Monday, August 30, 2010

It Makes Me Want To Cry

We've had to move my mom out of her cool little wheelchair accessible senior apartment place. She is in a nursing home now. Well, technically she is in the hospital - again - right now, but she has been in a nursing home since her previous hospital visit, which was in May.

She just never got her "umph" back, and wasn't able to hardly stand up, much less walk a few steps to be able to transfer from wheelchair to a chair, bed or toilet.

It finally got to where Medicare wasn't going to pay as much any longer, and she can't afford the apartment and trying to pay the nursing home co-pay.

We gave final notice to the apartment the beginning of the month and started the go-through-stuff-clean-out-throw-away routine one more time. At least it was on a much smaller scale this time.

And yes, that did coincide with me just having had surgery. Poor Hubby. He has been a trooper. I can't lift or carry hardly anything yet, and any type of prolonged activity leaves me achey and needing a nap, so it has all fallen on him.

We are planning a yard sale, maybe a two weekend in a row one, to get rid of stuff that Lazy Non-Teenager and her Honey Dew didn't take for their apartment. She even contributed some stuffs that Mr. Nice Guy left behind when he moved out.

But in the mean time - oy vey - my poor living room.

Think Hoarders, and you will get an idea of what my house looks like right now. Everything is piled up and there is a walking path through the room.

It's so depressing that I am not even going to take a picture of it. I'll take a picture of the yard sale.

Then you can wonder how all that stuff was able to be piled in my tiny living room.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Eye Spy....

With my EVIL eye......


A co-worker brought it back from Crete, Greece for me. They believe in the "evil eye" in their culture and this charm watches over you and brings you good luck and wards off the "evil eye".

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Every Year

Surly Teenager is on the school's gymnastic team. She has been the entire time she has been in high school.

They require a sports physical. Every year.

And every year, I forget that she needs one, until she brings home the form that says SPORTS PHYSICAL DUE BY NEXT TUESDAY.

Thank goodness she is a senior.

Next year when I forget about the sports physical, it won't matter.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

My Current Headache

Since I do not use Medco for my prescriptions, the current bane of my existence is my FSA (flexible spending account) administrators, PayFlex.

On a quarterly basis, they will pick a transaction and request receipts and documentation. And woe and misery to you if you do not make them happy with EOB's (explanation of benefits) from your insurance and receipts and statements from your service provider. They will freeze your card and you will not have access to your funds until you do make them happy.

Last month they decided to pick on our dental payments. I sent EOB's for Hubby, Surly Teenager and myself, because we all go to the same dentist. Well, that wasn't quite enough to instill happiness in them. So I called and talked to someone and some more exact information about what they wanted. Then I called the dentist and explained what PayFlex was looking for.

Naturally, the dentist office doesn't see things the way PayFlex does. Part of the problem is that since the 3 of us go to the same place and the insurance is under one policy, they have us set up as one account. So a "balance due" reflects anything from anybody.

So when Surly Teenager and I went in June and I paid $400 some odd dollars, it wasn't for just the stuff we were having done. No, because that would make things too easy. It also included stuff from earlier in the year. A couple of re-cementings that Hubby did, a left over balance from my visit in February. And stuff that we pay for that they don't file insurance on, because they already know it is not a covered expense. Things like that.

Well PayFlex doesn't see it that way. They see it as so you paid $400 dollars in June, show me EOB's and receipts dated from June that reflect this.

Major headache.

Anyway, I spent the better part of an afternoon getting this straightened out before I was off work for 2 weeks. I didn't want to go to pick up pain medicine and have my card declined. I called PayFlex after sending in the last round of paperwork and went over it on the phone with the person and got the final all clear, this makes us happy.

They lied to me.

About 3 days before I am due to return to work, I get a call from Hubby at the pharmacy, picking up prescriptions, that the card was declined. I go on line and look and sure enough, PayFlex had frozen the card because they weren't happy.

And it was for the same things that I had thought I had straightened out already.

I called and explained how I had already sent in everything and talked to someone and was told everything was fine. Well this new person couldn't see it, so the not happy verdict stays.

I was really not happy myself at the thought of having to do this all again, until I noticed that our remaining balance for the year was $17.

Fine. They can just STAY not happy until I feel like messing with it.

And for $17 it isn't going to be anytime soon.


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

You Should Be Very Impressed

And not just because I am finally putting something here.


I went to the track this morning.


I jogged half a mile and walked one lap.


I was slower than molasses at the North Pole, but still. Three weeks
after surgery. I'm impressed.


I wore my high waisted panty girdle to hold things still so my tummy
wouldn't jiggle as much and hopefully keep my incisions from getting
too sore. It seemed to work well enough. It was uncomfortable as hell
though.


Now I REALLY need a nap.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The things you learn....

...when your mind is no longer clouded by pain killers.

Apparently, I did not have a hiatal hernia. It was a slip with a ton of scar tissue adhered to it.

The old band was cut free, scar tissue removed and a new band placed.

So I did get the new band.

Now for the big question...will insurance still pay for it with it not being a hiatal hernia?

Lord I hope so. I would not have had the surgery otherwise. I would not have voluntarily put us thousands of dollars into debt.

Dave Ramsey would kill me.