Holy shit, y'all.
This fall, I sought out a new lymphedema therapist. The former one was continually stumped by the swelling in my hand that started in late 2019, and a refrain near the end of my slate of visits was that we'd "tried everything." I felt stuck, and frankly like sometimes she wasn't actually listening to me.
Last Tuesday, I saw my new lymphedema therapist for the first time and she told me how she does things: goes over a patient's file to figure out what they need, then puts together a wish list and runs it past her contacts plus the patient's insurance. I was thoroughly evaluated, learned that some of my issues are really not my fault but common for lymphedema patients and, to get things rolling on treatment, she wrapped my hand up really well to try & force the swelling down. She told me I might get a call from someone to discuss a machine called a Flexi-touch.. (It's basically an upgrade from the pneumatic pump I use every night to move the lymph fluid in my hand/arm/trunk.) She also emailed me on Wednesday to say my insurance covers me for custom compression garments, which is great since it'll be a way better fit for my needs.
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| Getting my arm pumped at the old therapist 11/2020. (Doesn't it look fun? Aren't you jealous? /s) |
Well, last Friday morning, someone from Tactile Medical called to say he had info from my therapist and did I have some time today for him to come out? So, he came out to the house, met me, took measurements, told me I had good insurance, and said it could be up to 7 business days before I heard anything about approval. He had someone send me a form about financial assistance, since at the start of the year I would end up with a total due of quite a lot. (I qualified, so now I will only owe my deductible, which is manageable. And I hear they take installments.) Tuesday I woke up to a text, an email, and voice mail all saying the system was approved by insurance. While talking with a rep to finalize details, he offered to set an appointment for someone to come to the house & help us figure out how the new system works - this was after saying it comes with a DVD & an instruction manual. I asked if we could use what was available & call for help if needed and he said absolutely and let me send you a link to our instructional videos. For comparison, when I got my basic pump in early 2019, I had to: call a company, ask for a specific person, then get them to email me information, contact my oncologist, fill out a financial form, I think I had to talk to insurance, and then I ended up being able to get it.
When I had an appointment today, I told my therapist that I was in a weird headspace because this happened so fast and I didn't have to argue or make a case for something, I didn't have to take paper to anyone to ask for a signature, etc. I could hear the smile in her voice when she said "that's how it's supposed to work." I even learned today that custom sleeves do not mean I'll be wearing what I call Institutional Beige - there's colors! And one company even does patterns, so in theory, I could have a dark grey hounds tooth sleeve. Along with this heady feeling of "holy shit is this how it's supposed to work?" is a companion feeling of wariness - like, ok, what's the catch? Will I have to take up my twice yearly fight to get insurance to cover my sleeves? Or will my therapist's contact actually submit the claim in a manner that is pleasing to the company? So far, I'm hoping for the best.
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Side note, yeah. It's been awhile since I posted a blog. I thought of some things to say earlier this year, but didn't hit publish for a variety of reasons. Anyway, mask up, get your shots, wash your hands, don't touch your face.
