04/10/15 - Finally, the day had come for my last round of tests...FOR NOW! Make no mistake, I'm well aware I'm most likely in for a lifetime of tests even if I manage to defeat the "alien" growing in my leg! But it's nice to know the tests are done for now...well...hopefully anyway! :)
So, this last one was a CT-scan of my chest & abdomen, in which I was required to fast for six hours before but drink a boatload of water within the 12 hour period prior! Initially, I mistakenly thought this was to fill my bladder, since upon my arrival, they gave me yet even MORE water to drink over...you guessed it...ANOTHER WAITING PERIOD! :p This time it was two hours & 1.5L of water! You can imagine my joy when I was informed it WAS okay to pee, as the water wasn't to fill my bladder but rather to make my insides glow, in conjunction with a second dye that would be injected by IV during the scan itself. Speaking of which, it was that extra special feels-like-you're-peeing-yourself-having-a-heart-attack-while-having-a-thousand-hot-flashes dye again, like that I experienced during my CT-guided biopsy! And there was more breath-holding, too, except this time on the inhale, and again talking machines. I like talking machines. :) Again, only pain involved was the IV - oh, and the tech who couldn't be bothered to HOLD THE DOOR for me as it SLAMMED into my arm that had the IV in it, missing the IV by just centimetres! Needless to say, I gave them an earful about that! I even explained to the guy I had a visual impairment, but he clearly didn't understand what that meant. Note to self, "Use your white cane ALL the tie at the hospitals, even when the area is flat & well lit for this very reason!" Don't need any more close encounters between heavy doors & my IV!!!
Anyway, this was the shortest of all the tests so far, only taking about 15-20 minutes once the two-hour waiting period was over. And again, this test in conjunction with the tests from yesterday, is to see if the cancer has spread, as this type of sarcoma has been known to jump over into the lungs in some cases. It's also a relatively rare cancer. Geez, when I got my Placebo-inspired "One Of A Kind" tattoo a week ago, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind! Leave it to me to get some kind of rare cancer that hardly anyone else gets, pppphhht!
On a happy note, while I was playing the waiting game yet again, I finally managed to reach my case worker for my short-term income claim, and it sounds like I shouldn't have any issues with it, which was a huge relief. She mentioned something about cancer requiring chemo/radiation therapy being automatic-claims, which I assume means it'd be automatically approved. I just hope the delays with the followup consultation & start of chemo/radiation aren't going to be an issue, since I've already missed four days of work this week. If I went back to work now, I'd have to start the required three-day waiting period all over again UNPAID before I could claim short-term income protection again! So, needless to say, although I'll have a week of waiting with no tests - hallelujah, NO TESTS!!! - I'm not going back to work. I did mention, though, that I haven't been sleeping well, forgot to eat supper one night & am worried about losing my temper with a customer due to the lack of sleep & stress that I'm under, so hopefully they'll be understanding & not penalize me for not returning to work while awaiting the next steps. I should know by the end of next week if there are any hiccups. She seems understanding, though, so hopefully all goes smoothly. Meanwhile, I'm going to take a much needed break from all this & enjoy myself this weekend with some very good friends. As they say, laughter is the best medicine, so I plan on stocking up big time!
On that note, I'm off for a much needed sleep. For the first time since getting my diagnosis on Tuesday, I feel like I might be able to get a good night's sleep...finally. I think all the time I spent with friends today has a lot to do with it, so to them, I say THANK YOU! You know who you are. :)
*[NOTE: Post title inspired by a line from Placebo's song "Post Blue" from their "Meds" album, another one of my all-time favourite albums & songs.]
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 April 2015
Friday, 10 April 2015
"Devil in the Details" - Health Insurance & That Good Ol' Fine Print.
04/08/15 - So, what does one do the day after being diagnosed with cancer? While I can't speak for anyone else, I can sure tell you what I did! Needing to *do* something...anything to keep busy & stay productive, I dove right into my sea of insurance providers, spending the equivalent of more than an entire work shift digging into all my various insurances - mortgage, credit line, critical illness & short-term income protection! Between calling around every number under the sun to filling out what seemed like countless pages of claim forms, I started just after 8am (right after calling into work) & finally had enough around 4:30pm! Thankfully, I'd already compiled a list before leaving on my trip, so at least that was ready & waiting at my fingertips. I recommend everyone do the same, regardless of whether or not you currently have health issues, because it'll make life a lot easier for your loved ones, should something ever happen to you & they need to make a claim either for you or themselves.
What I discovered sure was an eye opener! Queue in that "Devil in the Details"! Now, we all know insurance companies have restrictions & exclusions, right? Well, did you know that credit insurance providers have a list of cancers they will NOT cover?!?! I sure didn't, though I can't say I'm really all that surprised. Annoyed, yes, but surprised? No! Ironically, I actually hope I am not covered, because in my case, being covered will mean that my cancer has spread, while being declined will mean that it hasn't and, of course, a much better prognosis on my part! So, while It'd be amazing to be mortgage free, I can think of better ways to do it, thank you very much! :)
Still, while the restrictions & exclusions are disappointing, the super logical part of me actually understands where they're coming from. With the high rates of cancer, they'd either go bankrupt or have to charge even higher premiums if they paid out to those with non-spreading cancers. BUT... They recommended that I apply anyway, just to ensure I've covered all the bases, even if the news from this latest batch of tests turns out to be good, relatively speaking.
