I Have a Confession

This is really long, sorry.
  I'm not the man I used to be.
   Outwardly, I still look pretty much the same. But inside, I've changed.

   That's where they took off the tip of my tongue. They also took little bits from my throat and the base of my tongue to biopsy.
   The spot on my tongue that they biopsied, that's where they said the cancer is.
   Then July 12 they extricated a  mass from my neck. 

   That's a little more obvious from the outside, at least if you're on the correct side and looking for it. I don't know how big the mass was but I could definitely tell it was there before they took it out.

   They cut an incision about 5 or 6 inches long to remove it. And had to do some cutting inside my neck to remove it from around my tendons and arteries and whatever.

   That's a pain in the neck. Literally and figuratively. And that's led to another pain in the neck.

   Opiods. Pain killers. That thing the legislators are saying is a problem in our country. Its an epidemic.

   The doctor wrote me a months prescription for them. She wrote on the prescription that I had a diagnosis of cancer. Cause that's what they have to do to allow you to get a months supply. You have to have a diagnosis on the prescription to permit the pharmacies to dispense a months supply.

   The pharmacy submitted it, the insurance company denied it. The pharmacy person I talked to said the insurance says there is a limit of a 5 day supply unless it's for a chronic condition. I can get them, the cost would just be about 40 times what the copay would be if the insurance approved it. It must be preauthorized by the insurance company. 

   I called the insurance company, and was told that if the doctor wrote on the prescription that I had a diagnosis of cancer written on the prescription, it should be automatically pre-approved. I talked to the doctor on Tuesday, the day they were supposed to take out my drain and told her what the insurance person and the pharmacy person had told me. She said I'll write you 4 prescriptions for a 3 day supply. And she wrote me one for 5 days.

   I had gotten one 3 day prescription filled the day I came home after the surgery. This is the 4th day after they sent me home. I had 3 pills left. I had managed that by not taking them until I got to the point where I couldn't stand it any longer. 

 I drop off the 5 day prescription Wednesday.(5 days after I was discharged) And get told the pharmacy won't fill it because it exceeds what I'm allowed to have. (Huh?) So I give them a 3 day one on Thursday (6 days after I was discharged) The pharmacy can fill that, but the insurance won't cover it. They said I don't have preauthorization and since I've already filled a prescription for this same medication in the past month. I have to pay full price. I pay the price. I finally get the prescription picked up and I take one of the pain pills. 15 hours after I took the last one. 

  That's aapain in the neck. REALLY.

   So insurance won't cover the prescription that was written the way the pharmacy person told me they had to be written to be covered.
   They called the pharmacist over. He explained that what happens if they submit it to the insurance company and it gets rejected then the doctor is notified. I had submitted the original prescription before I talked to the doctor and they didn't say anything about having a preauthorization request. I DID ask if they had submitted a preauthorization request to the doctor. He said he thought so. 
   Evidently they can't check and see if one was submitted or not because he thinks the system does it automatically. But he's not sure.
   I came home and called the insurance company again. This time I got a much more helpful person to talk to. He explained what form the doctor needs to submit, what information the pharmacy needs to submit.
  So now I know the proper form that the Doctors office needs. I call them and leave a message telling them the proper form. They'll call me back. It's Friday (7 days after they released me from the hospital) 
While I'm  waiting to hear back from the doctor, I have an appointment to get the drain removed. After the drain is removed, 6 hours have passed and they haven't called back, I call and leave another message. Including the name of the form they need to download and the address of the website they need to download it from.
   I call the insurance company Saturday. (8 days after I was released) No, they haven't sent in a form. They did last Friday ( the day after my surgery) but it was the wrong form and the insurance company says they sent a fax letting the Doctor know it was the wrong form. Hmmm.
Monday, (10 days after they sent me home from the hospital) the Doctors office calls me! They tell me they've called the insurance company and the insurance company is going to fax them the correct form. I offer to give them the web address with the correct form. No, they don't need me to give them the address. 
   Tuesday (11 days after I was sent home) I call and am told by the insurance company that the Doctors office faxed them a form. But it wasn't the correct form. I call the Doctors office at 9 AM and have to leave a message. I call again at 3 PM and leave a message. I got another 3 day prescription, paying full price.
   I call the insurance company Wednesday morning. (12 days after I was released from the hospital) They say they haven't received a fax. I call the Dr office around 11AM and leave a message.
  Thursday morning, (13 days) I call the insurance company and find out that the Dr office has sent a form that is under review, but they can't tell me what the form is, since it is under review and it wasn't entered in as to what the form was.
  Friday morning. I call the insurance company while I'm on the way to have my pet put in. The port where they're going to be administering the chemotherapy that's going to help wipe out my cancer. They insurance company has approved the form! I can get the amount of drugs my doctor prescribed! 
   I've managed to make it 14 days since they sent me home from the hospital by getting 3 - 3 day prescriptions filled. The pharmacy wouldn't fill a 5 day prescription because it was more than the law allows according to them although the way the law reads, I should have been able to get a 5 day supply. 
   I managed to go that long by not taking a pill until it reached the point that my body was hurting enough that I couldn't stand it any longer.  
   I think that the lawmakers had very good intentions. And if people who have been abusing the drugs have as a hard of a time getting prescriptions filled as I did, it may help wipe out some of the opiod problem. 
  Here is why I need these drugs.

As always, thank you for reading, thank you for your prayers, and pray for the people who are having to put up with me during my treatment. 😁