My Week So Far...

            Welcome back My Dear Readers toThe Other Shoe. First I would like to apologize for my extended leave of absence, from writing publishing and posting here at The Other Shoe. Yesterday, Tuesday, was make quarterly appointment with my primary care physician Dr. Laurence Gorlick. Even with Allen’s help preparing for this journey generally takes me a couple of days, and this week was no different. You see, I live in West Orange County (now) just miles from the Pacific Ocean, Huntington Beach.

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My doctor, however, let us all the way on the other side of Long Beach and the hoydie-toydie community of Rolling Hills Estates. When I first met, and started seeing as a patient, Dr. Gorlick he was very close in the community of Los Alamitos. In March of last year he stopped practicing medicine at the Los Alamitos medical Center and is now only practicing at the Palos Verdes medical group. Whereas most people, and most of his patients at the Los Alamitos medical group, would just look for a new Dr. and not make such an arduous journey. I am not ‘most people’ as anyone who has known me personally will willingly attest.

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Over the weekend I; laundered clothes for the appointment, polished my shoes for the appointment, prepared an itinerary for the trip, prepared an agenda for the meeting, and printed out images from the MRI I had since I saw Dr. Gorlick last. Now, and again to the average person, that might seem like a lot of work just as a doctor. Again, I am just not the average person. However, the preparation was not even yet complete.

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On Monday I started the process of obtaining a ‘prior authorization’ from my part D Medicare prescription plan provider, Silver Script. You see, I am on multiple medications for the management of my pain secondary to nerve damage and spinal stenosis. One of the medications that I use is a fentanyl pain patch. This opioid-based pain delivery system is usually changed every 72 hours, on patients. However, due to the length of time I’ve been taking this pain medication and the at bats stage of my degenerative disease I now require changing this patch every 48 hours. This change results in me using five more patches and any given 30 day.

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On Monday I spent one hour and minute and worked my way through three levels of supervisors, just to be told “I will reach out to your doctor and see if we can get this accomplished”. That was Monday, November 4, 2013 at 3 PM. When I finally got back home from my doctors appointment, Tuesday, November 5, 2013, I was greeted with the unfortunate knowledge that the prior authorizations and had not yet been obtained. Mind you, My Dear Readers, I had just spent from 9 AM until eight PEM on the road going to, attending, and coming back from my doctor’s appointment. I really was in no frame of mind to deal with the structured insanity that is dealing with part D Medicare prescription plan providers.

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However, last night and spend it yet another hour Silver Script. Now, Might Dear Readers, this is really not like me but I’ve 12 hours on the road going all the way and outlay and back I quite honestly came to the end of my wit… To my wit’s end. I said, and I am kind of embarrassed that I did this, I said to ‘Angelo’… “I am a bundle or for Democratic candidates in California… I have Sen. Dianne Feinstein on speed dial… And if I cannot get my pain patch tomorrow there’ll be calls made to the senior executives at Silver Script”. I called my part D Medicare prescription plan provider at 10 o’clock this morning and was told the most enlightening news. I was told that not only was my prior authorization completed but that it had been backdated to August 7, 2013 and would continue now for a full year lasting until November 2014. If you’re not familiar with the mumbo-jumbo insanity that is a prior authorization for a Medicare part D prescription plan provider, they generally only last six months. It seems, My Dear Readers, sometimes I do get a little wood on the ball.

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Yesterday, Tuesday, I received my flu shot in my doctor’s office. Now, generally, the flu shot never gives me a link of problems. I never feel said curve, as swelling in my arm, or any kind of negative reaction shots. Generally, I tolerate the yearly flu shot very well. However, this year that was not the case. I awoke this morning at 330 feeling as though I’m newly had just back kicked me down three flights of stairs. I had a fever of 99.6. I awoke drenched in sweat. And there is a ringing in my ears like I just spent all day in the bell tower of the Sistine Chapel.

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However, this morning Allen finally received his unemployment benefits he had been waiting on for the past six weeks. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it on my blogs are not… I do believe I have, but over 150,000 Californians got jammed up by the state of California unemployment department when they did a software upgrade in September. Allen was one of those $150,000 and will, and he works as many hours as an employer will give him too. So after a weekend of preparation a Monday of fighting with bureaucratic automatons and on top of feeling as though I had just come down with every strain of flu from the past five years, and I went out and did some very much needed shopping.

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Allen was very kind and quite generous and purchased me a replacement headset microphone so that, right now, I am writing this article on my Dragon naturally speaking speech to text software. “Thank you Allen for buying my much-needed headset microphone you are a better man than I.” I had forgotten just how much enjoy it is to not have to try and use my mostly dead left arm and my faltering right hand to write my articles. I can easily foresee me being able to write and publish much more in the coming weeks and months.

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And that, My Dear Readers, is my week so far. I will, for the first time since August, be able to replace my patch more frequently and therefore get more and better sleep and be in less pain. With the gift of my new headset microphone I will be able to write and publish more often to the (I hope) pleasure of you, My Dear Readers. And now to wrap up this glorious on hand written article the last little tidbit of news. Allen, with a warm generosity that closed at them, as agreed to pay for the filing fee and service feed for me to be able to take Larry the faith to court for stealing my $300. Friday Allen and I are going to go to the court here in Orange County and filed paperwork in small claims court so that I can take Larry to court and publicly kicked his butt and take back might be hundred dollars.

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And on that joy is an uplifting note, My Dear Readers, I will leave you until I write again later this week.

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As always I am honored that you come here to read my work.

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Thank you!