One Step at a Time

Well….. My mind is swirling (again) with so many thoughts, questions, worries and confusion. I will try to put some order to my thoughts, be patient! So I attended a informational workshop about bariatric surgery. It covered everything from insurance to the three different surgery options with the pros and cons of each, they had a check list that seemed a mile long of things required to do prior to the surgery, phone numbers, contacts, BMI’s, recovery, cost, AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I must admit I definitely faded in and out “consciousness” . O.K., O.K. so not really, but you know what I mean, that feeling of being overwhelmed and suddenly everything becomes background noise to the thoughts in your head and you really do not hear anything. This is exactly why I had to take a friend with me….. So someone a little more sane could pay attention and then later explain things to me that I missed while having my out of body experience! Despite feeling overwhelmed I will say once the Doctor came and started talking about the actual surgical options I oddly felt a little (stressing… LITTLE) more at ease. I attribute that to him, this Doctor had such a genuine kindness about him and what appeared to be a sincere concern about peoples health AND peoples right to choose, which I appreciated. As I listened to the choices and how this program worked I began to become very impressed as I was hearing things I had not heard before from others who have done bariatric surgery or other programs I knew of…. Hmmmm. After listening to all the information the most significant thing that stood out to me was this is a total program and not just a procedure or surgery. There is a dietician, counselor, support groups, educational components, access to TWO surgeons and a financial consultant. This program includes a pre-surgery portion as well as a large post-surgery portion and actually a lifetime access to services too. They require you meet with their team, one of the Doctors, the dietician, counselor, financial person etc…… This is amazing to me, I fully support this type of program as I have seen far too many people do surgery like this and not address the issues, how they got here, the life style before and after, what to expect after, dangers of not taking care of yourself properly and more. I have also seen people put the weight back on, or have other medical issues as a result of not following doctors orders.

So while I appreciate and respect a full program like this, these requirements are not all covered by insurance so my mind starts to swirl again….. First I am thinking is it inappropriate to have a bake sale to raise money for a weight loss surgery? Then unfortunately I go right to the current status of my court case and the agony and stress endured over the past few years dealing with those medical bills from the last surgery and still dealing with it over three years now…. OH MY…. I do not think I can do that again….. Then I remind myself they have a financial person to help with the insurance and make sure there are no hidden cost and everything is known up front….. I really appreciate that but I do know for sure I am facing a share of cost….. Or perhaps I change my insurance package and have little or no share of cost? IF I switch plans do I have to wait? If I have to wait, can I physically afford to put off this surgery knowing I am doing it so I can take care of my hip surgery? How long will my hip last before I can‘t wait any longer? …..

Oh and there is that part of the program not covered by insurance and they require you participate in it and have it paid for prior to scheduling the surgery… it is $2500.00. Uh oh…… getting overwhelmed again……. BREATHE….. In …. Out ….. In … Out….. I step at a time….. I can not continue being overwhelmed, it makes me sad and frustrated, so I need to focus and take one step at a time or I may not get through this…. So after I give myself a pep talk I try to put all this information a side and just schedule that first appointment with the Doctor for a consultation. So that is what I did and that is now my focus and next step!

High-ho high-ho it's off to court I go

Well….. What a week! So much happened this week I am not even sure where to begin, so I think I will start with Monday and see how far I get before I bore myself! I may have to break it up into a couple entries. Here I go…………… Monday I went to Yuba City Superior Court. Yup court. So many of you may not know this as it is not something I care to talk about ,let alone think about ,but I am realizing it is a part of this journey and right now a big part that is affecting me, my state of mind and my decision making process, so let me explain. Almost three years ago I had a Panniculectomy (loose skin removal) at Rideout Hospital in Marysville . Well for nearly two years I went back and forth with the hospital over the bill they sent me. It is a long story but bottom line is I disagreed with the charges, asked for a review, they did one then gave the approximately $3500 credit directly to the insurance company and made no adjustment to my bill….. I was confused by this and asked for a explanation. No response. I asked and asked, spoke to people wrote letters , never any response or explanation. I never was even provide any information regarding what they actually adjusted. So two years of this… them calling and sending bills, me calling and writing letters, until finally it gets turned over to the collection agency so I continue the battle with them…….. Fast forward to a year ago and I get a knock on my door, it is a gentleman asking if I am Kathryn, and he serves me court papers. YUP …. I had been served! Now for those of you who do not know me very well I have ZERO experience with anything legal other then a traffic ticket! So needless to say I am confused by all the paperwork with all the legal mumbojumbo but what I do see is one line that basically says you have 30 days to respond to this in a formal proper legal way. What does that mean….? I start to panic…. I try to figure it out, ask people if they know what it means. I try to research what they are asking me to submit, cant find anything. I ask CLIC our community legal information center, still nothing, no help. I call the other two legal help centers in town and nothing, they don’t deal with these types of cases. Finally someone (Ken) mentions to me the Employee Assistance Program has legal aid, so I contact them. So fast forward some more….

