Discovery Landed!

Here are a few pictures of us on the cruise. Mark is on the beach at St. Martin; I'm on the dock in front of the ship in Martinique and also wearing the new Larimar necklace Mark got for me in Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten.

Yesterday I spent two hours on the phone dealing with the insurance issues. I made up my mind that I would switch to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center because when I talked to them, they said everything would be billed as outpatient, so no copays. When I went to the Osceola Cancer Center yesterday afternoon, I told them I was switching and filled out a form to have my records sent over to the Orlando center. Surprise, suddenly the business office folks, including the mythical Paul, wanted us to step into the office and talk to them. I explained that it was purely a financial decision and was no reflection on the care provided by the doctors, receptionists, nurses, or technicians. I like all of them. I also love the location. Paul seemed surprised when I told him that the radiologist who read the PET scan was not in CIGNA. He said they contracted with him because he took all insurances. He insisted that I call their office tomorrow to explain the situation and that I would not have to pay that $240.

I did call that office this morning. He is NOT a CIGNA doctor, but there is a procedure in place whereby he can accept the CIGNA payment if all the proper authorizations are filed. The nice lady in his office is going to pursue it and told me not to pay the money because she was sure it would be taken care of. That was a nice bonus to save that money. I also found out that I have another check from my supplemental insurance company, Conseco. The check is at Lowell's house. So...with the extra insurance money from Conseco and saving the $240 from the radiologist, I have decided to go ahead and stay at the Osceola Cancer Center and pay the $20 copay each day. Our friend Rudy is still here visiting, and I thought he gave some good advice on this. It was a little embarrassing calling the center to try to stop them from sending my records out. It will save them time and possibly save me money if they were going to charge for that. When I had my records sent down here from the St. Agnes Cancer Center and from the surgeon's office, there was no charge; however, both Mark and I each had to pay $75 to our family physician's office to have those records sent out to our new family doctor down here. I don't know what Osceola's policy is, but if I stopped them this morning from doing it, then everything is better.

I hope I don't regret this decision if more random copays for days that I'm not there show up. I have no way of predicting that, but I do like everyone up there. I just don't like their billing process, but they have assure me that they HAVE to do this or it would be illegal. Seems weird, but I have made the decision to accept it and not think about it anymore. I'm moving on, so to speak.

Last night Rudy, Mark, and I went to Raglan Road for dinner. It's Mark's favorite Irish restaurant at Downtown Disney. Oh, my did we eat! I ate 4 slices of Irish soda bread, a big bowl of tomato soup with gin (yes, it sounds weird but tasted good), some of Mark's appetizer with smoked haddock and cheese on toast, the entree of striped bass with roasted potatoes and asparagus, and a dessert of strawberry/apple crumble and ice cream. Oh, my, I could barely walk to the car. Fortunately I ate a very low calorie breakfast and lunch, and I walked 1.8 miles in 40 minutes in the afternoon. I actually lost a pound and a half this morning. Huh!

Today I will go back up to the gym to do my weight machines and maybe the stationary bike also. It's time for me to go to three sets of 10 on my machines today. I have not done the bike in a long time. I had gotten up to 10 minutes before the cruise, but I haven't done it now in a month. I think I'll just go for five minutes today and see how that works. Mark also has to do some grocery shopping today. The cupboards are still pretty bare.

Of course, I have to go back for radiation #3, and eat my words about leaving the center for financial reasons. I'm sure they will be happy to find out I'm staying. It's money in their pockets and out of mine!

Evey called me last night. We talked for about half an hour. She is so busy with work and school that she barely knows which end is up. I enjoyed talking to her and hearing her voice. She will be arriving here in about two and a half weeks! I can't wait. I also talked to Lowell for a few minutes on the phone. He was at work, so I couldn't talk long, but it was nice to hear his voice, too. I really do miss them both so much. I'll see him in May when we go up there, and hopefully, he and Emily will visit us some time this summer.

Today the shuttle Discovery landed at Cape Canaveral. With two NASA retirees in the house, we put the NASA channel on TV about forty minutes away from the landing and watched it come down. It passed through central Florida but a bit too far south of Kissimmee for us to see it from the yard. We did hear the big sonic boom when it went over, though. It made the windows rattle. That was awesome! Congratulations to the crew of Discovery and all the NASA employees at the Kennedy Space Center and all other NASA centers.