Catching Up
Other than my post about the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla, I have not posted since Christmas. So what has been going on? I hope to answer that question in this update post.
About two weeks after returning home from the rehabilitation center, my home health care was finally set up, and I began having therapy. That lasted around six or seven weeks. I had a nurse who came out once or twice a week, a physical therapist who started with twice a week and then was reduced to one session per week, and also an occupational therapist who was mostly once a week. During this time I was really struggling with skin breakdown (my wheelchairs weren’t helping that). On some days I needed to go back to bed just to relieve my pain. I also developed wheezing in my lungs in addition to the usual shortness of breath I experience when I exercise. One day while I was walking only a few feet with one of my nurses, my blood oxygen level plummeted to 72 instead of being in 90s. That scared me. My right knee pain, while it has remained better ever since coming back from the rehab center, would still flare up occasionally. Since I didn’t always have someone here to accompany me while I walked, I decided to postpone therapy until I could get further medical tests done. Hopefully some of these issues can be resolved. This month I have scheduled appointments for a pulmonary test for lung function and also a sleep study test to see if I have sleep apnea. I will be requesting additional medical appointments soon.
After home health care ended (for the present anyway), I started putting together my case for my third level Medicare Advantage insurance appeal. Unlike the first two appeal levels, you actually go before an administrative law judge, who rules on your appeal. Since you may be located in a different geographic area than where the judge is, you usually have the hearing by telephone. My hearing was held on April 13, 2023. The judge, a representative from the insurance company, my husband, and I were present at the hearing. About a week and a half later, we received the decision letter from judge, who ruled in our favor.
I won’t go into the details of the appeal here. Basically the hearing preparation entailed collecting all of my pertinent medical and therapy records and organizing them. I wrote all of my case arguments down and arranged these pages along with the records in a three-ring binder, which I sent to the judge. If you want to know more about the appeals process or about what I did, please the “Rehab Appeals” section of this website.
My primary priority right now is to do whatever God wants me to do. I believe part of that is my health. I also want to spend more time being creative, doing art, blogging… plus also organizing and clearing out at least some of my belongings. Less cluttered is good.
Have a great day! :) Please stop by to say “hi” again!
Marcia