Sophie's World

9:00 PM Today has been a mostly satisfying day at home. Susan has been working hard on a report for work and I tried to get back into the swing of things after the clinic visit yesterday (mostly preparing for worship on Sunday, but also taking care of some odds and ends around here).

I came across a story in the New York Times today covering some of the nightmare of dealing with all of the bureaucracy of a catastrophic health situation. It requires free registration but it's worth a look:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/13/health/13paper.html

I can completely relate to some of the frustrations mentioned in this article. We frequently get notices from our insurance provider about this, that, and the other service that has either been paid or rejected. Mostly, I have learned to file those away and wait for a bill since the insurance notices all say, "THIS IS NOT A BILL." There are some errors in billing or charges that fall through the cracks and I've learned a lot about how to handle them. I cannot imagine how most people deal with the frustration of all this paperwork, or (worse yet) the stress of getting a notice from a collection agency--yes, we have received one of those, but it is for a disputed claim, which our insurance provider assures me is not legitimate. Honestly, I have seriously considered paying that particular one (about $150 worth) just to get out from under the paperwork. Just sharing all of this (apologies if I have gone on too long) as another indicator of the little stresses that can pile up in a health crisis. I am thankful for wonderful insurance coverage, but even great coverage does not promise a bed of roses. Like I said, for the most part I've become pretty adept at dealing with these glitches, but this is not exactly a skill I would like to develop, if you know what I mean!

Sophie has been fine today after her clinic visit yesterday. She got sick right at dinnertime this evening, but hasn't had any more episodes of nausea. I noticed tonight in the bathtub just how much her hair is coming back in. I guess I didn't realize how much of her eyebrows and eyelashes she had lost from the chemo. The ones that are coming back in seem so dark.