November 1:
I was on FIRE today! I was zipping through tests and getting authorizations left and right. If every day could be like this, I would be a happy woman. Wednesdays are Kevin’s late days. He spent some time with his dad and then he likes to play guitar for a bit – helps him blow off some steam. And because he does that, I don’t see him the whole night. So, we routinely go all day on Wednesday not seeing each other. I didn’t speak to another person all day and I haven’t left my house for two days so after I clocked off, I jumped into my car and drove. I didn’t do anything, just listened to some music but it was good to be outside and getting some fresh air. I grabbed a chili from Wendys, watched a few videos and then hit the sack. Oh. I did leave and drive up the hospital today. Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays, a little cafe in the hospital serves baking potatoes with all the trimmings and I love them so much! So, I did leave at lunch to grab myself a potato. It felt weird walking my old route through the hospital and you know what? I didn’t miss it – At. All.
November 2:
Oy vey, this day. It started out with me getting up, walking my mile on the treadmill, (yep, I walk one mile as soon as I get up. It’s a slow walk and I listen to some tunes but it wakes me up, gets my blood circulating and I start the day off with 3,000 steps). Took a shower, got beautified and BOY am I glad I did that. Because as I’m getting my coffee and sitting down at my computer I realize – we don’t have Internet. Swell. Not a good thing when you work from home. Kevin did a little investigating and apparently, our entire area was out. So, I put on some dress clothes and I went into the office. And I hated every minute of it. I’ve gotten very spoiled this past week and a half and having to leave my home so now something I’m loathe to do – 0/10, do not recommend. It was awkward and super quiet and I got a few things done but nothing like I can get done at my home computer where I have everything set up like I want it. It came back on around 10:30 and I skedaddled my butt back home where I clawed and scrapped my way through the rest of the day. Nothing went right and it was very frustrating. I’m more frustrated by the fact that I’m training myself – my trainer has been out all week and though I’m learning a lot, I would learn more and faster if I had someone showing me the ropes. I had to work 8:00 to 4:30, (I have been working 7:00 to 3:30) and as soon as I clocked off, I got back on the treadmill and burned off some frustration. Glad this day is over.
November 6:
Well. I wanted a new challenge and by gosh, I got it. Today was FRUSTRATING. It was a two-step forward, one-step back kind of day. Nearly every case I submitted to the insurance companies went to pending – meaning, they want more information before making a decision. Which is fine, absolutely, they’re paying the bill, they have a right to take a peek at the details, but I’m frustrated with the providers because their notes are so vague. I don’t blame them, the providers are pressed for time – they only have so much time to exam, make a diagnosis and dictate their notes before they have to move on to the next patient, but that puts me squarely in the middle – now, it’s up to me to decipher the providers’ notes and answer equally vague questions from the insurance companies. And then, the insurance companies don’t “receive” our faxes, (which, I have my doubts on that excuse), so now I have to call them, which is time consuming, and pray that I’m giving them the keywords they need in order to approve the test. It’s tough being a patient advocate.
November 7:
I woke up with a new attitude today. This job – it’s not going to go smoothly all the time. There will be problems. I will have to challenge myself to be patient and accept the fact that insurance is complicated and convoluted. That there will be providers that give me nothing and I will be forced to make something. When I woke up this morning and approached the day with this attitude, it was a lot less frustrating. I will always have pending cases and they will likely require some additional information about 60% of the time. This is my new normal. I like the multi-tasking aspect of this job, though. I was asked to cover a co-worker’s alphabet today – she will be out the next few days for personal reasons – so I’m looking forward to working some of those cases. It’s really not anything different it’s still the “S’s” but I will split the load with another co-worker – I’m responsible for working the Sm-Sz’s. I didn’t even realize that the S’s were given to another person – I’ve just been working away. There have been so many new hires that my supervisor will be shuffling alphas around – I hope I find out what group I’ll be with soon. It’s sort of discombobulating to be floating around in the Ethernet like this. Kevin and I started throwing around the idea of getting set up with SkyLink Satellite. It would be nice to have a backup Internet plan and I’m excited to see if it would work from the road. Is so … possibilities are endless! We’ll see.
