Mick McKellar Update--Day +92
Today started early again for the intrepid walkers. At 7:45 AM, I had my fourth or fifth bone marrow biopsy. In my case, it is a surgical procedure done under anesthesia. The results will likely be some time coming along, although we hope to get some preliminary information on Thursday.
Tomorrow morning, I will receive two units of whole blood (which will take 5-6 hours) and then they will test my bone mineral density. They've also added a dermatology consult to my Thursday list.
In the meantime, my hip hurts from the procedure and the bandage, we continue with the daily protocols, and pray no new medical challenge develops. Of course, there are now some other players in the game...
Why can't they wait? -- A diatribe in three paragraphs
(Why I left the next three paragraphs in, is explained below, trust me...)
I heard this afternoon that two UP hospitals are sending threatening notices to my home. Now, I have to call their billing departments and tell that that I am still stuck in Rochester in an acute care situation. Hopefully, they will give me a chance to get home before sending the attack dogs to my door. We are trying to piece together the whole of the situation (what has been covered, what should have been covered, and what is deductible and copay related). There appear to be hundreds of pages of statements of coverage, itemized bills, and notices that have to be cross-referenced.
A new career opportunity could exist for a smart entrepreneur that would track with the service function of the taxman. Medical bill coordinators for patients who are either too sick, too far away, or just too busy to match bills with statements and conduct follow ups for the patient. A dedicated medical representative would handle keeping the hounds at bay until one is well enough to tackle the onerous task of sorting it all out -- for a reasonable fee, of course.
You see, my doctors tell me not to sign contracts, conduct business deals, or make important financial decisions while under the influence of strong, and often mind/mood altering medications. Yet, the medical business world wants payment immediately, sometimes for things that will be, or should be covered by insurance. Often there are billing mix-ups and the only one who can detect and correct is the hapless patient with "chemo-brain." It is an ugly situation.
And in the middle...
Caught in the middle, between the dark comedy of the billing situation and the wild-eyed, barking patient, is Marian. An hour or so after I wrote the above paragraphs, I came back to Earth, and settled upon a reasonable approach to begin organizing the patchwork puzzle of medical bills and BCBSM statements. Like everything else I do, I will attack it with the ferocity of a tree sloth on Ambien.
I learned a long time ago to sleep on a problem and then try to be reasonable about it. However, there are times when my Irish fire and Scottish stoicism combine to create something akin to an angry wall, just about ready to fall on somebody. Ah, then the haggis hits the fan. Marian has been weathering these Mick Storms for nearly forty years.
My plan is a simple one.
Tonight, I will pray on it, and God will show me both the futility of anger and the stupidity of worry. I just have one more challenge to meet and one more rock in a very rocky road. Fortunately, I am not traveling alone, but with my closest friend on this planet. That will make the difference.
Blossom is about how precious friendship, frail and beautiful, can endure even the worst storms.
Thanks for your communications. Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts. Thanks for being our lifeline to home.
God bless and good night,
Mick
And now, Blossom
Blossoms in the wind, dancing and dodging, wobbling about with every little gust, seem so delicate and frail they should simply break apart and scatter their petals upon the gale. Yet, they bend with the pressure, bending and shaking, nearly breaking, and rebound to display their beauty. Rooted firmly in good soil and lovingly cared for, it offers the joy of its presence and the reassurance of the tenacity of life.
Planting and cultivating a friendship, especially one that will be tried and tested again and again by life's stormy gales, requires a loving hand, careful watering and tending, and occasionally a little manure -- applied judiciously and spread very thinly. For those lucky spirits upon this ancient planet, who in the course of their lives have known true friends, I grant you may be the richest souls alive.
Mick
Blossom
A flower, pale, bright, dancing in the wind,
Chancing its petals upon whirling air,
An offer of beauty it can't rescind,
From root, it endures, bravely standing there.
Its life delicately touches my eye.
Its sweet, simple promise touches my soul.
Its honest spirit makes me want to try,
To capture its essence, to keep it whole.
A treasure because it’s so very rare.
Its seed so tiny it defies eyesight,
And cultivating it requires such care,
That few of us manage to do it right.
Yet, with hard work and lots of love to spend,
We can blossom, and become a true friend.
Mick McKellar
May 2011