Commodities

The second part of my DBS Surgery was scheduled for today. Obviously, I am not there.

Why not? Glad you asked.

This part of my surgery was supposed to happen At the Denver Surgery Center. They sent me an email a couple of weeks ago, wanting me to prepay for the procedure. They had not run it through insurance, they just looked at my benefits and gave me an estimate of what they thought it would cost. When I asked for an invoice so that I knew exactly what I was paying for, they didn’t have one. I told them that I was not comfortable paying for a procedure that I hadn’t had yet on an estimate that they couldn’t even show me what I was paying for, that had not been run through the insurance yet. My out of pocket maximum will be more than met with the first surgery, and I don’t want to, and can’t afford to, wait until they process that they need to pay me back after the fact.

This turned out to be a good decision.

Yesterday, the neurosurgeon’s office called at 4:45 and told me my surgery had been cancelled. Evidently they needed a letter from the insurance company approving my claim. The doctor had verbal approval, my first surgery was approved and done, the surgery was approved, but they needed that piece of paper. The insurance company said it was on the way. But it hadn’t arrived by 5, so they cancelled me. It seems there is a new Person In Charge at Denver Surgery that likes to do things their own way, no options. So the policies are enforced with no regards to if they work or not.

I was told that I was not the only person this had happened to. I was also told by my doctor’s scheduler, that in all her years in the medical profession, she has never seen surgeries cancelled at the last minute like this, for this reason. And it has happened several times.

The thing is, this doesn’t just affect me. It impacts my job, the people in my office, my husband, his job and office, my son, my family who are worried/thinking about me, my friends….you get the picture. And this is just one surgery. There is an emotional toll as well. You get mentally geared up for surgery, emotionally ready, and then the supreme let down when it is cancelled through no fault of your own. Then there is a doctor and his medical team, who has a tight schedule to help as many people as he can. What does that do to them?

When did we stop being a patient and start being a commodity? When did the human element go out of the health care system? I’m not talking about the amazing doctors and nurses and health care professionals that sacrifice and serve every day. They are heroes. I’m talking about the people that sit in their plush corporate offices that have a spread sheet check list with boxes that all have to get checked, regardless of the practical realities of their system. Where is the kindness, the understanding, the flexibility? It isn’t even us that is the commodity, it’s our bodies and our minds, our health and well being, that is being traded and sold. Somehow, the fact that we are human being got lost in the process.

There is a line from a play called Talking With, it is a series of monologues. One of them is called Rodeo. She has a line that says, “Do you hear what I am sayin’ to you? You are just merchandise to them, sweetie. You are just merchandise to them.”

My surgery has been rescheduled. At Swedish Hospital. As my 14 year old would say….you all should be better people.

Peace,

Kat