all very good at lifting spirits.
  • Kat11
    Kat11 Member Posts: 1,931 Member
    #19
    Hubby said:

    No Ranting Today
    So I got a call before 9:00 am on my way to work saying that they rescheduled the chemo to start on Wednesday the 23rd, and had the approval for the mugascan. I got a second call a couple of hours later saying they spoke with the insurance company, and don't need the chemo preapproved, and that they are working on the cranial prosthetic presription and doctor's note.

    A much lower stress day today; no need to vent!! Thanks for all the positive responses, you're all very good at lifting spirits.

    Glad your having a much
    Glad your having a much better day. Glad everything is falling together.

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