This week was a hot one! I think we hit 90's for the first time this year. The rest of the family went out and enjoyed Cobb lake on the hottest day this year, thanks for the invite Cathy.
On Thursday I received a call from Tom's case manager. The PET scan has been denied again. This launched a number of phone calls, and I was the one in charge since Tom was @ WMU enjoying the day with Cody. I talked with the Oncologist office and with Tom's primary doctors office. It is still not clear if it is the "head to toe" area of coverage or the PET scan itself that has been denied. The denial stated that guidelines are not met to be covered for a PET. What is clear is that both doctors will be sending in letters to help resolve this issue. I also asked if having a team of doctors agreeing to this procedure would be beneficial. So far we are not getting U of M involved, but I did question if it was a good the idea. It took me half the morning to make all the calls. Tom's reply was the "I must be cured, the insurance company thinks so" I did appreciate his sense of humor but once again by the end of all the phone calls I just felt frustration. For now we wait as the doctors send in their letters and have the medical director review further information to make another determination as to what "fits" into their approval.
Not only does life keep going on through these struggles, there are many small blessings & trials along life's way. We can react to them many different ways. I believe it is not the struggle we will look back on, but the way we handle them. I prefer to pray through them....
Psalms 46:1 "GOD IS OUR refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble."
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Still Waiting
The kids are definitely liking the staying up later and for the most part they are sleeping in, which is worth the trade off for "my" alone night time. We are done with ball season. Katie's team did pretty good, but the girls had more interest socializing than being into the ball game. Cody's team finished 7-3, what a great record. The boys really got into it as the season progressed and it showed! Cody seemed to enjoy this season.
Saturday we went to Michigan's Adventure, thanks Robin for thinking about our family. We had beautiful weather and great fun! The lines were not long at all and the water felt good on such a warm day. I felt bad that we lost my brother at the water park but was relieved to know that his wife had an eye on him. We should have had an adult buddy system! I hope they also enjoyed the park and we did have fun seeing them there. This Thursday Cody and Tom are heading down to WMU for a football camp. Tom is excited that one of his boys is still into football and missed it. I think this camp will be good for Cody and will keep him focused for this fall.
Tom has also been very busy talking with our insurance company. He is trying to understand the process of the people approving tests & scans. He was "misinformed" about why the process was denied, which he was not happy about being told false information. He was able to get his Case Manger involved and hopefully everybody understands what is happening. Since Tom has been denied, the case will go in front of a board of doctors and will be reviewed, including the Oncologist notes about why the test has been ordered. We will have the results by Tuesday. Hopefully it will be approved at this time. Tom feels that 2 weeks have been wasted in the medical world. It is frustrating that we have been told many times how early detection and prevention is the best way to beat this disease and yet waiting on the approval has prevented the early detection that leads to prevention!
We are learning the lessons of patience in our household! It is a strange feeling to be outside of Toms medical circle. I have given it all to Tom to handle...another piece of control out of my hands, which is also teaching me that it is ok to give up things. I love the verse that says "You will keep on guiding me all my life with your wisdom and counsel; and afterwards receive me into the glories of heaven! And I desire no one on earth as much as you! My health fails, my spirits droop, yet God remains! He is the strength of my heart; he is mine forever!" Psalms 73:24-26
Saturday we went to Michigan's Adventure, thanks Robin for thinking about our family. We had beautiful weather and great fun! The lines were not long at all and the water felt good on such a warm day. I felt bad that we lost my brother at the water park but was relieved to know that his wife had an eye on him. We should have had an adult buddy system! I hope they also enjoyed the park and we did have fun seeing them there. This Thursday Cody and Tom are heading down to WMU for a football camp. Tom is excited that one of his boys is still into football and missed it. I think this camp will be good for Cody and will keep him focused for this fall.
Tom has also been very busy talking with our insurance company. He is trying to understand the process of the people approving tests & scans. He was "misinformed" about why the process was denied, which he was not happy about being told false information. He was able to get his Case Manger involved and hopefully everybody understands what is happening. Since Tom has been denied, the case will go in front of a board of doctors and will be reviewed, including the Oncologist notes about why the test has been ordered. We will have the results by Tuesday. Hopefully it will be approved at this time. Tom feels that 2 weeks have been wasted in the medical world. It is frustrating that we have been told many times how early detection and prevention is the best way to beat this disease and yet waiting on the approval has prevented the early detection that leads to prevention!
