Insurance Issues

Insurance companies are such a pain in the butt. Period. In 2007, the very first surgery, my health care provider denied payment on part of my surgery. The reconstruction part. They sighted that they only pay for jaw surgery due to cancer or acute traumatic event. Well having a tumor the size of an iPod nano aggressively growing in your jaw and eating away the bone is traumatic. The invoice... $4,500 dollars. Regardless, I had the doctor write a letter of necessity and I filed an appeal. I was pleased with the out come as the insurance company decided to pay. GOOD

Fast forward to November 2008. 3rd surgery to remove infection and place the implants and continue with reconstruction surgery. My insurance came back and denied that too, sighting the same thing. The bill... almost $10,000. After yet another letter and an appeal I got the happy news that they would pay. Thank you!

Now after two weeks from getting that letter, I got a summery of charges to date stating that I owe that same amount they just said they would pay!! WHAT? Either the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing or they changed their minds. I figured if they did change their minds I would get another letter stating such.

Surgery is so stressful. This last 2 years have been crazy. Now I have to battle it out with the insurance company. UGH! I can not say I was not warned. Over at the Yahoo! Support Group I would hear stories about such things. How they have to keep appealing and "fighting the system". It's just not fair.

Snow White vs Evil Queen

Sometimes I feel like I am bipolar. There are days where I am fine with what I have. I can live my life in peace with amelo. Its like, I look into a mirror and say, wow I look good for what I been through. Great jobs Docs!




Then there are days where I want to crawl into bed and go to sleep, praying when I wake up this will all be a nightmare and I just have dreamed this past year and 1/2. I look and say OMG who is this person? Scar on my neck and leg. Missing 4 teeth. Ugly smile. I look like Frankenstein, I look like a witch. I know in reality I don't but it's how I see myself on those very dark days, like today.



I'll get over it.

What about my leg

It’s an odd thing, having Ameloblastoma. In order to fix one health problem you have to almost make another. Well if it was not my leg it would have been my hip. Oh boy. My leg has been bothering me lately. If I take my fingers and place them just above my ankle bone a run it up the fibula (or what is left of it) I can feel where it ends. That is where it hurts. Not massive pain but sore. It comes and goes.

I also notice that when I wear heels, high heels my leg bothers me more. Especially in the back of my ankle. So I have been wearing low heels or flats. Which is sad because they are some really NICE shoes out there. PRADA anyone?

Also my foot does not flex up all the way. I can point down with no problem. It's the point up that hurts. My big toe curls under. So when I walk I have to be conscious of not stepping on my toe. Its not as bad as I am probably making it sound. But its bad enough. I noticed this back last February and I hoped it would be temporary. but it stuck. I have been doing some exercises to help. But so far, it has not.

On my own

Well it’s been almost two months since my surgery. I am very happy as my smile is almost back to where it looks normal and not one sided. That’s the good news. The bad is that I am still dripping all over the place when I drink out of the right hand side. I forgot once and made the mistake of drinking a can of diet coke without a straw. It ends up mostly on my shirt and my sofa. *sigh*

I finished my antibiotics last week. So now I am “on my own”. Meaning, now that I am relying on my own body to heal and with my track record, I will get an infection and die (sarcasm). No, seriously I hope for the best. Numbness right now is about a size of a large half dollar, which is a little larger then before. I wonder if this would be permanent, but I remind myself to give it time. Though I do get distressed if I have food on the right side of my chin and I can not feel it. That and it’s a little embarrassing.