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Home > So, Progress I Guess

So, Progress I Guess

December 9th, 2020 at 12:44 am

So last night around 5:30 I got a message notification.  Not sure why my phone didn't ring, but it wouldn't have mattered since I was not in the room with my phone at the time.  Usually my fitbit tells me when my phone is ringing, but this time it just told me missed call.  Technology, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Anyway it was from the Virginia Mason surgery center scheduler.

Bear in mind that my daughter's liver daughter met with the liver tumor board yesterday, but we had not heard anything from her doctor at this point.  We weren't too fussed because we knew she had a video appointment with her today at 3.  So I was planning to wait until after the appointment to call back but they called again first thing in the morning.  This time the phone was answered and they said it was for a consult for surgery, which is more information than I had the first time.  So not really knowing what was going on yet, DH went ahead and scheduled it anyway.  On the day and at the time when DD has her brain MRI.

So then that had to be rescheduled.  Then an email came through from the liver doctor which explained what was going on with the liver tumor and also that she may have to go see a kidney doctor after all this because she has multiple cysts on one kidney.  Then we had the video appointment and got more details.  They want to take out the tumor.  It's basically right on the edge of the bottom of the liver and will be a super easy, laproscopic surgery.  Apparently now that she had time to review the MRI and so has the liver board, her tumor has been bleeding internally into the liver which is what was causing the hot ice pick through the back pain.

Apparently my daughter is that special someone who does get pain with this sort of thing (which we have been insisting on) and also she's too young for this sort of thing so that's extra bad, and along with various and sundry things, it is weird and worrying (her words) to not only the doctor but to the tumor board.  And also left unchecked this thing could turn cancerous because of the internal bleeding.

Of course she is that special someone.  This has been her medical history her whole life.  If this were an episode of House, he would not be able to find any one diagnosis because she has all of them...except Lupus.  Doctors are trained to look for horses, not zebras.  Well, my daughter has a herd of zebras running around inside her and not only that, but they are rainbow striped with wings and a unicorn horn.

All that to say they are going to flipping do something.  It's no longer wait, and wait, and wait.  It's get that puppy out within the next 3 months or so.  And MIL has already said she will pay for the surgery, the hotel, and meals while down there, since it will hit next year when the deductible and out of pocket max will, as it inevitably does, start over.  And DH can take sick time so it will not affect us financially whatsover.  That is a burden lifted.

Then I had to call DS's neurologist and see why they didn't bill the insurance for his latest appointment.  We gave them the insurance card at the visit and watched them scan it in.  Apparently they still sent it to last year's insurance, because they didn't bother to terminate the old one when they put in the new one.  So after a half hour on the phone, mostly on hold, I got that straightened out and they will bill the proper people.  Darn tootin'.  That bill was for $284.  The lady was really nice, though, and actual time to take care of the error was less than five minutes.  But dang, that doctor charges a lot for a 20 minute office visit.

4 Responses to “So, Progress I Guess”

  1. Mari Says:
    1607478893

    I really hope the removing the tumor helps your daughter's pain. It must be so hard to see her having so much trouble because she is so special.

  2. mumof2 Says:
    1607510361

    Im glad they are finally doing something...and hopefully help her pain....I know how she feels my docs always tell me they have never seen anyone like me...and that is every doctor that I see!!...I hope things improve for her...wishing you all the best

  3. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1607539264

    I am so sorry for all of this. I hope that she is able to get better. Here is an stupid question, do you get medical from your DH's job? Do you like it? How do you think it would change if it were either single payer versus not through an employer and you had to pay for it yourself?

  4. LuckyRobin Says:
    1607542853

    LAL--Yes, we get medical from DH's job. We wouldn't be able to pay for it ourselves without this insurance. We wouldn't be able to afford to live and pay for her medicine. The life saving medications she takes are very expensive and that is on top of one of mine that is $1000 a month. I don't know enough about a single payer system to talk about it. Once we get her through this liver thing we are going to try to apply for disability for her. Medicare or Medicaid will cover her meds if we can get her on it.

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