Couch 162: Let's Play Ball! (The Baseball Couch)

You do know your sports stuff.

I should go to bed. I’m sure my H will want to attend a victory parade this week. Maybe I’ll go for the experience. It will probably never happen again in my lifetime.

Didn't Rocky win in the end?

Rocky wasn't a team. He was just a one guy.

The Penguin helped him! And Yo Adrian!

To me, that is only as much of a team as hiring a therapist is a relationship.

I also know you weren't asking me, but I am in grad school and have "hybrid" classes (where some work is done online and some in person) and strictly online classes.

I much prefer the face to face stuff, even though that only happens if I drive 6+ hours. We have online discussions, but they are kind of stilted. The conversation definitely doesn't flow like conversations do here. Perhaps it is because we are told what we need to post about and we have a certain number of replies required (the number depends on the class). Sometimes, I just really don't have anything to add to the conversation, so it seems contrived. In one class, the prof requires that we respond to each of the other classmates (there are 8 of us) so we covenanted behind her back to each only raise one point/question so that we don't have to work as hard to come up with something to say.

I also expected to be able to work way ahead on assignments and posts so that when I have a busy week I don't have to devote time to school. Some of my profs don't allow that. I find that frustrating. If I have to do the work at a particular time, I would just as soon attend a class.

Okay, so - i just moved my osteoporosis scan out a couple of weeks, and im gonna tell my t i wanna go back to once a week. so this way i will just have two appts a week this week and for the rest of all my gp required tests. Last week at my ts 2nd appt i had absolutely nothing to say. I should have said that.

I have just been feeling too crowded in my head with all these appointments!!! Is that adhd? I need my space!

I mentioned to my sister in an email the other day that I was thinking about getting a food processor, and she said she got one from her builder as a house warming gift but already has one, so she's gonna send me the gifted one, I'm all excited now lol I want to start making my own hummus. I tried it in my blender once but it just was not smooth at all. It tasted good, but the wrong consistency.

This eating healthy thing is going well. Whatever got "fixed" inside me after my Jan 4 session w t, has made a big change in me. I'm so glad h is on board. He's doing good with it, too. I didn't even go to old comfort foods while h was in the hospital. And that to me is just amazing.

I'm even finally learning how I like vegetables and am eating them every day! That is quite a switch for me.

Just want to wish all the Kiwis Happy Waitangi Day, bro

ok i am trying not to panic, because i will appeal this until i die. we got a letter from our insurance company stating that they are refusing to cover my husbands entire 6 day hospital stay because it was not medically necessary. what the flipping actual ****?! how are we ever going to be able to afford a 6 day hospital stay, all the tests, the specialists, the powerful antibiotics, etc?! what the hell???????

Definitely appeal, Art.

Yes definitely appeal! I would think the fact that they placed him in isolation would suggest it was medically necessary...

i'm talking to them right now. i am so upset and worried i'm shaking. this could cost upwards of $100,000 for 6 days and everything else. omg. breathe art, breathe. it's just money, right? i still have my h.

That is crazy stress for you. The insurance companies are out of control. Maybe have a lawyer write a letter on your behalf. I think they deny first sometimes, and then pay squeaky wheels. It is so wrong.

Do they not know the risk of death from sepsis?

I'm trying to think how you get admitted from the ER if there is no medical necessity. Definitely appeal and make some calls. This seems like a big mistake on the insurance company's part.

Hope it all works out Art..

The hospital billing office could help. They’ll probably appeal it on their own anyway, since they want to get paid, and for most people an insurance company is the best bet for that.

H, whose mom works in medical coding, said it could just be that someone typed in a code wrong, and that's why the insurance is fighting it. Or a doctor wrote the wrong code on a chart (well, probably typed it in electronic chart). Something like that.

Art, that’s shocking. I hope the phone call helps clarify what you need to do to get it covered. Definitely call the hospital and ask them to check the claims and resubmit. Ridiculous.

Ugh. As if you needed this cherry on top of the hospital stay sundae. Hugs.

HE WAS IN ISOLATION!!!

Art, they have a tendency to deny first..then when it’s appealed they pay it. Somebody probably added a wrong code. Happens a lot. They fix it. Then the insurance pays up.

thanks, everybody. i know i need to calm down about all of this. the important thing is that i still h. it's just stupid money. i talked to a guy at the insurance and he said to have the doctor call and do a peer-to-peer review and then file an appeal. and he said not to pay any bills yet. i said well we don't have any bills yet, all we have is this letter saying you're not covering anything. i told him it's not like we had a choice!! he had a blood infection that could have killed him and was admitted from the emergency room!! they also were worried that the blood infection was going to cause a heart attack on top of it all, i don't think i mentioned that little detail to you all. somebody sure did something wrong. I'm going to stay on the doctor and make sure he takes care of this. h seems to think it wouldn't be more than $25,000 if we have to pay it all. which i could live with. i wouldn't like it but i wouldn't be so panicked. i'm thinking the full cost is probably more like 4 times that.

but still, it's just money. bottom line. i could have lost him, but he's still here. i am calming down now.

Hi couch. So a psychiatrist walked into my dads hospital room and said all transplant patients get a visit from a psychiatrist during their stay. I asked her to step out of the room with me and she did. I asked her why transplant patients get a shrink visit and she told me it’s just protocol to make sure they have a support system in place. I held out my hand and said “Hi, I’m jersey - one of his 3 adult daughters and my mother will be here to visit shortly. He has his support system in place. You can move along to the next patient” Yes, I was rude. Do I care that I was rude? No. I’m not about to let a shrink fill my fathers head with psycho-babble. I was pretty proud of myself there. I felt like I channeled my inner stopdog

You are much more level-headed than am I, Jersey.