Head Explosion

Man, when people talk about how stressful this process is, I wonder if they mean because of the insurance madness!! Head nearly exploded at work today when my medical group denied the authorization request for my injectables. Now, you all know me. I am always on top of this sort of thing.  So, of course, I knew this medical group woman was high and my meds are covered 50%.

Lemme back up. All this started yesterday when I got all crampy and PMSy, like AF would arrive ahead of schedule. Early means I must start shootin' up sooner.  Shootin' up sooner means I need my meds NOW.  The weekend's approaching.  BLIMEY! I panicked. Stanford faxed the prescription to Disco Rx in Palo Alto. Disco Rx calls and says Blue Shield denied the authorization.  I call Blue Shield. Blue Shield says it was denied because I'm required to use one of their mail order pharmacies, however, they will allow me to pick the meds up at a local pharmacy the mail order peeps are contracted with. 

 I call the first mail order pharmacy. The guy that answers can barely string together a sentence. Didn't exactly fill me to the brim with confidence. He says they're not contracted with local pharmacies and will only mail prescriptions.  I call the 2nd mail order pharmacy and get the same story. This gal does much better in the grammar department though.  Somehow that made me feel much better. She takes the necessary information to get the ball rolling. She says it could take 2 days to verify my benefits.  2 days?  To make a phone call that will take about 3 minutes??? I managed to stay calm and impressed upon her the time sensitivity factor.  It was nearly 5 , so I think she had a time sensitivity factor of her own. 

 Some other person from mail order pharmacy #2 calls me back today and does NOT leave her name, but does leave a number with an extension that does NOT work.  Have to go through the main number to try to figure out who called me. Once that mystery is solved, I'm informed the bad message leaver is at lunch. Geeeez!  She finally calls back and tells me I need to have Stanford or Disco Rx fax the prescription to them. I call Disco Rx. They fax it. It wasn't received. I call Disco Rx again.  They fax it.  It's received. Great. The pharmacy now needs the authorization from my medical group.  So, I call my medical group.  They say they have to receive the request from Stanford first. So, I call Stanford.  The woman handling my case is at lunch. Argh!  I finally get her on the phone.  She says she will get the request over by 2. I called my medical group back at 2:15. Nuttin'.  I call Stanford back.  They say they sent it.  I call the medical group yet again (is your head exploding yet???!). They find the request. About an hour later, I get a call from Stanford telling me my medical group denied the authorization, stating I have no coverage for home injectables.

So, I've got the medical group she-devil on my cell on my left ear and the Blue Shield lady (who did not mind me addressing her as such) on my office phone on my right ear.  Boss walks by.  Fortunately, he thought it was kinda funny and impressive.  Probably more funny than impressive.  Anyway, Blue Shield lady calls medical group she-devil and gets the whole mess cleared up about 10 minutes before the end of my work day. I was literally on the phone for like 4 hours today dealing with this!!!

To top if all off, I also spent about an hour trying to get squeezed in to see baby doc tomorrow where Steve and I will sign the lengthy consent forms.  Steve is beyond slammed at work, having just taken time off for his arm surgery. He's leaving for Bo-leeev-eeya tomorrow on business. Too bad so sad.  Since AF is threatening to come early, the forms must be signed before he leaves or our timeframe will get jacked. So, he has to rearrange his schedule to sign forms while he's in crunch time. Damn baby!  Not even conceived yet and he/she already has our schedules turned upside down!  :::sigh:::

Today was stressful, but it's over.  The meds are approved.  Our IVF cycle was approved. We are on our way.  Just gotta wait and see when AF decides to make an appearance. I wonder if it'll be smooth sailing? I don't feel stressed. I don't feel anxious.  I'm just excited!

Had a great night celebrating the opening of my homey's yoga studio/active wear shop ( www.peacebankyoga.com ). Great shop!  Great to see friends!  Great to pick out 2 cute little yoga outfits! Great to feel all festive by drinking my Pellegrino out of a flute! Really looking forward to my first yoga class on Saturday.  I'm not all that flexible, so it should be a real hoot!

Now, I'm pooped and hittin' the hay.  The benefit of tomorrow's appointment is I get to sleep in 'til 7:30 instead of my usual 5 o'clock madness!  Wooo hooooo!