Saturday Morning Meanderings - Life's Challenges and Meetin' 'em, by Golly

I haven't written a "Saturday Morning Meanderings" blog in awhile - and I hesitate to do one now 'cause it's going to be a rant.

But, oh well - here goes.

Hopefully, I'll just get the rant out of the way and you'll stick around to see if this will maybe evolve into something more pleasant.  It will, I promise!

As you know, Donald and I have faced some challenges this summer.  For those of you who continue to drop me little notes asking how Donald is doing - Thank You!  He's doing wonderfully well.  He's still going to The Wellness Center for cardio-rehab three days a week and is working out like crazy.  He has to attend 36 sessions before he can graduate.  As of Friday, he had attended 21 sessions.  The therapists continue to toss out new challenges which Donald continues to meet and exceed.  He consistently gets glowing reports and he's enjoying his workouts and getting into such great shape.   As I said, he's doing wonderfully well, and I am a happy girl.

During all this, I had a little health matter of my own that popped up.  After going through some tests, that has ended up being a non-problem.  Most probably stress induced, but all gone now.  I'm finer than frog's hair, as we say in the south.  Nothing better than hearing a doctor say "everything looks good."

The challenge through all this which should most definitely NOT have been a challenge has been dealing with errors in billing, and the insurance company regarding Donald's heart attack.

For some reason some of the bills came back marked "no insurance info on file - please pay immediately."  It took awhile to get this corrected.   I "think" we've gotten this worked out.  But not without challenges.

SUGGESTION.  If you can - get yourself to the billing office in person, it's way more effective than attempting to correct something like this over the phone. 

SUGGESTION NUMBER TWO.  If you can't get to the office in question in person, do NOT settle for talking to the first person who answers the phone.  Not meaning to be ugly about this, but don't waste your time.  You're probably not going to be successful.   You'll hang up the phone feeling as though you were successful, only to find out when the next bill arrives marked "no insurance info on file - please pay immediately" (or something else egregiously incorrect) that you were led down the garden path and you're going to get upset, and your stress level is going to skyrocket and you're going to end up going through a mess of medical tests only to be told (at the very least) "it's a stress induced incident."  Go higher up the ladder to get results.  Go on-line, pull up annual reports or anything else you can find to get the name of the CEO or President of the company you're dealing with.  Call that number and ask for this person by name.  Of course you won't get them.  But you will get their assistant.  And that person will get your problem taken care of.  Guaranteed.  And you've saved yourself a LOT of time and a LOT of grief.  Let the folks getting paid the big bucks handle these issues.  They will - I promise.

SUGGESTION NUMBER THREE.  And maybe the most important.  Do NOT let your insurance company push you around.  And again, don't settle for talking to the first person who answers the phone.  Talk to (at the very least) a supervisor.  And if you're of a mind - tell them you're going to write an editorial to major newspapers explaining how the insurance company is trying to screw you.

Sit down my friends and let me tell you a story.

Donald was air lifted from Watauga Medical Center in Boone, NC to Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville, NC.   A little less than 100 miles.  

Want to take a guess at what this ride costs?

$9,790.

Worth, of course, every penny when you think about the fact that it was part of a life saving procedure for the man who is my life's partner and my best buddy on God's green earth.

Problem is, we just really don't have an extra $9,790 dollars.

But.

We do have insurance.

We work hard and truth be told, the insurance we have is one of the reasons a lot of us work, isn't it?

Well - trying to get them to pay this bill was a challenge.  Should it have been?  Absolutely not!!!!!!!  And I can tell you one thing.  There are a LOT of people who would have just walked away from this challenge.  They make it difficult enough, and have so much double talk scripted for them, that I can see how it could be easier for some people to just walk away and pay the bill themselves.  And, in my opinion, the insurance companies are counting on this.  Luckily, I had an angel on my side.  A woman (the head of the department) from the billing office for the helicopter medical transport service took me under her wing and assured me they were going to get this handled if I would just stand strong.  Between her going over and beyond her normal duties for weeks and weeks - calling me with updates often, coupled with me acting like the proverbial pit bull dog, we finally, as of yesterday, got this bill paid.  Not in full, of course, but the amount we now owe is significantly more manageable than $9,790.  Or at least that's what we were both told over the phone by the insurance company.  Neither of us have actually seen a check yet - but supposedly, it's been handled.  Believe me, if this turns out not to be the case, you'll hear more very soon.

I did go on-line to godiva.com and have a box of chocolates sent to my friendly spunky angel woman who I now feel is a friend.

oTAY - enough of the rant.  Whew.  Feels good to vent sometimes, doesn't it?!  But the key is, I think, to move beyond it.

Count some blessings.

Have some belly laughs.

Indulge in a little pampering.

Make time to do some things you love to do.

Hug someone you care about.

Roll around on the floor with your children - including your furry ones.

My latest giggle comes from admitting I've once again had to eat my words.  WHEN am I ever going to learn?  I keep making sweeping judgments about things, and then not having enough sense to keep them to myself.  

I think I remember saying (more than once) that I'd never blog.  Didn't get it.  Thought it was a totally self-centered, self-indulgent activity.  Who would want to read my every thought?  Who would think I'd want to read theirs?!  Pfft.  Oh well - no sense getting into all that.  Seeing as how we're all right here - the proof is in the pudding.  I read dozens of blogs and get irritated when I get too busy to get to them all!  And some of you do drop by Meanderings and Muses often enough for me to keep writing.  Although, truth be told - it's mostly just for me.  I find this outlet to be such a huge part of my life that I can't even imagine being without it now.

I also remember thinking digital cameras weren't my thing.  Ha!  I can tell you right now.  If my digital camera breaks today  -  I'm getting a new one tonight.

And then there were all those things I said about eReaders.  Not interested.  Maybe later . . .   Well, my friends.  Later is here.  I'm hooked.  NOT that they'll replace "real" books in my life.  But.  I'm enjoying reading books in iBooks on my iPad.  And I downloaded the Kindle App when I found out:

a)  It was free.

b)  There are books available through Kindle that are not available through iBooks.

And then in just the past couple of days, we hear that the price of the Kindle has dropped to just over $100 dollars.  wow.  

Next time you hear me say "I will never . . . ," don't pay me a bit of attention.  I might be late to play the game, but probably, I'll play.  It's all about . . .   well, I'm not sure what it's all about, actually . . . .

What do you think?

Is it all about fun?

Is it all about keeping up with what's new?

Is it just joining in because I'm one of the sheep???!

Curiosity? 

oh well, whatever it is . . .  it is what it is.

and life is good.

Happy Saturday, my friends!