Serenity NOW!

You know that old Seinfeld episode where George's dad, Frank (Jerry Stiller,) screams, "Serenity NOW" every time he's angry and his blood pressure is skyrocketing? Yeah. That's my new mantra.

The claims for Pumpkin's surgery are starting roll in so you can guess what kind of mood I've been in lately. First of all, I'm stunned by some of these charges. You'd think after racking up nearly half a million in medical bills between September and December of last year, I'd be used to these ridiculous and obscene amounts but no...not so much. The anesthesia used on Nyx--just the anesthesia and equipment, not the actual doctor--was $7300.

Hey, wanna know something else really funny? Our policy doesn't cover most of that anesthesia. Isn't that fantastic? Apparently they expected Pumpkin's surgeon to pull a Turk (Scrubs) and operate on her while she's under hypnosis. I mean, seriously, what the flying fuck.

So now I'm waiting for the bills to come so I can compare the billed charges to the insurance claims. Then I can figure out if it's a coding issue or if it's a policy thing. I'm hoping against all hope that it's just a coding problem. If not, we're already on the line for the 5K max for the out-of-pocket portion of our policy and then about 20K so far in not covered/denied charges.

And they still haven't processed any of the claims for her ICU stay (the last one was $125,000 for three-and-a-half days of room and board and meds,) step down stay, the emergency chest tube to reinflate her lungs, the multiple doctors who visited in the ICU and on the 15th floor, the medications, the operating room, the anesthesiologist and so on and so forth.

On top of all this poo, I'm buried in deadlines. I've been working until one or two in the morning. Nyx likes to wake up at six. Luckily she's shifted her last nursing session to midnight or one so once I get her popped off the boob she sleeps for four or five hours. It's exhausting but that's just life I guess.

I keep reminding myself this is just one season of my life. Giving up sleep to care for my sweet little Pumpkin, advance my career and bring in enough income to cover these outrageous medical bills is all worth it in the grand scheme of things.

And when that doesn't work I just throw my head back and scream, "Serenity NOW!"