November 12:
Had another birthday – boo-hiss. I’ve always hated my birthday. I just hate getting older. It’s one year closer to being a burden on my family. I pray I’m NOT a burden to my family. I see what Kevin has been going through with his dad, and though he’s getting better, (he’s actually sitting up, standing up and making it to the toilet – WIN), it’s a lot of work for Kevin. He has to go over there every day to make sure his dad is making it to the toilet and behaving himself. I know he wants to do it, and I would absolutely want to do it for my mom, (yes I would mom!), but looking at the situation from my FIL’s perspective, I would be horrified that my children would NEED to do it. Getting older sucks. It bothers me and I’m going to work very hard to make sure I can stay as healthy and lucid for as long as I can. My sister came down over the weekend and we all hung out together. We did a little shopping, took some Culver’s home for lunch, crafted for a bit, then went back out to a Home Store to try and find a few things. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. It’s so nice to hang with my sis and my mom! Speaking of weather, we have had a great Fall this year! It’s been dry, but it’s been warm and sunny and I’ll take it. We usually go right from summer to winter so having these beautiful Fall days are a treat. Put my Christmas tree up yesterday. Yep, I’m one of of THOSE people. Hobby Lobby has their Christmas on sale for 50% off this week so I’m heading up there after work to buy some red/gold ornaments. My tree theme is red/gold this year.
November 14:
I like working from home but I’m so bored. Like, out-of-my-mind bored. I haven’t been assigned a group yet so I’m sort of mooching off other teams and taking some of their work. I feel bad though, because, well, I’m mooching. I’ve been trying to stay busy but there is only so much reading and spreading my work out that I can do. I know I keep bugging my leads but I feel like I’m begging for things to do right now and I don’t like it. Kevin’s dad continues to improve! He’s standing with assistance and can make it to the normal toilet with help. That’s been a huge help for the family as there is less mess to clean up. Physically, he seems to be improving, mentally, he has good/bad days. But he’s 85, so we figure some of that comes with the territory. It’s been a miracle, honestly, that he’s improved so much! I credit Kevin with a lot of his improvement. He’s been going over to their house at least twice a day to help him maneuver getting around. He’s such a good man!
November 18:
I didn’t think this week was ever going to be over! We were finally assigned groups late yesterday and as I suspected, I’m part of the Urgent Action Team (UAT). This team was alluded to when I was interviewed and I was told they were likely going to be put me on that team. This team will be responsible for working diagnostic requests within 48 hours, stat or urgents. I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty. It sounds like it might be a bit stressful, given the time crunch, but I’m up for it. I work better when I’m under a deadline. Finally! I have a work home. I don’t like being in limbo and I certainly don’t like not having any direction. It’s very annoying. Mom came over today and we watched a few Survivor episodes and ate lunch. She brought over McDonald’s McRibs for us. I haven’t had McDonald’s, let alone a McRib, in forever and it was good! Messy, but good. We were getting our crafts out to start working when Brandon walked in followed shortly by my nephew and his wife. We were surprised! They were in town for a convention and decided to drop by and say hello. It was good timing that mom was there, too. They stuck around and we all went to dinner for Blake and Kevin’s birthdays at Whole Hog Cafe, (BBQ place). They wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my mom and since we had already planned on her coming to our house for Thanksgiving we just invited them to come over as well. I heard from my sister, she and her husband are coming over, too, so we reached out to my other nephew and invited him as well. We are planning on having about 12 people over for Thanksgiving. We’ll put our extra sleeve into our dining room table and we should have enough room for everyone to sit around the table. We’ll work it out. We’ve already bought our food and mom is bringing over a lasagna just to make sure we don’t run out since we had only planned on having 8 people at first and now we’re up to 12. That’s okay, though, we’ll make it work. Our heater is acting funky, again. We have so many problems with our heater. It’s a design flaw, or a flaw designed to need constant maintenance, however you want to look at it, so we called our service people to come out on Monday to take a look at it. The condensation builds up then starts dripping right on the flame so it starts popping and clanging as the flame struggles to stay on. Awesome. It’s always something, isn’t it.
November 20:
I contacted my lead today to ask how I go about starting to work requests with my UAT group … and I was told that the people that are currently doing UAT will continue doing UAT until February and that I needed to, in essence, continue mooching off other people’s work until that time. I wanted to cry!! This seems like such a waste of resources! And I feel guilty for basically doing nothing and getting paid for it! This goes against every fiber of my being and I pray that I’m able to keep busy with SOMETHING until they’re ready for me to help take over the group. Wow. This is unacceptable and I’m pissed!