We are learning the lessons of patience in our household! It is a strange feeling to be outside of Toms medical circle. I have given it all to Tom to handle...another piece of control out of my hands, which is also teaching me that it is ok to give up things. I love the verse that says "You will keep on guiding me all my life with your wisdom and counsel; and afterwards receive me into the glories of heaven! And I desire no one on earth as much as you! My health fails, my spirits droop, yet God remains! He is the strength of my heart; he is mine forever!" Psalms 73:24-26
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Denied
It has been very strange getting used to the full time schedule. The kids have been pretty good with the "To Do" lists. Tom has painted our bedroom, so long primer :) He continues to work on the living room also. I went to Saugatuck yesterday with some girlfriends and had such a wonderful time. Thanks girls for showing me the town & I so enjoyed the paddle boat ride!
Tom is on a 6 night working spree again this week. Hopefully he will not continue to spread himself so thin. I can tell that he is wearing himself out. How he does it, I'm not sure. I was hoping that working full time would help him lessen his schedule. I guess time will tell.
Tom had a few more conversations with insurance, doctor offices and such this week. By Thursday we did not have any notification about Tom's scan. I called Tom's primary office to get a status update. I should have waited a day because on Friday Tom received the denial letter from the Insurance company. Tom started his phone calls to get this issue resolved. He was able to find out why it was denied. Now to get it straighted out and back to the authorities of Preauthorization. Tom will not be as patient as I have been, which I understand; it gets old to have round and round phone calls. Lets just say it is frustrating! So we will wait for another week to get his scan scheduled.
Thanks so much for the cards and words of encouragement. They have helped remind us Who is truly in control! Prayer warriors, please help Tom and I to stay patient as we go through this whole process.
Proverbs 12:25 "Anxious hearts are very heavy but a word of encouragement does wonders!"
Tom is on a 6 night working spree again this week. Hopefully he will not continue to spread himself so thin. I can tell that he is wearing himself out. How he does it, I'm not sure. I was hoping that working full time would help him lessen his schedule. I guess time will tell.
Tom had a few more conversations with insurance, doctor offices and such this week. By Thursday we did not have any notification about Tom's scan. I called Tom's primary office to get a status update. I should have waited a day because on Friday Tom received the denial letter from the Insurance company. Tom started his phone calls to get this issue resolved. He was able to find out why it was denied. Now to get it straighted out and back to the authorities of Preauthorization. Tom will not be as patient as I have been, which I understand; it gets old to have round and round phone calls. Lets just say it is frustrating! So we will wait for another week to get his scan scheduled.
Thanks so much for the cards and words of encouragement. They have helped remind us Who is truly in control! Prayer warriors, please help Tom and I to stay patient as we go through this whole process.
Proverbs 12:25 "Anxious hearts are very heavy but a word of encouragement does wonders!"
Monday, June 1, 2009
Moving up Test?
Today was as crazy as Monday's get. I started my new job and was called from school at noon due to a sick child. Grandma to the rescue to pick up a sick girl with an upset stomach! Poor Tom did not get much sleep after she got home. After Katie got settled the phone rang from the Oncologist office. Dr. Campbell is ordering a Head to Toe PET Scan. Of course we know from experience that it will take a week to get the approval & then more time to schedule it. This time around we have 2 PET Scans in GR...one at the Lemmon Holton Center and the other at Saint Mary's....so it will be interesting how far out his date will be for Tom to endure 2 step (including the 4 hour) process. The Oncologist office gave us the option to talk with Dr. Campbell or U of M about the results. Tom is sticking with the GR team.
Tom, once again is not getting caught up in the numbers. I am staying focused on our daily lives and we will continue to play the waiting game. I have to selfishly say that I am glad that these results were after our wonderful 20th getaway. However, we will as we always have, deal the what we are given.
Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.
Tom, once again is not getting caught up in the numbers. I am staying focused on our daily lives and we will continue to play the waiting game. I have to selfishly say that I am glad that these results were after our wonderful 20th getaway. However, we will as we always have, deal the what we are given.
Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.
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