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Mar. 19th, 2008 10:50 amSo, life has been a big ball of helpless stress the last few weeks. Delia and Scott have been bright spots, but because part of the stress is fear of letting them down by failing to prove that I'm disabled, even they can't ease my anxiety much. The big appointment with the psychiatrist is on Friday. My hope is that she'll either be willing to sign the damned form I need or to write a report (preferably after talking to my now retired previous psychotherapist (whose opinion doesn't count from the point of view of the insurance company because she's an MSW rather than an MD, DO or PhD in psychology)). I'm going to be paying $300 for the privilege of begging her to do it. I don't know how much my insurance will reimburse after the fact, assuming I can face the stress of filing the claim(s).
My uncle has called the company to let them know that, if they cut me off, there will be a lawsuit. He says that the company acknowledges that, yeah, I am disabled, but they require documentation of it in order to continue benefits. I have to get someone, possibly more than one someone, to write a report stating exactly what I can and can't do. How often I can leave the house. How much I can lift or carry. How far I can walk. How many phone calls I can make in a week. That I can't drive safely*.
I need to change my primary care doctor. There are things that I love about her, but she's terminally wishy-washy. She refuses to answer questions about what I can and can't do, and she prefers to refer everything to specialists. That is, she will treat an acute asthma attack, but if I have questions about managing my asthma long term, she sends me to a pulmonologist. There's not a single prescription among those I take regularly that originated with her. She renews them when I ask, but she doesn't initiate treatments for chronic conditions. She's also opposed to use of adaptive technologies, mobility aids and such on the grounds that using them when one doesn't absolutely *have* to leads to increased disability.
I've stuck with her for so long because I find the prospect of switching doctors terrifying. This doctor doesn't frighten me. She doesn't bully me. If I object to a medication or treatment, she will talk to me and allow me to make choices. She will refer me elsewhere when I ask. I switched to her from a doctor who had terrified me, bullied me and refused to refer me or to treat certain problems (an example-- After Scott and I got married, I got rash around my eyes, and they were swelling shut. I couldn't see. My previous doctor refused to treat the problem because steroids near the eyes increase the risk of cataracts in the long term. Never mind that not being able to see was increasing the chance that I'd get hit by a bus or fired from my job right then. The problem turned out to be Scott's shaving cream, but we had to figure that out ourselves). Sadly, all of that comes with the price I described in the previous paragraph.
*Which may mean surrendering my license, the one I only use for i.d. Does anybody know if there's still a lot of crap attached to having a state i.d.? Twenty years ago, state i.d. were semi-useless because, in spite of the laws, lots of places would refuse to take them. I seldom write checks these days. I know I've had to use my driver's license as i.d. a couple of times a year, even now, but I don't know if I could have used a state i.d. without trouble in those cases instead. (And yes, I do know that businesses and offices that reject a state i.d. can get in legal trouble. That wouldn't help me if I've put lots of spoons and time into getting out to take care of business and then have to do it *again* with added spoon expenditure to report the illegal goings on.)
My uncle has called the company to let them know that, if they cut me off, there will be a lawsuit. He says that the company acknowledges that, yeah, I am disabled, but they require documentation of it in order to continue benefits. I have to get someone, possibly more than one someone, to write a report stating exactly what I can and can't do. How often I can leave the house. How much I can lift or carry. How far I can walk. How many phone calls I can make in a week. That I can't drive safely*.
I need to change my primary care doctor. There are things that I love about her, but she's terminally wishy-washy. She refuses to answer questions about what I can and can't do, and she prefers to refer everything to specialists. That is, she will treat an acute asthma attack, but if I have questions about managing my asthma long term, she sends me to a pulmonologist. There's not a single prescription among those I take regularly that originated with her. She renews them when I ask, but she doesn't initiate treatments for chronic conditions. She's also opposed to use of adaptive technologies, mobility aids and such on the grounds that using them when one doesn't absolutely *have* to leads to increased disability.
I've stuck with her for so long because I find the prospect of switching doctors terrifying. This doctor doesn't frighten me. She doesn't bully me. If I object to a medication or treatment, she will talk to me and allow me to make choices. She will refer me elsewhere when I ask. I switched to her from a doctor who had terrified me, bullied me and refused to refer me or to treat certain problems (an example-- After Scott and I got married, I got rash around my eyes, and they were swelling shut. I couldn't see. My previous doctor refused to treat the problem because steroids near the eyes increase the risk of cataracts in the long term. Never mind that not being able to see was increasing the chance that I'd get hit by a bus or fired from my job right then. The problem turned out to be Scott's shaving cream, but we had to figure that out ourselves). Sadly, all of that comes with the price I described in the previous paragraph.
*Which may mean surrendering my license, the one I only use for i.d. Does anybody know if there's still a lot of crap attached to having a state i.d.? Twenty years ago, state i.d. were semi-useless because, in spite of the laws, lots of places would refuse to take them. I seldom write checks these days. I know I've had to use my driver's license as i.d. a couple of times a year, even now, but I don't know if I could have used a state i.d. without trouble in those cases instead. (And yes, I do know that businesses and offices that reject a state i.d. can get in legal trouble. That wouldn't help me if I've put lots of spoons and time into getting out to take care of business and then have to do it *again* with added spoon expenditure to report the illegal goings on.)