I contact a lawyer, have to borrow money to retain this lawyer even with my EAP discount and she assures me she can help take care of it all the way through to the end making sure I get the documentation I need to show the case is done … You know for future reference if ever needed. WOW I am so relieved….. Until I am not! So the Lawyer now takes over trying to contact and negotiate with the collection agency, making no progress. We had asked for a copy of the reviewed charges and the reimbursement, but no response. So they continue to email and call never getting any response from the lawyer for the collection agency working on behalf of the hospital. So this goes on for months and now a court date is comeing up and I find out from the lawyer I paid that they will not go to court for me and I only paid/retained them to negotiate with the debt collectors!?!? HUH???? Again… I know nothing about all this sort of thing all I know is what I was told…. “We can take care of this” So through all this I am trying to apply for loans in case we come to a agreement on the debt and they provide the information thus showing what I am paying for and how much. So the loan search is no very productive, so more stress and frustration. I am told I can open some credit cards…. But no loan, at least not a loan for the amount I am needing. SO I continue to work on this while the lawyer works on the collection agency. Neither of us getting anywhere…………….

SO as you can see this continues… I go to court for the first “case management hearing” only to find out I did not really need to be there….. The post pone the whole thing. I skip the next hearing as I was told I have nothing to respond to until they provide me the information requested, at that hearing apparently a different judge wanted me there and since I wasn’t they postponed it again…. Even though the lawyer for the collection agency/hospital admitted to the court both time that it is his client that is not cooperating with him and providing the requested information. WOW really????? So this last Monday was the next hearing, so I definitely show up this time and this time I am armed with a synopsis from my lawyer of what has been going on the last year and all they have done in attempt to resolve this with no response from the other side. So I work really hard not to worry, as it seems like a no brainer. So my name gets called I have all my paperwork prepared including a letter from the lawyer, I approach and am quickly attacked, scolded, humiliated and in general just embarrassed in the court room by the judge. He will not listen to anything I have to say. He cuts me off every time I try to say anything. He asked me “Who are you?” I explain, he says “Where is your lawyer?” I try to explain the situation and he cuts me off.

I offer the synopsis from the lawyer he does not even acknowledge me or what I am saying and he talks to the other lawyer who is on a conference call (not even in court room he is on the phone) AGAIN the lawyer admits it is his client that is the problem holding it all up….. The judge ask a few things I try to give him some information about this three year long drama I have been dealing with he keeps cutting me off and final just yells “What do you want?” I try to explain briefly again I want an explanation prior to settling and he again cuts me off and angrily and loudly says “What do you want me to do?” and respond with “Dismiss this case, it has gone on for three years” , the other lawyer says “That is not proper” …………………. Next thing I hear is the judge saying postponed 60 days! WHAT? AGAIN? Then as I am leaving the Judge says to me “You need to have your lawyers communicate better” I turn and say, My lawyer has been communicating with the other attorney for over a year he is not responding…… Then the Judge throws out the last word…. “Well they need to communicate with the court too” SERIOUSLY???? I feel like I was not only sent to the principal’s office but punched in the gut too. I had gone into this day a little nervous but with high hopes of resolution of some kind. I was optimistic keeping as positive as possible under the circumstances………. Only to have the anvil dropped on my head. So this was like a nuclear attack on my attitude and outlook. How do I recover from three years of this? How do I even consider any future medical procedures with this looming? Is it even wise to move forward with anything considering this is still unresolved? So you see why my mind swirls with what if’s and should of’s as well as the variety of possibilities for outcomes. Needless to say it made this week challenging, not sleeping much, worried, stressed, exhausted, frustrated, angry, sad ……… “E” = All Of The Above! That was Monday! (Thankfully I never live in the dark side very long)