IF IT COULD GO WRONG, IT DID!!!

I am told I am a strong woman, a brave woman.  I am handling my life like a trooper.  Well yesterday I was reduced to a quivering mass of tears.  I cried most of the morning, screamed and cursed and was ready to kill anything one or anything.  No, cancer had nothing to do with any of this.  Well a little, stress upsets me a little bit more now.  This will be long and ugly.  So bear with me.

I began the day by picking up (like an idiot) a large piece of art glass.  So I messed up my back a little.

Then I did laundry.  Or I tried.  The second load did not spin out of the soak cycle.  This is a regular problem.  I had dirty wet towels.  I  tried to wring them out and threw them in the dryer (which I ran twice) and ended up hanging on a make shift line.  I talked to the landlord and he called a repairman. I have two more loads to wash.  The repairman won't be here until Monday.

I tried to give myself my Lovenox shot.  The syringe wouldn't push.  I pulled it out pushed and it worked.  I stuck myself again, and it didn't work.  I got a new syringe and this one worked. 

People it is not 10:30 and all of this is making me crazy.  I am upset, I hurt, and I can't fix anything.  Then I made a butt call to my brother.  This scared them because I never call early in the day.  We nearly always talk around our supper time and just before their bedtime.  Anyway, they called me and wanted to know what was wrong.  Bless my heart, I told them and cried some more.  They calmed me down and I moved on to my next task.

Background: And this is the short version.       For 40 years I have paid for a cancer policy.  Most women on my Mother's side of the family had one.  It was a cheap policy and after 40 years the pay out has not kept up with inflation.  But they owe and I have tried since October 2014 to  make a claim.  First I was told no such policy number existed, then they found me and after a couple of months they gave me my agent's name and phone number, a woman in Virginia.  She was very nice, but their computer system would not let her access my records in California, which is not her territory.  It took until June 18 to get someone in the Bay Area to help me. 

A lovely man came to my house, filled out all the forms, had me sign release forms for health records, copied my flash drive with all my Kaiser bills from 2014 to present.  He sent that in to headquarters. He told me Kaiser sometimes is slow releasing data if the insurance company needed more info.  He told me to wait a couple of months then do a status check. 

Okay, yesterday I decided 3 1/2 months was long enough for me to have heard something.  I called, they said my policy number did not exist.  Finally after I explained the last year to them they found me.  And then all hell broke loose.  She said I had not sent in complete records.  I asked why they did not contact me.  Why didn't they contact Kaiser?  Well they said I should have gotten a letter, but looks like it was never sent.  They didn't contact Kaiser because there was no release form signed.  I started yelling and being one of THOSE customers.  I told her she had just read what I had sent in and she said I had signed a release form.  Oh, right.  They should have contacted Kaiser. 

I now needed to re send everything to them.  They would MAIL me forms and information on what they needed.  I was reaching through the phone for her throat at this point.  She wouldn't let me talk to the person who was handling the claim.  I started yelling and crying.  Get me your supervisor.  Same crap from the supervisor.  All my responsibility, even though they had lost the forms and had not contacted me or Kaiser.

I told her off, yes there was cursing and crying involved.  I explained they are dealing with very sick people and they should care a little about us.  The whole time she talked over me with her set spiel.  I then told her I would be calling 7 on Your Side and would see them on the news. And I hung up.

I called the lovely man who had helped.  I am not one of his clients, he just agreed to help when asked.  He had kept all my records, and had records he had sent the information.  He sent everything in again.  He told me to wait until Monday to call for a status report.  And if they didn't have their act together, to call the TV station.

I felt better after talking to him and thought maybe I could finish the day as planned.  I was emotionally and physically exhausted and the day wasn't over yet.  We were taking a friend out for a birthday dinner. I really was too tired to go.  But I did.

We go to the restaurant and have octopus stirred fried and calamari deep fried.  It was delicious and I had no problem eating it.  I ordered a safe pasta dish not wanting to push those chemo taste buds.  Well the server set my bowl down and I nearly gagged.  The smell and taste was awful, to me.  So no main course for me.  Marty gave me some of his wonderful pork chop and always, pork tastes good to me. 

And that was how I was reduced to a puddle of tears all day.  Today I am calmer.