A Few More Flowers and More Disability Difficulties
We've had a few wild and windy days here in Desert Hot Springs. Temperatures have been reasonable, low enough to leave the air conditioner off and as always comfortably cool for sleeping. Back home in Maine, they had a snowstorm.
Clouds over Sam's.
A few new kinds of flowers have appeared in the desert:
Chia:
Emory Rock Daisy:
The Teddy Bear Cholla are beginning to bloom:
Some flowers are now going by and the plants are forming seed pods. The Creosote Bushes are are half-covered with fuzzy, white balls.
I've seen quite a few Tomato Horn Worms munching away at leaves of small, green plants:
Even though they're large, they're easy to overlook since they blend in very well.
On other fronts, I've been dealing with doctors and documenting disability. I got the expected annual letter from my private disability company requesting doctor records and with forms for my doctors and me to complete. This year's letter including an extra paragraph requesting that I call within one week of the date of the letter to update the company on my conditions, treatment plan, and upcoming appointments, in order to continue my benefits. I received the letter more than a week after the date of the letter, on a Saturday when the company's offices were closed until Monday.
The deadline for receipt of the documentation from me and my doctors is two weeks after I received the letter. I've been calling my doctors back in Maine to request that the records be sent to the company, and faxing them the form they need to complete. This process has gone smoothly two years in a row and I didn't anticipate any problems even though I'm now all the way across the country, since I have a solid record of doctors' visits through November, I'm receiving ongoing medical treatment while I travel at hospitals close to me and through refills at national pharmacies, and I have consulted with my doctors over the phone. The process of documentation is pretty straightforward.
I also spoke with my rheumatologist, neurologist, hematologist, and primary care doctors in advance, to make sure that they were okay with me being out of the area. We arranged to communicate with by phone throughout the last four months. For the things such as blood tests and infusions that did require me to be present at a medical facility--my doctors were able to orders to the hospitals close to where we've been staying. Before we left Maine, I scheduled and planned the next round of appointments with my primary care doctor, rheumatologist, hematologist, neurologist so there would be continuity of care.
Now that I'm asking for documentation of care for the last year for my insurance, though, I'm running into problems. My primary care doctor in Maine is refusing to fill out my form since she hasn't seen me since November and then only one time total because she replaced my previous primary care provider in that practice. The doctor I previously saw in that practice is out on vacation for the next week and I don't know if she'll fill out my form when she does return, given that she's not my doctor anymore and hasn't seen me since last summer. My rheumatologist has retired in the time since I've gone on the road and has been replaced a new doctor who I've also seen only once. I don't know yet if this new doctor will fill out my forms. I'm afraid that despite my advance arrangements and ongoing treatment, I'm going to have a hard time getting my doctors to provide documentation to my insurance company.
I don't know how I could have avoided this. Had I stayed home, circumstances would not be different, since my next round of regular appointments with these doctors is not until this spring anyway. I suppose if I was at home though, I might be able to get in to see these doctors sooner than my upcoming scheduled appointments. The primary problem, though, is doctor turnover.
In additional to this problem with getting documentation of previous care for insurance purposes, I need to either go back to Maine for my upcoming appointments or make arrangements to see new doctors out here. I don't want to fly back to Maine. I stopped flying for work or pleasure about five years ago due to my disability, because I couldn't handle the increased pain, fatigue, stress, and cognitive fog associated with all the activities of flying somewhere: getting to the airport, transporting my luggage, sitting in a confined space for the duration of the flight, getting ground transportation and traveling to the hotel, arranging housing, and interacting with people on a schedule. So here's another disability related absurdity: to document my disability, I need to do something my disability makes extremely difficult. That absurdity extends over this whole process of documenting disability: It's exhausting, stressful, and requires me to exercise the same cognitive and physical skills that working would, so to document my inability to do these things, I have to do them.
