When we first begin to take a stand for something, we don’t
necessarily paint a clear picture. We are still learning. Some say “One step at
a time”, others use the “Baby steps” mantra. Whatever you call it, it’s
learning. Education. Knowledge.
Why was I having so much trouble with my medical care? My
second child had enormous medical issues and I had no problem vocalizing every
little bitty issue to anyone (and everyone) in his ‘team’. I spent hours and
hours researching his medical diagnoses. I subscribed to a magazine directed
towards parents of special needs children (Exceptional
Parent). I picked up catalogs filled with therapy equipment. I investigated
what went wrong. I walked for him. Hell, I ran. When faced with a decision to
choose between heart surgery or brain surgery, my argument was that I would not want to live with the
restrictions my son had, why would I make him live that way. If I really felt
this way, why could I do all that advocating for him but none for myself???
After months of limping and hobbling, dealing with a
swollen, cold, tingling foot/leg and a painful knee, I needed answers. I
investigated what could have went wrong and while I came up with a few
scenarios, no one person/physician/company was at fault. It was an accident. I
fell. My insurance wasn’t fully active. I had to work. My knee needed to be immobilized.
All of those factors combined created the symptoms that I now have.
So I Googled. I Googled each symptom. I Googled
complications of my specific fracture. I Googled my fracture and symptoms
together. I Googled my nerve damage. I became a master searcher! Each symptom search
resulted in several pages of possibilities. “Non-displaced patella fracture”
resulted in a few pages; complications resulted in a few more. A combined Boolean
search resulted in 2-3 pages. Figuring out what was really going on seemed to be the easy part. Now, to get a doctor.
Here is where I need to back up a bit.
In late February/early March, Alex and I had a long
conversation about Tennessee vs. Illinois and where the future would be. He was
stuck at his job. Promises of promotions ran empty. He wasn’t very fond of the
college options and hadn’t made friends like he had in Illinois. Brittani was
graduating and not sure the direction she was going to go. My parents were
getting older and how could I work
with the elderly population with the mantra “They all brought us where we are
today and someone should be with them when they go.” and not be with my
own parents? The love I had for Tennessee (and the love I had in Tennessee) weren’t what they used
to be. In fact, the love in Tennessee and I parted ways 6 months after I
moved down. My neighborhood was fast becoming a group of holier than thou
raiders and my injury left me feeling very alone. Lonely. It was time.
I began looking at options and decided I would figure things
in such a way as to purchase a home without a mortgage close to my parents but
nottooclose. I headed up to Illinois to see what I could see. A week or so with
my parents while having a realtor in IL and one in WI show me a few homes just
about every day and I had narrowed my list. I still wasn’t sure so I headed
back to TN for a bit, then returned with Alex a few weeks later. Alas, the
house I was pretty set on went under contract while we were on the road back up. Not kidding. In the car. On 65
North. Dammit.
So Alex and I stayed in Crystal Lake for about 10 days. In
between WI realtor days and IL realtor days, I studied and Alex visited with
his friends. And I found a house. A foreclosure that needed a bit of work, but
the floorplan was perfect. Location could have been better but it was close
enough to WI that I could work there once I was done with school and could be
licensed as an RN there. Or, I could work in IL with my LPN. Or, I could be
licensed as an LPN in both IL and WI.
I put an offer in & headed back to TN to pack. Over the next month, the
house was packed up & put into storage (several), all the floors we
re-done, the entire house was painted and ready to go on the market. We moved
into a hotel in TN so the house would be empty and Brittani could work out a 2
week notice. Alex headed to IL a week before we did to look for a job.
All this activity was incredibly hard on my knee/leg. One of
Brittani’s friends had relocated back to TN and needed a place to stay, so she
stayed with us and helped pack up the house. Still…my leg was veritable toast
most of the time. We also found out my son and daughter-in-law were expecting
baby #2! Yay! And…oh man. The timing was better than #1 when my son left for
Afghanistan less than a week after finding out Jess was pregnant but still only
weeks before another deployment. And Jess is a brittle diabetic, now with a
preschooler to run after as well.
Back to this huge learning curve. Oh yeah. I needed a new
group of doctors now that I was in a new state. First I needed insurance. So I
went to the good ole healthcare.gov site. I was referred to Medicaid but that
took over a month to have policy information to take to a physician. Plus, I
had to choose a physician. It was the start of the holiday season and I had
help, so getting the house in order took a higher priority until the 1st
of the year. Then it started. The doctor I chose really didn’t accept Medicaid,
contrary to what both the Medicaid and insurance plan’s websites. I selected a
new doctor and made an appointment.
By the time of the appointment, I didn’t expect there to be
any issues with the insurance. Well, I’ve been wrong before. Lots A few
times. This time, they didn’t figure out the problem until I had filled out the
new patient form, stepped on a scale, was escorted into a room and had my vital
signs taken. No sooner did the nurse leave than she came back in to tell me
they were sorry, but the insurance didn’t have this doctor listed as my doctor.
Please take a moment to re-read the last sentence in the above paragraph……….See??
I did change my doctor with the
insurance. Thus began my beginning.
It all starts with one step.
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