Waiting

As I write this, I am waiting for a plumber. I am also waiting for an attorney to review the consent form for the clinical trial, which the hospital will probably want me to sign when i go see the oncology nurse in two hours. I am also waiting to see if the insurance company will pre-certify the clinical trial.

Regine, the precertification lady from Northwestern Memorial, faxed information on the trial to Unicare, my insurance company, on December 20. I phoned Unicare 12/21 to see if the fax arrived; the customer service rep told me Unicare's reviewing nurse was "in the file" when she (the customer service rep) looked it up on the computer, and because 2 people can't be in the file at the same time there was no way for the rep to check whether the fax had been received. However, the rep told me that since the nurse was in the file, she was probably reviewing the fax, so I could safely assume the fax had been received. Today Regine (the hospital's precert lady) called to say she had checked with Unicare on my precertification, and Unicare had NOT received the fax. So Regine re-faxed, Unicare confirmed receipt of the fax, and now it will take another 72 hours for Unicare to review the contents of the fax. Regine will phone Unicare again tomorrow to see if she can speed up the precertification process. I am supposed to begin radiation therapy January 3. Aargh.

I am also still waiting for forms from my insurance company that will authorize my cousins to run interference with the company on my behalf. I am also waiting to find out how to authorize my cousins to access my medical records. I have one authorization form from Northwestern Memorial Faculty Foundation, through which doctors' bills are processed, but I may need a second authorization form from the hospital itself.

On the bright side, the sun is out, and we had a lovely party Christmas eve. I had a lovely shower and brunch at my friend Francine's on Christmas morning, and dinner with my Oak Park cousins Christmas Day. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday, and that the new year will bring many blessings.