November 22:
I’m stealing. I can’t help it, I need to practice cases and I haven’t been assigned anything specific so … I have to steal to practice. I hate to mooch off people’s folders/cases but … what choice do I have? I’ve been doing a lot of ECHO requests – echocardiograms to be specific. I feel like there have been a lot more requests for ECHOS lately, but what do I know, I’m a newbie I wonder if this is normal or if people are having more heart issues because of the experimental vaccine that was forced on people. I’m sure we’ll never know. Or talk about it, for that matter. At any rate, I’m compiling my resources and watching the UAT’s folder and how they are processing things so .. I feel like I’m getting a base knowledge by just watching. Hopefully, we have a meeting next week and I’ll be able to do … SOMETHING. I’m itching to get started. Management sent out a notice yesterday sort of summarizing what our group will be tasked with and it sounds like they want someone to work the late shift – like a 2:00 PM to a 9:00 PM shift. BUT, that person gets an extra $1.35 an hour if she agrees to it. I’m tempted though it wouldn’t be my first choice. I’m keeping an open mind. I’m just going to have to be flexible, both getting started and when I’m elbows deep in the job. Brandon called me last night. His car broke down on the way back home after work. He said he heard a POP and then a light came on that said to shut off his engine immediately. AAA towed him back home and now we have to figure out what is wrong, how much it will cost and how long it will take. Kevin met Brandon when it broke down and when Brandon turned on the engine to back onto the tow trailer, he said it didn’t sound good. Awesome. More trouble. BUT, at least it didn’t break down on the highway, (he was in town), and he wasn’t hurt – it could always be worse, right?
November 26:
Thanksgiving was great! PERFECT weather – sunny and 60’s. Kevin had cooked the turkey the day before Thanksgiving and had it cut up and ready to go so all we had to do was put it in the oven and warm it up. I made the rolls the day before and put them in plastic bags to keep them fresh so that worked out well. The only thing we cooked on Thanksgiving were the potatoes and corn, (put them each into a crockpot), green bean casserole, ham, (Kevin cut it up, poured a brown sugar glaze on top and put it into the oven for about an hour and a half, stuffing and gravy. Mom came over at 10:30 and helped us finish getting ready. She also baked two pumpkin pies, an apple pie, some cupcakes and some cute “drum sticks” made of pretzels, caramel and dipped in chocolate. Then my sister and BIL came over at about 11:00 and honestly, we were ready to eat by then. But we told the boys and my nephew’s family to come over at 12:00 so we sat around and chit-chatted until noon. My nephew’s family still hadn’t arrived so we went ahead and started eating – they arrived about 12:15. The food turned out great, Kevin is SUCH a good cook, (I’m the clean-up party), and had some good conversations. My sister and BIL left about 2:00 so they could get home before dark and my nephew’s family left about two hours later. Everyone left with A LOT of leftovers. It was SO NICE to have my sister and BIL come! It was a good day. We missed dad. I know the day was hard on my mom – this is her first holiday season without dad. It’s hard dealing with a gaping hole in our family. I drove Brandon to work on Friday since I didn’t have to work. All four of us went grocery shopping after he got off work. We usually go out to eat and then grocery shopping on Friday nights and since Brandon didn’t have a car, he wanted to tag along and his shopping done and I couldn’t NOT tell Blake in case he wanted to do, which he did, so that was fun. We ate at HyVee – we had Chinese food. It was pretty good and the price wasn’t bad. Kevin and Brandon went to pick up his car yesterday. It seems to be running okay but the check engine light has been coming on and it seems like Brandon’s battery is weak. But it’s running and that’s better than buying a new car right now! Brandon did say that he felt like it had a lot more power than before. The mechanic replaced the oil pump, (which is what broke), the water pump, (which wasn’t too bad – he showed the parts to Kevin), and the timing chain. Hopefully, Brandon won’t have any more issues with the car for several years. But Kevin and Brandon are going to O’Reilly’s today to have the battery checked out. If it’s weak, they will have them replace it. Brandon’s old battery was replaced by AAA and though AAA is a GREAT service and has saved our butts several times, we do wonder how “new” the batteries are they use whenever they replace them. We’ve had our batteries wear out faster when we relied on them to replace them. So, when it’s all said and done, Brandon will have spent about $2,200 dollars to get his car fixed. Which – ouch. But it’s still better than buying a new car. Kevin checked on Craig’s List and Brandon’s car, which is a 2012 Chevy Cruise, was going for $8,500. Brandon paid $7,000 for his car five years ago so it’s MORE expensive now than when he bought it! Bidenomics!
