[seventyeight]

i had therapy yesterday. it was a later session than normal, as i had an appointment with my gynecologist first. that appointment ended up being fairly extensive, and i had to have an (unexpected) vulvar biopsy - my third one this year. i was in quite a bit of pain by the time i got to therapy, so the session was a bit different in that regard. my therapist was like, "um.. are you ok?" as i walked in, and was very sweet about the whole thing. she's not normally like that (she's more of a "tough-love" type), but it felt nice.

anyway, there was a mix-up at the gyn office as i was checking out. the appointment was supposed to be paid for, as i'm on this yearly plan with them. they had even called me last week to tell me that my year was almost up, and asked if i'd like to schedule something before that point. at any rate, there was some kind of error (like the year isn't up, but i've already "used" my limit of that type of appointment), and they said i owed $599! they said it was their mistake for scheduling me, but that there was nothing they could do. it was super stressful, and i just couldn't think. while i was standing there, i logged into my bank account from my phone, determined how much i had, and paid as much as i could without going totally broke. then i left for therapy.

so all of that, combined with the pain i was in, was a lot of the reason i think i was just like, "ok, let's do the sliding scale." i was probably going to anyway, but this sorta sped up the process. she was very happy about it, and we talked some more about my concerns, etc. she's also acting like i'm doing her this big favor by accepting it, which is kinda funny but nice.

anyway, i just thought i'd follow up as a lot of you helped me in the decision-making process.

as an aside, after i collected myself and had some time to think about it, i was super upset about the bill at the gyn office. i told my therapist about it all, and she encouraged me to call the gyn office and explain to them why i shouldn't be paying for that appointment. (interestingly enough, my therapist referred me to this person in the first place.) i ended up calling them, explaining everything, and the billing person said she'd talk it over with my doctor and call me back next week with an answer. well, she called me within 10 minutes, apologized profusely, and said they were going to waive the fee! they said i did owe for the biopsy, as that was simply something not covered under this special plan. so the total was closer to $200, which felt fair enough to me.

at any rate, if you ever think you don't deserve something or don't deserve to question something - you totally do! i can't believe a simple phone call, and i saved $400 - that was mine to begin with!

Im glad you accepted the sliding scale.... and Im glad you 'll be getting money back on your exam.

[Nightlight]

My T actually got very frustrated with me because she'd offered...and I was struggling ...but I wouldn't/ couldn't say yes. She didn't care that I was not okay with it, she wanted me to hear her, that she was okay with it.

Sorry you were in pain and for what you had to go through...but I'm glad you're okay with the sliding scale situation at the moment! It does bring up a lot of big feelings.

[Anne2.0]

You did great, both in the sliding scale T issue and dealing with the gyn office. I'm super impressed.

I'm sorry about the biopsy-- that's a 4 letter word to me-- stands for pain and a whole lot of other words that just get bleeped out here. I hope all goes well for you.

[unaluna]

Holy cow. The gyn office started their holiday party early. Wtf. This is how you become a comedian - you shoulda told them to pull it out of your patootie while they were down there!