So, here goes nothin'! <insert cheering squad> "Come on decline! Yaaay decline!!!"...At least where the credit insurance is concerned, that is. I'm still hoping the critical illness insurance will come through, to help with costs of any drugs not covered under provincial healthcare, and there shouldn't be any issue with the short-term income protection coverage through work, thankfully. As for long-term income protection, while I do have coverage, hopefully it won't be necessary!
*EDIT (01/04/16)* It turned out that you don't have to have metastasis or be at death's door to be approved for an insurance claim. The legalese of the fine print makes it sound that way, but in the end, for me, at least, that wasn't the case! So, even if you don't think your claim will be approved, APPLY anyway! There is a time limit in most insurance policies (within 90 days of diagnosis in my case) where you have to apply, and I took so long to submit mine because I didn't think there was any point, that I nearly missed that deadline! Fortunately, for me, I submitted just in the nick of time, and it's made a very stressful situation a lot easier to cope with!
*[NOTE: Post title inspired by the Placebo song "Devil in the Details" off their "Battle for the Sun" album.]
What I discovered sure was an eye opener! Queue in that "Devil in the Details"! Now, we all know insurance companies have restrictions & exclusions, right? Well, did you know that credit insurance providers have a list of cancers they will NOT cover?!?! I sure didn't, though I can't say I'm really all that surprised. Annoyed, yes, but surprised? No! Ironically, I actually hope I am not covered, because in my case, being covered will mean that my cancer has spread, while being declined will mean that it hasn't and, of course, a much better prognosis on my part! So, while It'd be amazing to be mortgage free, I can think of better ways to do it, thank you very much! :)
Still, while the restrictions & exclusions are disappointing, the super logical part of me actually understands where they're coming from. With the high rates of cancer, they'd either go bankrupt or have to charge even higher premiums if they paid out to those with non-spreading cancers. BUT... They recommended that I apply anyway, just to ensure I've covered all the bases, even if the news from this latest batch of tests turns out to be good, relatively speaking.
So, here goes nothin'! <insert cheering squad> "Come on decline! Yaaay decline!!!"...At least where the credit insurance is concerned, that is. I'm still hoping the critical illness insurance will come through, to help with costs of any drugs not covered under provincial healthcare, and there shouldn't be any issue with the short-term income protection coverage through work, thankfully. As for long-term income protection, while I do have coverage, hopefully it won't be necessary!
*EDIT (01/04/16)* It turned out that you don't have to have metastasis or be at death's door to be approved for an insurance claim. The legalese of the fine print makes it sound that way, but in the end, for me, at least, that wasn't the case! So, even if you don't think your claim will be approved, APPLY anyway! There is a time limit in most insurance policies (within 90 days of diagnosis in my case) where you have to apply, and I took so long to submit mine because I didn't think there was any point, that I nearly missed that deadline! Fortunately, for me, I submitted just in the nick of time, and it's made a very stressful situation a lot easier to cope with!
*[NOTE: Post title inspired by the Placebo song "Devil in the Details" off their "Battle for the Sun" album.]
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Timing Is Money: The Insurance Question...
03/03/15 - Tonight I went through my work's insurance plans with a fine tooth comb like never before. I'm wondering if they consider the "start of coverage" 90-day pre-existing condition restriction to mean the start of the CURRENT coverage year or the ORIGINAL start two years ago when they redid our benefits program & as long as you haven't changed your current level of coverage (which I haven't)... Really hoping they mean two years ago & not the start of the new plan-year, because if it's the latter, I'll be totally screwed if my evil twin turns out to be super evil & forces me to have to make a critical illness claim. I'll call tomorrow morning to find out.
*[NOTE: Post title inspired by the Placebo song "Time Is Money", which can be found on their "B3" EP.]
03/09/15 - After three days of calling back & forth & my work's HR people misdirecting me to the wrong insurance provider (we have several insurance providers depending on the type of insurance provided), I *finally* got clarification from my work's critical illness insurance provider! Good news! :) As long as I do NOT change my current coverage level, I'll be covered should I need to make a claim, as they consider the "start date" to be when the new plan originally started this level of coverage two years ago, not the start of the current year. Had I increased my level of coverage, however, it would've been a different story. I figured this would be the case, but with all the fine print of insurance policies, it's a relief to know I'll be able to rely on my coverage if needed.
*[NOTE: Post title inspired by the Placebo song "Time Is Money", which can be found on their "B3" EP.]
*[NOTE: Post title inspired by the Placebo song "Time Is Money", which can be found on their "B3" EP.]
03/09/15 - After three days of calling back & forth & my work's HR people misdirecting me to the wrong insurance provider (we have several insurance providers depending on the type of insurance provided), I *finally* got clarification from my work's critical illness insurance provider! Good news! :) As long as I do NOT change my current coverage level, I'll be covered should I need to make a claim, as they consider the "start date" to be when the new plan originally started this level of coverage two years ago, not the start of the current year. Had I increased my level of coverage, however, it would've been a different story. I figured this would be the case, but with all the fine print of insurance policies, it's a relief to know I'll be able to rely on my coverage if needed.
*[NOTE: Post title inspired by the Placebo song "Time Is Money", which can be found on their "B3" EP.]
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