November 27:
Took advantage of some Black Friday sales – online, of course. There is NO WAY I’m dealing with crazy, stressed-out people right now. Stressing a bit that I can’t think if anything for the boys this year. Blake needs jeans, so I bought him some jeans, but Brandon can’t give me any ideas. We filled up a wallet with gift cards for them last year. And Brandon used nearly all of his, Blake used the Shoe Carnival and Amazon gift cards but has hardly touched the food gift cards. Which is annoying because he was the sole reason I bought them gift cards to food places – because he doesn’t eat! lol Bought something for my mom, but since mom reads my blog … will just have to keep that to myself for now. *wink* I’m so bored with my job. I literally have nothing to do. I am literally stealing from my co-workers just to give me a few things to work on. I feel terrible but I can’t do nothing! Plus, I need the practice. I’ve been watching the UAT (Urgent Action Team) folder where all of the urgent/stat requests get sent to watch how they process things and I’ve learned a lot from doing that but you don’t truly know how to do something until you do it. I just need to relax and enjoy this down time because when the current UAT’s contract runs out and everything shifts over to my team, I will be crazy busy keeping on top of things. Which I prefer, I like staying busy.
November 29:
I’ve been covering another girl from the MRI group while she’s been out and I have to tell you – I’M LOVING THIS! I’ve already completed four requests this morning, all of them were approved, thank you very much, and I’m feeling alert and productive. Unfortunately, she comes back tomorrow so I’ll have to give her group back to her but this was just the confidence boost I needed. I can’t wait till I have my own work! Made a trip to the hospital today. I go to the hospital every Wednesday because one of the cafes sells large baking potatoes with all the trimmings and I CRAVE them sometimes. I went up to get my potato today and stopped by my old office. It was so good to see the girls again but you know how it is, it’s different. Almost awkward, because I’m not part of their world anymore. I popped in to see Emily – that was bitter sweet. I hope she’s not mad at me for leaving. She’s really not like that, she’s one of the most gracious people I know but … I felt guilty. Though it was really nice to see the girls again, I think that might have been my last physical trip up there. I’m still on Teams and I’m sure we’ll talk there but … I just have to accept that that chapter in my life is closed. It’s sad but … here’s to looking at new challenges! Leroy mulched our Fall leaves today. We have four massive Maple trees in our yard so you can imagine the leaves. We don’t rake the leaves, we mulch them making good fertilizer for next year’s grass. People that rake their leaves … WHY??
November 30:
November is over. Wow. Why?? Stole more work to do today. The girl I was covering was back so I’m left with crumbs. I’ve been stealing urgent requests, though. I figure I need to practice on those the most since I will be part of the team that takes them over soon-ish. My Team lead sent out an invitation to a meeting next Thursday so hopefully, we can iron out the timeline a bit more so I’m not left wondering – IS THIS ALL YA GOT?? It went well, though. I’ve been learning to troubleshoot, which is frustrating, but necessary. Especially since I will be working fast – I need to be as efficient as I can be. My goal is not to call insurance companies very often – that is a drag, and a time suck. I signed up for Bath and Body Works Rewards, (thanks mom). And … I’m in trouble! lol My mom has been telling me for a while now that they have pretty good deals on their Rewards program and I’ve just rolled my eyes, but I stand corrected. I ordered some yummy smelling hand soap to put in the bathrooms so our Christmas guests will be suitably impressed and I saved about $7 in shipping by setting it up so I can pick it up from our nearby store. Sweet! It rained today. A soft, slow rain all day. It was a perfect day for a pot pie lunch and to work from home. I’m still on the fence on whether working from home was a good gig for me, but today? Definitely a perk.
Thanks for reading!
Write From Karen 