Shortly after posting yesterday I was called into my bosses office and told that I was being “let go” from the company.  Yeah…after almost spending a decade of my life bending over backwards and giving all that I had…I was being “let go”.

Just what one needs right before a major surgery is to be terminated.  Well, I guess I can look at this a few different ways…one, I will have ample time to recover from surgery now and I don’t have to worry about time restrictions…two, I will have time to spend with my kids that I haven’t had in years…and three, there has GOT TO BE something better for me out there.

I’ve been disrespected and treated like shit by this company for many years now and I put up with it because I have four children to support AND the people that I was actually helping at that company worked many miles away from the office that I hated coming to every day.  The “field employees” were the ONLY reason that I stayed there as long as I had and they are the main reason why I’m upset at all about my departure.

I’ve rec’d a great number of phone calls from people since my departure from the company was announced yesterday afternoon.  Considering the email announcement didn’t give any reason for my departure, people naturally had questions.  The email just stated that I was “no longer employed”.

So…this is where I am now.  Hopefully things will get better from here…it has to.

So, this Sunday I will turn 31 years of age.  I’m not quite sure how I feel about this…pretty much I don’t feel much of anything.  I guess I just feel like it’s just another year…no big deal.  My husband, on the other hand, feels that birthdays are special and should be treated as such.  I feel that way about other people’s birthdays…just have never really felt that about my own.  Maybe it’s because it was always so close to the 4th of July and with that day not only being Independence Day here in America with all of the big celebrations, it was also my parents’ wedding anniversary for over 20 years.  So my birthday was always lumped into celebration of everything else.  I just never had that day singled out for just me.  Does this make sense?

Anyway, I have my “brunette” children home this weekend (Dora and Caleb) and Jason is on vacation time, so I’ll be able to spend time with them and I’m excited about that.  Also, we’re meeting my friend Vanessa and her hubby for lunch on Saturday.  Vanessa and I have formed quite the bond as she too has been going through the process for gastric bypass surgery and we’ve been going through it together.  We met through a support website and just clicked!  Having Vanessa there to share all of this with has not only kept me sane but it’s been such a blessing to me because I know that she will understand what I’m going through no matter what!  Her surgery date is July 11th…so I will be able to support her while she’s in the hospital as well.  She’s looking forward to being able to do the same for me the following week when I have my surgery.  This is a good thing because we can continue our journey together as well and we’re both excited about that.

On Sunday, my b-day, we’ll be going here:

The Colorado Renaissance Festival in Larkspur, CO.  It’s just south of where I work in Castle Rock…about 10 miles.  Kids get in for FREE this weekend and they will have a petting zoo there as well as an elephant.  Caleb will be SO thrilled to see all of this.  He loves watching animals so this will be great for him!  I do enjoy going to the festival and so does Dora, very much so actually.  I’m hoping that next year I will be able to dress up for the festival.  I will be much smaller then and will feel more comfortable about buying a costume. 

Jason has a costume that I purchased for him last year for Halloween.  He’s adorable in it and he’s looking forward to dressing up with me next year as well.

Okay…well enough rambling for me.  I have work to do and since I’m here at work…I should probably get to it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

No…you’re not seeing things!  I called my insurance this morning and they faxed me the letter of approval!

I immediately called my surgeon’s office and left a message and then faxed the letter of approval to them.  I called back about an hour later and actually got a hold of D (the woman I’ve been dealing with).  She told me that she’d “have to” call me back because she’d “just walked in the door” and had “messages to check and phone calls to return”…umm yeah, like MINE! I told her that I’d just faxed her the letter of approval and that I just want to get my surgery scheduled and she told me that she’d call me back later today or tomorrow.  WTF?

I swear…this woman is always the ONE thing standing in my way of what I need accomplished!

Anyway…she still can’t get me down right now because I’ve been APPROVED which means that I don’t have to worry about pawning off children to pay for this!

I will let you know when I receive a surgery date.

Thanks again to you all for your support through this long and difficult journey.

I was a nervous wreck driving into work yesterday morning thinking about the “verdict” of my approval outcome for surgery.  I couldn’t take it anymore…so as soon as I got to my office I called the insurance company.  The conversation went something like this:

Insurance:  This is Michelle, how may I help you?

Me: Hi Michelle, this is Maria O’Quinn…I was wondering what the status was on my case that is pending.

Insurance:  Hold on just a moment Maria and I will look that up for you.

Me: Thanks

Insurance: Well, it looks like we are still missing some information on your case.

Me: What?  What information are you missing?  I sent you over 60 pages of documentation.

