Woah, Didn’t See That Coming!

This whole cancer thing has been a series of obstacles and God providing solutions. I have felt so blessed by all the good that has been happening. My peace and trust have been so secure...until today. I fell off the peace wagon and got a bit bruised up.

The day started with me going to see my breast surgeon. I was feeling good, not concerned about the surgery, looking forward to getting things going. As I checked in at the office, I heard the nurse talking to another patient about a problem with insurance. Apparently the medical group I am with, and my insurance provider are not liking each other very much right now. Someone had told me about this issue, but couldn’t find any confirmation anywhere, so I didn’t worry about it too much.

I hadn’t heard anything from the doctor's office prior to this because they thought my insurance was exempt from this problem. After checking into a few things, it became clear that it was not. My surgeon was very upset about this and kept apologizing. She was so determined that I would get care one way or another. She’s prepared to refer me to a doctor in Sedona who works with the plastic surgeon I’ve already been approved for.

After leaving the office, I called my insurance provider and tried to get some clarification. After a couple of transfers, I finally got to somebody who looked at my record and said that my surgery was pre-authorized, and that since it was authorized prior to the insurance lapsing, it would be covered. However, postoperative care may not be covered.

Unless my medical group and insurance provider make nice and resolve their differences, I may end up with a breast surgeon in Sedona, a plastic surgeon in Flagstaff, and oncologist in Prescott. And if it’s correct that my surgery is pre-authorized and will be covered, I will have surgery in Prescott Valley on February 13. If it’s not going to be covered, I will be having surgery in Sedona…who knows when.

All of this, on top of a couple other negative/weird things that happened today, have upset my peace cart. It tipped over, spilled me out on the road, and banged me up a bit. My first impulse was to go out and buy 10 pounds of chocolate and 5 gallons of ice cream. But I decided that would just make me more miserable, so I settled for going out to Chipotle for lunch. (oh, and I did buy some gluten-free cinnamon rolls afterwards) Yup, today is definitely a challenge. 

I’m praying things get resolved before the midnight deadline. But negotiations have been going on since September and I hear they’re not talking to each other anymore. There are so many people that are going to be hurt by this. This insurance company is a major provider in our area. And my medical group is the largest and practically the only one in the area. Still, God is bigger and more powerful than the medical bureaucrats and insurance demagogues. In spite of my shaky peace right now, I am still working on, trusting that God will work things out and move forward. Not just for me, for all those who are affected by this.