I should have been at the local party campaign HQ earlier this evening, for its (sort of) grand opening, and to meet Tom Foley, who someone from state had managed to get to promise to show up.
However, I spent 30 minutes this afternoon having lots of little needles pricking my back, lying there itching, a *lot*, for 15 minutes, having the nurse come in and measure things, clean me up and slather some anti-itch stuff on me, and remind me that I'm due back at 3 on Thursday so they can retest some of the stuff that came up negative this time. Thursday evening I can use my antihistamines, and then I'm off them again on Friday morning for the next set of testing the following Thursday. I have to figure out how to get ahold of pieces of fresh lobster and scallop, about a teaspoon worth of each, to fresh cook (microwaving for 30 seconds I'm told will do) the night before and bring for testing. I can see being able to buy a single scallop, but I don't know any local places which sell shelled lobster meat. I'll check with the office on Thursday for the retesting to see if they have any suggestions. Lots of other patients seem to be able to do this, so hopefully they can tell me how.
I made the mistake of stopping at the local stand-alone ER which has lots of outpatient clinics to see if we could schedule my daughter's PT for her foot. And discovered that they can't see her until next Wednesday unless I'm willing to take time off of work to come and fill out the registration paper work. After that my mother can bring her to appointments, but for some reason the registration paperwork must be filled out on the day of the first appointment and in person. I can't even fill it out and fax it. I'm going to see tomorrow if the stand-alone PT outfit can see her sooner without my having to be there. I would have done it this afternoon, but I was just not feeling up to it.
I've run into this before, but it makes no sense to me. It's a scheduled appointment, they can see my ID why can't I give them her info in advance rather than having to take time from work, which I don't have? My mother has been able to take the girls to all of their regular doctors and specialists with no problems, but for some reason if a clinic is attached to a hospital, it must be the parent and the parent alone the first time. I've seen this at Children's in Hartford, and also at the hospital where I work. I'd rather do the 15 minutes of registration after work the day before, so I don't have to get me or me and my kid there at 6:30 for a 7am test, but the rules won't allow it. I'm not sure what the feds or the insurance companies think is likely to change in 24 hours, and I could do the registration at 7am for a 7pm test, but if the date changes, it's no good.
It probably is the same sort of thing as with HSAs and the high deductible insurance plans. You can only have an HSA if you have a high deductible plan, and you can't have a high deductible plan if you are covered by any other insurance. So I can't do it because we're covered by my husband's Tricare. If I opted out of Tricare, I could have the HSA/HDI, and then my husband and children could be covered by both, but the primary on the HDI can't?!?!? And what about all the stuff that regular insurance plans don't cover, like cataract lenses which correct astigmatism too, or dental work which costs far, far more than the maximum annual payout? I've been told I should just do an FSA, but $2K of dental work is something I'd like to be able to put away for over more than 1 year.
Anyway, I left the clinic, came home, realized I was getting hysterical again, and decided to just call it an evening. Now that the itching and rash have pretty much subsided, I'm feeling much better, but I guess I'm going to have to list that as an allergic reaction. Or rather as a sensitivity reaction, since apparently you are only allergic to something if you develop a rash or respiratory problems. Which is odd, since the Epi-Pen is specifically described as something for people with allergies, and anaphylaxis is usually a sudden severe drop in blood pressure, which has nothing to do with skin, lungs, or sinuses.
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