It constantly amazes me how smart/savvy you have to be to get the correct benefits from food stamps/medicare/medicaid etc. It is like another job. I always think about people who are not a smart/savvy/proactive/mentally healthy as vw or my best friend and wonder how they do it, when, at least for my best friend, it requires a lot of work and frustration.

I'm usually on top of this stuff.

Exactly. It sucks that you're in this position, and it makes you feel like crap, for sure. But it's a screw-up, and those happen from time to time. You're already plotting out how to fix this, so try not to beat yourself up too much.

vw, I'm sorry. Sometimes unsolicited advice is really, really, unhelpful even when the person is trying real hard to be helpful and loving. Ugh. It will be OK. Just don't beat yourself up too badly over this. We all drop the ball. We all get overwhelmed with paperwork and have to deal with the fall out. You are not a screw up at all. It will be OK.

I'm sorry I vented so sourly about my week in a tropical paradise. It's just very draining, this group is small and requires a lot of handholding, and it gets exhausting expecially when our hotel contacts are not as responsive as the people asking stuff from us want us to be. We're middle men and I'm feeling squeezed on both ends.

Also I am desperately homesick. Although heartened to watch 2 episodes of Scrubs last night.

I wish I could hug all of you. I'm sorry for so much stress. vw, if you want to call, I'm here and able to talk. Nora, don't be sorry about venting. No fun stuff happens in paradise just as much as at home, but at home you've got the comfort of home and Tom.

I'm on my second round of antibiotics, and other than being tired and a bit dopey, I'm feeling better than I have since before Christmas. I can breathe again! Re: Dopey, case in point: I went to the bank and the store, forgot to fill out the whole deposit slip, held on to the checkbook when the teller asked me what my account number was, and couldn't understand why he couldn't make the deposit until he spelled it out in words of one syllable. I left the bank, got into the car and tried to drive forward (thankfully figured it out before I hit the car in front of me) when I meant to back out, went to the store, did my shopping, walked home and then realized I'd left the car at the store just as I got to my front door carrying a wooden tray table I'd bought because it was between me and the prescription I went to pick up. At least I remembered the prescription. Greg went back and got the car.

Last night at dinner:

Aidan: ::burp::
Kara: Aidan almost puked!
Me: He did not; he just burped.
Kara: Oh. I thought he almost puked. Do you think he'll puke? I really want to see him do it.

(Edit: Why can't I type??)

vw, LOTS of people haven't signed up for a plan yet. Most of them because they were underinformed or just plain old confused by the choices. In your case, it's not a monumental screw up. And it is something that can be fixed. You just need a little help to sort through your options.

Do you have a regular pharmacist? Or is there one at the hospital that you use? You may have to sort through the plans to see which one offers the drugs you use--especially if one plan doesn't cover ALL of your meds. You need to find the one that covers at least MOST of them and go from there.

I hate to suggest calling medicare help lines because it's been a royal fuckus from day one for a lot of people. But you may get lucky.

Don't worry about your dad at the moment or the job. Just concentrate on one problem at a time and that's getting your meds sorted.

Oh, fuck. If what I just read is correct, I was randomly assigned to a prescription drug plan on December 31, since I hadn't already enrolled.

Well, check it out - maybe it'll be the one you needed. See if it'll help with your current scripts, anyway, and leave sorting out how to change if necessary for later. Remember, you can do it!

Oh, and also? One of the meds I'm on won't be covered by *any* of the plans. Lovely.

Ok. Gonna stop bitching. Sorry.

Kara: Oh. I thought he almost puked. Do you think he'll puke? I really want to see him do it.

Ah, but does she really want to clean it up after he does it?

{{vw}} I'm sorry. Dealing with medical insurance issues is pretty soul sucking.

Is there any chance your old CommonHealth will still pay for that one - like, it becomes secondary insurance rather than going away altogether?