I'm Neglecting You and Myself

Hi. It's me.

I haven't been writing much and there's a reason for it. The reason is that I haven't done a darn thing about pursuing this surgery or the lawsuit that everyone I have shared this story with tells me I should pursue. Once I hit the insurance snag, not once, but twice, I let the system derail my goal to get my lazy eye fixed once and for all.

The truth is, it took me so long just to summon the courage to even think about having the strabismus corrective surgery that when things went awry, it was very easy to let other priorities get in the way. But I am failing all of you and myself. So I have made a commitment to make some phone calls this week to get things rolling again.

Please comment, please write, please let me know that you are counting on me to go through with this. It will help, I promise.

Does This Make Me Feel Better About my Strabismus?

Through a trail left by someone who found me on Google, I found this post called "Strabismus and the Rich and Famous". Abraham Lincoln and Barbara Streisand are included. The list isn't exhaustive, I know people have mentioned a couple of other famous actresses with a lazy or crossed eye that I cannot now recall. If you know of any others, feel free to enlighten me in the comments thingie.

The site itself is quite informative and offers everything from random (or technically useless information) like in the above, to detailed information about various solutions for strabismus. They also offer one of the most straightforward definitions of strabismus that I have read. Simply put, strabismus is any ocular misalignment. You can read the more detailed defintion here.

For the record, I think Barabara Streisand is quite striking.

Tired of Strabismus Surgery Vs. Insurance

I'm tired baby. Tired of the insurance run around.

When I saw Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" a couple of months ago, I had no idea I would soon be embroiled in my own insurance battles. Scratch that, I had a feeling. Still, things have been frustrating. My surgery was set, cancelled, set again, and then cancelled again. The first surgery was cancelled due to a bad cold I contracted that left me with a cough. The anesthesiologist wouldn't have it, I had to be symptom free for four weeks.

So, I rescheduled for August. The date was quickly approaching when I got a phone call from the surgeon's office. Poor sweet Pat had to break the news that my insurance had denied coverage because the surgeon I chose was out of network.

Let me clarify, "out of network" does not mean that my insurance doesn't cover this surgeon, just that within the greater insurance network there are apparently multiple networks, and my surgeon and general practitioner were not in the same network.

Ok, so I asked how much it would be if I paid for the surgery myself (some generous friends and family had offered to help me out with this). Pat told me that she would contact the finance department and get back to me with a figure. An hour later, her voice was a little softer, more hesitant.

"Um, you can't pay for the surgery yourself."

Moment of stunned silence.

"So, if my insurance denies coverage, I can't pay for the surgery either?"

"That's right."

"I don't understand."

"I know, neither do we. Apparently your insurance company and the hospital have some kind of contract...(awkward silence)."

"I see. That doesn't make any sense, does it?"

So now I'm pondering the idea of bringing a lawsuit against...well, that's the question isn't it?
Who exactly is responsible for this? The insurance company? The hospital?

Or, I could go to a surgeon in my network. Start the process over.