Phone day

It's my insurance/doctor office/hospital phone call day and my head is spinning. (It also could be the huge amount of snot packed in my head.) I seriously need a secretary or a manager or something! Barbara had a good idea for me the other day - go read your insurance policy. Novel idea! I'll bet it would cut down on the time I spend on the phone.

My pregnancy sonogram in November was charged to my individual deductable. I have another one scheduled for this Friday and I think I'm going to cancel. New year, new deductible. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if they would reimburse for my midwife, but no.

Two weird things - On Friday I picked up Ralph's Sildenafil, which normally costs $64 and change per month. They only charged me $30. I'm not one to complain, but I've been here before...someone screwed up and they are going to want me to make up the difference sometime down the line.

And today, while on the phone with the hospital to make a payment for Ralph's May '08 ICU adventure, I am told that he has a zero balance. So I call the insurance company to verify that what payments were made and when. Now I'm calling the hospital to see when the payments were received. It seems that I have been getting billed for the amount of the "discount" that was written off the original bill. Grrrr. Do I dig up the paperwork on this or just let it go? If I'm correct, they owe me about $200. (That's almost enough for a couple of tires for my van.)

Ralph is doing great, by the way! We've seen lots of improvement this week with balancing and walking skills. We are continuing to have him walk from one person to another. Typically he will take two steps and fall on his face. He thinks this is great fun! At church, he pushes a toy shopping cart, containing his O2 tank, around his sunday school room. Yesterday we had a luncheon after church, so he pushed the shopping cart down the halls and all around while we were gathering and chatting. He was adorable and SO enjoyed "talking" and waving to everyone in the halls.

Ralph visits the cardiologist later this month. I'm so curious to know what his pulmonary pressures are doing - improving, staying the same, or what! Funny thing, I've caught him trying to put the cannula BACK ON lately after he has ripped it off! But, I'm still longing for a day when we don't pack O2 tanks everywhere we go, when I don't get up 5-10 times every night to fix a cannula, when he can walk and run without tripping on tubing.

In the grand sceme, a little O2 isn't that big of a deal. I've got to remember to count our many great blessings, don't I? Ralph is one of them.