Insurance:  It seems that we have not rec’d dietician notes

Me: Yes you have, it was in the first set of paperwork that was sent to you back in April of this year and again last week by my surgeon’s office.  The document is dated 1/19/06 and is signed by Linda (the dietician).  She marked what I ate for a week and then put me on MediFast for the next week and had me follow up with my Primary Care Physician.

Insurance:  Hold on just a moment please while I physically get your file.

Me: Fine…okay

Insurance:  Okay Maria, I see the document you are referring to and I will note this in your file

Me: Thank you

Insurance: However, it seems that we are still missing other information

Me: What exactly are you still missing?

Insurance: We still need the notes from a dietician or nutritionist on your post-op consult giving recommendation for post-op care; also consult notes from an exercise therapist for post-op recommendation on activities including cardiovascular, resistance training and specialized exercises; and we need the post-op care plan from your surgeon stating when you are supposed to come in for each follow-up visit and who you will be seeing at every visit.

Me: Oh you’ve got to be kidding me…

Insurance: No ma’am…this is what the Medical Review Officer (MRO) is wanting to see and will not approve you until we receive this information

Me: And you need this by 6/22/06 right?

Insurance: That is correct, but if you need to we can can extend your deadline.  Just give us a call and let us know.

Me: I may have to do that because to be honest with you, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to get this information.  I have over 50 pages of documentation that I can send you on all of the items that I’ve been given by the surgeon’s office.  They have us attend a Nutrition Class that is put on by the Direct of Bariatrics at the hospital and she give’s us a book filled with instructions from “dietary and nutrition plans” to “pre-op preparation” to “exercise recommendation” to “follow-up visits” etc.  But there is no “one-on-one” consultations with anyone.  They have a personal trainer that puts on a “exercise class” every first Monday of the month for my support group…but there’s no sign-in sheet…you just show up.  Can I not just send you all of the documentation that has been given to me by the Bariatrics’ Team?

Insurance:  I see, well let me go talk to the MRO real quick and ask him if he would accept this information in lieu of the “consultation notes”.

Me: Thank you

Insurance: Well, the MRO stated that he would accept your documentation IF you include a “written” statement from the person who put on the class stating that you did indeed attend the class where this information was given.

Me:  I see, well I will see what I can do then.  I’ll get back to you next week and hopefully I’ll be able to give you what you’re asking for.  However, I do think that this is a bit much.  I mean, I understand that you want to make sure that I will be receiving proper follow-up care and that the surgeon’s office can adequately provide this service…but good grief!  I chose this surgeon because of his reputation in our city and he is renowned in his field.  I wouldn’t have chosen to go with this group if I didn’t do my homework.  I don’t want this procedure to be for nothing…I too want to make sure that I’m going to be taken care of.  This is MY LIFE ya know.

Insurance:  I understand Maria, but I’m not the person making this decision, the MRO is and he is requesting this documentation.

Me: I know Michelle, I’m sorry…I’m very frustrated.

Insurance: I know Maria, see if you can get this information to us and again, if you need to extend your deadline then just give me a call and I will do that for you.  You can extend up to two weeks.

Me: Okay…I’ll see what I can do.  Thanks for you help Michelle.

Insurance: Your welcome and good luck.

So this is where I’m at now.  I talked to my surgeon’s office and they are going to try and get a copy of the sign-in sheet from Kim (the Director of Bariatrics).  I’ve also left Kim a message because she is also my support group leader and I’m hoping that she will help me out here and write this statement that they are requesting.  She does NOT work for my surgeon and is NOT required to do anything for his office…she works for the hospital and WITH the surgeon’s office.  Unfortunately there are no guarantees on anything here.

OH…and my mom told me yesterday that I can’t have any money from my grandpa’s estate because then SHE will have nothing left to live on when she’s retired.  Yup…apparently there was a clause on that whole statement that she gave me of “I will do anything to save your life”…anything but give up that money.  I’m not wanting her to mind you…in fact I’d told her NO flat out when she suggested pulling it from the estate to begin with…but it just sickens me that she would say this to me after telling me she’d do “anything”.  Ya know?

She’s a greedy person…she always has been.  It always comes down to money for her…and I’m not that way, money isn’t everything.  I guess I’m more like my father in that respect…if you have money then great…if not, well…no big deal…you just deal with it.  You get by on what you’ve got.

Anyway…so there went “Plan B”…right out the window.

I’ve decided that it’s not worth me worrying about over the weekend…it’s just too much stress.

I hope that you all have a lovely Father’s Day weekend. 

I will be thinking of my daddy this weekend, that’s for sure.  I wish he was here about right now.

