Main » December 2004
December 22, 2004
Holidays with Fibromyalgia
Hi y'all!
Friday I was feeling pretty good as I took my Mom to an Andy Williams Christmas Concert, as a surprise. It was wonderful.
Then I called my husband at 9:40 at intermission and he told me he and his son were rear ended by a car on the freeway, he had stopped for stopping traffic and she plowed into him at about 50mh. Started the claim with our ins, called her ins and left a message.
Monday, call her insurance co again & it's a broker she gave him info for. Broker referred him to insurance co, and her ins was cancelled in 2003! Phone tag with our claims person. Arghhhh.
And Monday to get my husband and stepson into the chiropractor, I gave up my appt. I was in such pain by Monday eve, I was in bed by 9.
Tuesday, son to chiro 8 am, husband to chiro 11am (& doc treated me, Yeah!), me to psych for completing dis. ins. co. forms at 3:45. I'd usually be med & bedding at this point, but I was ok, til after climbing the ladder a few times to finish the Christmas lights the 'boys' started Friday before the accident. Had to take a muscle relaxor & pain pill by then. And then son's girlfriend came over and we watched a silly/funny movie together and laughed and laughed.
Today, the 3 of us will be back at Chiro in the afternoon. He is a very gifted healer. Not the average snap crackle pop chiropractor. Hoping to complete wrapping this evening. Heck, if I do that I might even bake cookies on Thursday! Now that would be amazing!
The main lesson I first learned with FMS is to space activities apart and pace myself. Well didn't do too well over the weekend. And there was family stress with my daughter over a misunderstanding, I hated that, & it made all symptoms worse.
I'm gonna take an oath right now to space and pace this Holiday week so I can enjoy it.
Wish you all a Happy Holiday Season!!
Hugs, Judy
Posted by at 5:40 AM | Comments (3)
December 14, 2004
UNUM insurance trying to cancel disability benefits
July 29th: The Chicken or the Egg, FMS or depression:
""I think SSA and insurance companies alike try to use the 'you were depressed first' so they can classify the patients' illnesses as psychiatric which generally the benefits for are much less than a physical disability. I was dx'ed with the physical disability of FMS, qualified for benefits for private insurance in 12/97 and SSA about a year later (with 45 days because my dr's report was complete and thorough as was her exam, per the SSA agent), and have continued treatment by a rhuematologist for FMS. I have seen a counselor when I felt I needed help getting a handle on changes or issues. Then this summer after the ins co 'independent exams' they found I was mildly depressed, and don't have fms. This way they can say that a psychiatrist should be able to cure me in a few months. Do I feel threatened?? heck yeah! They're trying to make an end run aruond paying my benefits. But my new psychiatrist accepts that I have FMS and finds I have the 'major depressive' disorder and is reporting the same to the ins. co. One kicker in my situation is that my disability policy doesn't have the usual 2 year limit on psychiatric benefits, I could be nuts forever and get paid.....but I think that if I don't get better on their schedule they're going to cancel my benefits.........and yes I have a 'bad faith insurance claim' atty in the wings already fully informed.""
Well today a letter came from my personal disability insurance co, UNUM Provident. They wrote that one of their "" field agents will be calling me soon to schedule a visit whereby they can assess and discuss my 'psychiatric disability' and treatment plan."" Just getting this letter upset me. I still consider it an insult that they have reclassified my disabilty to psychiatric, I HAVE A PHYSICAL DISEASE, FMS, WHICH DESTROYED MY LIFE AND DREAMS AND, YEAH, I GOT A BIT BUMMED ABOUT THAT.....YEAH ENOUGH THAT I'M SUFFERING FROM DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND PANIC DISORDERS!!!!!
Once I read the letter, I cried out to my dh that I can't go through this alone, that I don't know what to do. My psychiatrist diagnosed me with major depressive disorder while their experts dx'd mild depression treatable and I should return to work in a couple of months....after 7 years?! The difference is my psychiatrist BELIEVES the 5 specialists that dx'd FMS and is treating me accordingly.
That's the other shoe dropping....."your physician's report was not complete"..."please request your physician to complete the form in full monthly so we may monitor your progress"......
1) I finally found a great Psychiatrist who would 1)treat me...and has helped my sleep markedly, and 2) fill out the insurance form.....though he says this form is something he'll do once or twice a year.....that in the 15min. appt. for meds evaluation, he can't be expected to fill out the whole form. So I told him not to fill it out, and let the other shoe drop. He didn't want me to have my benefits taken away, so he put "Same as last report" in the main area of the form and signed and dated it. He's done this twice. I wondered how long UNUM would accept that.
I blurted out, panic stricken by the letter, that " I can't do this, I can't do this alone". My dh said I didn't have to be alone, he'll be with me. My mother said she'd be with me, (tho she's off to visit her sister and be there for the birthday of my beautiful Molly, cousin Kevin's daughter, in Arkansas for 2 weeks.
I faxed a copy of the letter to my attorney in the wings.......we're apparently waiting for the ins co to commit an act of bad faith in cancelling my coverage, then ready to sue them. I'd rather none of these hassles be necessary.
So do I try to prove to the field agent that I'm' not nuts....that could get me cancelled.
Do I try to prove I am nuts?? That would help their supposition that I have a psychiatric disab.
Do I just be me and see how the cookie crumbles.......I guess so.
And I will pray about it and your prayers would be welcome.
Hugs, Judy
Posted by at 6:54 AM | Comments (14)
