First of all, I want to thank everyone who emailed or called me with your well wishes. I have been overwhelmed and humbled by your kindness and concern.
It is true that every cloud has a silver lining.
I learned Monday that I am indeed without health insurance. It terminated as of December 1. Great timing, huh? Tom has not been able to get an answer regarding whether we can get COBRA coverage or not because of the buyout of his employer. It looks like I will probably be without insurance until January when Tom goes to work for the new company.
Dr. King's office was ready to schedule the surgery for this week, but I told them I'd have to wait a bit to figure out what to do. Since I didn't know about the insurance problem when I had my exam, I didn't discuss the ramifications of waiting with Dr. King. I also had thought of other questions in the meantime so I arranged for a phone consultation.
He had mentioned when he discovered the polyp that lasers have sometimes been used on polyps. I asked him to elaborate on that comment and he said that because of the size of the polyp it's possible a laser could be used to shrink the blood vessels supplying blood to the polyp. This procedure would be a fraction of the cost of the surgery, and could be done in the office under local anesthesia while I'm awake. No surgical center or anesthesiologist to pay, and no risk of surgical complications like a reaction to the anesthesia or infection. The only risk would be the money for the procedure if it doesn't work. If unsuccessful, I'd still have to have the surgery, but it would be done later after I am healed from the laser procedure and, hopefully, when I have insurance coverage again.
Needless to say, I'm thrilled at this news. I'm not sure when I can schedule the procedure since the laser has to be brought to the facility. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.
In addition to the laser procedure, I'm also taking a homeopathic remedy supplied to me by homeopath and acupuncturist Joseph Ellerin who is the partner of my friend Galen Williams (founder/owner of the Louisville Clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine). Perhaps the remedy, combined with all the prayers and healing energy being sent my way, will manifest in a miracle, or at least ensure that the laser procedure is 100% successful.
Hi Trinity,
ReplyDeleteIn case you don't know, you should be receiving a letter in the mail from your former insurance company, it will list the dates you had coverage, it is usually titled Proof of Creditable Coverage or of Prior Insurance. This will be very important to present to your new insurance company. As long as long as there is no more than a 63 day lapse in coverage between your new and old insurance, you should be able to use the proof of prior insurance to waive the Pre-existing Condition clause on your new insurance's policy.
Take care,
Siobhan