I have been having some headaches and was feeling generally tired and run down, so I made an appointment with the doctor. My old doc died last fall from cancer and I really didn’t want to go see someone else, but I sucked it up and made an appointment with someone else in his practice.
Don’t you love explaining all your symptoms and complaints to a stranger? So fun.
Anyway, he reassured me that I most likely don’t have a brain tumor or some other degenerative disease, just tension headaches and stress causing the problems. But he agreed to do a blood test to look for weird hormone levels and such, gave me a prescription for a stronger pain killer and also some hormone replacement that might help with all the peri-menopausal stuff.
So, on the way home I went to the Walmart pharmacy to pick those up. Sadly, I realized I had taken the health savings credit card out of my wallet in order to pay some bills, and hadn’t put it back. Well, I’m not about to pay for a medical expense out of pocket when I can use the tax free money we’ve put aside for that, so I did some back to school shopping and came home.
Later that night I had to take Natalie to a party, and figured I would stop by and get the RX then. I looked in my wallet and couldn’t find that card again. I was SURE I had put it in my wallet. What? This time I did NOT buy any school supplies and just went home. At HOME, I discovered that card in my pocket, where I had put it. See, I’m losing my mind.
On Saturday, after the trip to Ephraim, Ryan suggested we stop at Walmart and get John’s pencil sharpener and colored pencils that he needed, and pick up those prescriptions. Of course there was a line at the pharmacy. There’s always a line. I have a friend who is a pharmacist there, and she pulled me up and said, “Paige, do you have a new insurance card, because it’s saying that the one I have on file isn’t valid.” Nope. Same card. Seh looked it up under Ryan’s name and said that for some reason I am not covered under his policy anymore. Um, what? I thought about just paying for it without the insurance (had my credit card this time), but it was $120 for just one rx. I asked about the other one, and she said they only had one. Seems they need pain killer rx to be actually called in, not just sent over electronically. So, I would need to call the doctor’s office AND call the insurance company.
When I came back to the car, the family was wondering what in the world had taken so long, so I explained my predicament and laughed. That night, I asked Ryan to log on to his insurance website and print out a new coverage card, which he did. Sure enough, the prescription coverage had a different number.
On Monday morning, I called the doctor’s office and explained that I needed them to actually call in that rx. Monday, after taking the kids to DI, we stopped at Walmart….again. I was sure I was armed with all the stuff I needed that that this time, the fourth time, I would get things taken care of.
They did indeed have both rxs this time, but when I gave them the newly printed off insurance information, they said THAT wasn’t correct, either. They would have to call the insurance company, if I wouldn’t mind waiting. Of course not. I sent the kids to go and buy milk and bread and gave them some money. Soon they were back and complaining that they were hungry. Well, we have milk and bread….. Not helping. I dug out all the change I had in my wallet and told them to go and buy whatever treat they wanted to with $1.30. Soon they came back with milk duds, and that was a good snack for us all to chew on while we waited. Once they spoke with the insurance company, they put our correct information into their system, so I guess we can only go there for our pharmacy needs.
I finally went to consult with my friend, the pharmacist. She explained that this pain killer was a mix of three things, and that it would make me sleepy, so if I couldn’t drive if I took it. What good does that do me, if I can’t drive? Probably won’t be taking THAT. And the headache is pretty much gone, now. The other one was a estrogen thing, but she was concerned that there wasn’t progesterone to balance it, since estrogen alone can cause cancer. What? And this one month supply was $110 WITH insurance. What? No generic, no synthetic? I ended up not getting that one. I guess I’m going to have to ask for something else there. So, after four different trips to Walmart and many hours spent waiting, I came home with one RX that I won’t use.
Later, I got a call from the Doctor’s office to tell me the result of the blood test (wonder how much that one is going to cost me?). All my levels looked normal, except my iron was low. I just about cried. I was so hoping that there was something that could FIX me, something that would help me have energy, help with the not sleeping and the crankiness.
I’ll be taking iron.
And you wonder why I don’t go to the doctor very often?
Wow, you’ve been through a lot to get your troubles solved, which you didn’t. I was taking iron, too, but you get a little problem with that (constipation), so I had to stop taking it. Maybe you could take it every other day, or less than that. Eating peaches should counteract that problem, though. I know my estrogen was too expensive to renew also. Luckily I had stocked up with enough for year and I only take it every 4 days. I find that if you do that, you don’t get hot flashes and I hope there is less chance of cancer, but you never know. Also, can you cut that pain pill in half?