Monday, April 07, 2008
God Doesn’t Reward Ugly :o) Current mood: blissful
Wow, what a day this has been! My hubby was off of work and allowed me to sleep in a bit. That was very nice, thank you Buddha! Once I was up though, I had some important phone calls to make and dreaded every single minute of them.
A few weeks ago, I called LPCH, the hospital in CA, to see what my balance was at the hospital and also at the physician services. Both places were happy to report that the balances were zero. I was a little skeptical of this, so I called back again later that afternoon and talked to another person, who also said they were both zero. I was so happy! At one point, we owed almost $300,000 for unpaid claims by our insurance company. So...fast forward to Friday. I was worn out from Macy’s heart cath, she had been discharged, and me and my mom, sister, and MJ hit the new Vera Bradley store in Germantown before heading home. So, I was tired. I got home and immediately noticed a bill from LPCH.....to the tune of over $15,000 for physician services that our insurance did not cover in the appropriate time. To say that I was upset would be an understatement. I was angry, sad, pissed, stressed, anxious, and dumbfounded. After I calmed down thanks to the help of my hubby, sister, and mom I just decided that you know what.....once again she is worth every dime that we have to pay and some how and some way, the Lord is going to see us through this.
So, today I called to see what could be done. As her parents, we did everything that was necessary during her hospitalization and everything should have been covered by the state of California or her insurance. However, I have learned that when you have a sick child, if you do not qualify for government aid, it is very wise to have a primary and a secondary insurance policy for the said child. We are currently in the process of doing this for Macy Jane since there doesn’t seem to be any programs in Tennessee that look only at Macy’s income and not ours. I check the internet almost daily to see if something else pops up that would help us have help with her bills, but so far nothing. I am just very thankful that me and Steven will never have to worry about having a job considering the line of work that we do.
Anyways, back to the phone call. The bottom line is that we have to apply for financial aid that will either a. pay the balance at 100% b. discount the amount a lot and put us on an interest free payment plan or c. make us pay the full amount with no interest on a payment plan for the rest of our lives. This is all through the hospital. I am faxing over all of the paperwork and forms that they need tomorrow morning and should know something in ten business days. Ya’ll please pray that they go with option a or b. We definately meet California’s income requirements with just Steve working. It is amazing to me that what he makes in TN is considered excellent pay per hour, but in CA that is like a janitor’s pay!!!!
As for me working. The big question is when and where do I return to work?! I will be returning to Baptist in the ICU hopefully sometime at the end of this month. However, I am going to be applying at St. Jude in the next few weeks for a part time position so that MJ can have secondary insurance. I have always wanted to work at St. Jude and just have never taken the step to do it. Perhaps this is the Lord’s way of showing me that this is the time. Thankfully, my mom is just as competent at taking care of MJ as we are and she will watch MJ while I work a couple of days a week. She will help her with her therapy etc. so MJ won’t be missing out too much with me not being there. I will miss her though!
Speaking of Macy Jane. Today she made me and Steven laugh so freaking hard! This morning Steve put her in the Bumbo with the little tray and she was playing with her toys for quite a while. Next thing Steve knew, she was asleep in the Bumbo. She was sitting up like normal and her head looked like someone falling asleep in church. It would start to nod down towards the tray and toys then jerk back up, all the while with drool streaming out of her mouth. Steve would whistle every once in a while to get her attention and she would flutter her eyes open and go back to sleep. I got a picture of it and will post it sometime this week. It was too funny! She has quite the personality developing. I am afraid that that red hair that she was born with has something to do with that personality. We now know how to pitch a fit when our favorite toys are taken away, when we want to be picked up, or when we just aren’t getting our way. At the same time, she is such a sweet baby....unless she is clawing your nose and mouth and trying to claw your eyes out. She keeps me laughing, even when stupid people make me mad on a daily basis.
Hmmm...what else tonight? Oh yes. I am sure most of you know that the Tigers lost tonight. I think that they met their match tonight. The Jayhawks defense was outstanding at shutting down all of the key scorers for Memphis and to put it bluntly.....Memphis playing stunk for a good portion of the game. Way too many turnovers, missed shots, missed free throws, too many early fouls. They had a chance to take the game and blew it. It sucks for Memphis and for all of the fans, but eventually they will get their National Championship trophy, even if it isn’t in our lifetime. Kansas wanted the game more than Memphis and showed up ready to win. Maybe next year the Tigers can go all the way (maybe even undefeated?!) and actually secure that long awaited trophy/net.
In other sports news.....the Memphis Redbirds first home games are this weekend! It stinks that Steve has to work because going to baseball games are one of my favorite spring/summer activities with Steve and our friends. We will hopefully be able to go to the next weekend of home games though. The Redbirds have never really been that great, but I love baseball games and will support them no matter what.
I am taking my first cake decorating class in the morning at ten. I am super excited! Hopefully my newly learned skills will help me make the monstrous birthday cake that I am baking for MJ.
Well, that’s it. I am off to bed! Tomorrow is a busy day and it will end much like tonight....watching a basketball game. The Lady Vols are playing Stanford for the championship, but hopefully they can pull off a win!
Much Love,
Bethany