Minddump

I hope none of you reading this ever have to be in a frantic race to find the right doctors,etc. to save the life of your spouse or other loved ones. It is a helpless feeling but then you happen upon a name followed by a specialty practice and it stands out and beckons you to contact the person. Maybe they will have nothing to offer but maybe they will have everything to offer. That is what I have been going through lately in a search to replace my husband's oncologist or get a second opinion actually this would be a third opinion. I found the doctor I want to replace with and she is closer to our home which is a plus and specializes in everything going on with him. I went through a week of hell getting copies of his records taking them to one place only to be told to take them to another place and then getting lost there because it is a large facility. I got it done though and that was a load off my mind. Within a few hours her office called and spoke to my husband and said they would be sending a new patient packet out to him. Score! I was so happy I almost exploded and then I remembered that in all my craze I never checked to see if she was covered under our insurance. The hospital she is associated with is but when you are trying to save your husband's life you do not stop to think "will insurance cover this doctor who seems to be the best person for the job right now" No, that is the furthest thing from your mind. You are just so happy to have found him/her and hopeful that thier knowledge can help. It is so wrong that the medical system is set up the way it is. It is so wrong that insurance companies decide our care or lack of it deepending on the situation. Doctors and nurses don't go to school to work for insurance companies and under those companies guidelines. Hospitals are not meant to function this way either. Doctors,nurses and hospitals are there to help those who need them get well...that is how it is suppossed to be anyway. It makes me so angry. Now, I am grateful for the insurance we do have because cancer is damn expensive and has already drained us of our savings and killed our credit but my husband is alive so who cares. All I am saying is that things must change and change soon. It's not about the bottom line it's about saving lives. Why is a 30 day supply of meds $5000 without insurance? Why is a bag of chemo $3500 per infusion? Why are hospital socks $20..they are cheap & ugly. If a doc walks in a room & says nothing why is that so expensive? It has to change.