No…I haven’t heard anything yet on whether or not my surgery has been approved by my insurance.  However, I’ve come up with a “plan B” of sorts just in case I am denied for some reason.  Considering that my doctors all feel that I cannot wait to have this surgery, I feel that it’s necessary to get it no matter what.  I, myself, cannot afford to pay for the surgery “out of pocket“…BUT, after talking with my mom over the weekend, she told me that if necessary that she will pull the money from my grandfather’s estate (our inheritance).  The money can be wired to my account overnight and then I can get scheduled immediately for surgery!

SO…this is “plan B“.  Not exactly what I want to do by any means, but…it may be what I may have to do in order to get this taken care of.  I’m not willing to go through the “appeal” thing if my insurance denies me coverage.  That process can take months…if not years, and well…according to my doctors I may not have that much time without surgery.

So now…I wait.

In the meantime, I know that my loving husband still hasn’t told you about his good news…he’s a little slow sometimes.  Yeah…well I’ll harass him for ya to update on this.

So…any plans for Father’s Day weekend??

I’m sure just from reading that title most of you know what I’m referring to.  Yup…my insurance FINALLY rec’d my paperwork from my surgeon’s office! I rec’d a call from the surgeon’s office yesterday afternoon (as I was driving home from work) stating that she’d faxed ALL 56 pages to my insurance and that she just got confirmation that it went through.  So this morning, I contacted my insurance company to confirm that they indeed rec’d it…and they did!

My insurance also stated that my file will go into medical review TODAY!  I should have an answer in about a week…so I can call back next Friday if I haven’t heard anything. Can you believe that? WOOHOO!

AND…yes, there’s more news…but it’s not mine.  Jason has good news as well…but you’ll have to ask him directly because he’ll shoot me if I tell for him.

I hope that your day is going as well as mine is!!

I won’t go into major details…but let me just say that I’m not being nice anymore regarding my paperwork being submitted to my insurance for my surgery!  I’m sick of dealing with incompitent people who obviously shouldn’t be in the position that they are in.

My insurance company has been very patient and so have I…however I’m DONE being patient because it’s now been a friggin’ MONTH since I had my consultation and my insurance still has not rec’d my paperwork from the surgeon’s office!!

I’m a little pissed off …just a little bit.

Btw…thank you all for the lovely comments that you left on my last post.  You are awesome!

I hope your week is going better than mine is.

Oh…and go ask Jason about his garage door incident yesterday that had us sitting in the emergency room for several hours last night.

I’m telling you…STUPIDITY SHOULD BE PAINFUL!

Tata!

Eight years ago today I lost my daddy to a forty year battle with alcohol.  I remember my father as being a very kind and loving man who adored his little girl more than anything in the world…well, besides his horses who came in a very close second that is.  However, the side of my father that I lived with the majority of the time was the one that was completely influenced by the demon that he carried.  It was the opposite from that of which I held so dearly.

The day that my dad died he went to lunch with my mother and expressed how proud he was of me and how I had become such an amazing mother.  He also told her how sorry he was that he was so absent from my life for so long due to living life through an alcohol bottle.  Dad had come full circle in his life by that point in more ways than one and his body was experiencing the full affects that drinking most of his life had bestowed.  His organs were shutting down slowly causing severe bloating and the retaining of water, and he had contracted Hepatitis C earlier that year, not to mention the fact that he already had heart disease and an artificial valve that was in desperate need of replacement.  However, my dad was entirely too stubborn to undergo a procedure to prolong his life despite the pleas of myself or his cardiologist.  Alcohol had robbed him of many things including a marriage of over twenty years.  My mother loved him dearly and my father worshipped the ground that she’d walked on, but she couldn’t bare to watch him kill himself every single day…it tore them apart.

I too had given up on “saving” my father long ago.  It was after he attempted suicide in the summer of 1988 that I finally told him that I couldn’t watch him do this anymore.  He blamed me for driving him to do this because I was gone that summer helping a friend of my mother’s take care of her newborn.  So my absence then became his scapegoat for a stupid and selfish decision.  This was his way of dealing with the reality of my mother filing for divorce and the fact that I had knowledge of this decision before he had been served the papers.  He disowned me for two years following this event.

We had our ups and downs in the years beyond, but we’d finally made amends by the time he died.  In fact, he was planning to come visit me here in Colorado for my birthday just a little over a month away from the day he died.  The one thing that he did leave me that meant more than anything was a letter that I found the day after he died while going through his things in his room.  He didn’t tell me of this letter before he passed, but I knew it was there when I walked into the room.  He spoke of many things in the letter but most of all of how he was excited and looking forward to our visit and that he wanted me know how much he loved me and missed me.  Those words have helped me through the past eight years.

No…my journey with my father was not an easy one, but I loved him none the less.  He was and always will be my daddy.

Mario F. Savastano

Aug. 29, 1927 – June 5, 1998