We could drive and pull the trailer back to Maine, but since we've already decided we're going to sell the house in Maine eventually and no longer have the state as our residence, it makes little sense to go back just for the purpose of getting medical documentation. Instead, I need to get a new set of doctors somewhere out West, where we're willing to travel every four months or so, and who will work with me over the phone to arrange care when I'm not in the immediate area. Where should this be? It has to be somewhere that is accessible to us regardless of the time of year. This rules out places where the trailer would experience significantly below-freezing periods (our pipes would freeze). Temperatures over 90 degrees would also be difficult to tolerate, given my heat sensitivity. Many rvers have disabilities and similar limitations related to weather, so I'm sure this is a challenge that others face as well.
My first thought was that we could go back to the doctors I previously had when we lived in New Mexico, since they know me. The most important specialist for my ongoing care has been the rheumatologist, and my rheumatologist in NM was excellent. But when I called his practice in Albuquerque, he had retired...again with the doctor turnover.
I'm worried that I won't be able to get documentation of disability for my insurance company even though I've been seeing doctors and receiving care throughout this past year. I'm worried that I won't be able to find new doctors who will understand our on-the-road situation once we go full time, and who will work with me to provide ongoing care while we travel. I'm scared that the whole full time traveling thing will prove impossible and we'll have to settle somewhere--not so that I can receive ongoing medical care, but so that I can document that care. It has been a stressful few weeks.
A few new kinds of flowers have appeared in the desert:
Chia:
Emory Rock Daisy:
The Teddy Bear Cholla are beginning to bloom:
Here's a close-up of one of their flowers:
Some flowers are now going by and the plants are forming seed pods. The Creosote Bushes are are half-covered with fuzzy, white balls.
I've seen quite a few Tomato Horn Worms munching away at leaves of small, green plants:Even though they're large, they're easy to overlook since they blend in very well.
On other fronts, I've been dealing with doctors and documenting disability. I got the expected annual letter from my private disability company requesting doctor records and with forms for my doctors and me to complete. This year's letter including an extra paragraph requesting that I call within one week of the date of the letter to update the company on my conditions, treatment plan, and upcoming appointments, in order to continue my benefits. I received the letter more than a week after the date of the letter, on a Saturday when the company's offices were closed until Monday.
The deadline for receipt of the documentation from me and my doctors is two weeks after I received the letter. I've been calling my doctors back in Maine to request that the records be sent to the company, and faxing them the form they need to complete. This process has gone smoothly two years in a row and I didn't anticipate any problems even though I'm now all the way across the country, since I have a solid record of doctors' visits through November, I'm receiving ongoing medical treatment while I travel at hospitals close to me and through refills at national pharmacies, and I have consulted with my doctors over the phone. The process of documentation is pretty straightforward.
I also spoke with my rheumatologist, neurologist, hematologist, and primary care doctors in advance, to make sure that they were okay with me being out of the area. We arranged to communicate with by phone throughout the last four months. For the things such as blood tests and infusions that did require me to be present at a medical facility--my doctors were able to orders to the hospitals close to where we've been staying. Before we left Maine, I scheduled and planned the next round of appointments with my primary care doctor, rheumatologist, hematologist, neurologist so there would be continuity of care.
Now that I'm asking for documentation of care for the last year for my insurance, though, I'm running into problems. My primary care doctor in Maine is refusing to fill out my form since she hasn't seen me since November and then only one time total because she replaced my previous primary care provider in that practice. The doctor I previously saw in that practice is out on vacation for the next week and I don't know if she'll fill out my form when she does return, given that she's not my doctor anymore and hasn't seen me since last summer. My rheumatologist has retired in the time since I've gone on the road and has been replaced a new doctor who I've also seen only once. I don't know yet if this new doctor will fill out my forms. I'm afraid that despite my advance arrangements and ongoing treatment, I'm going to have a hard time getting my doctors to provide documentation to my insurance company.
I don't know how I could have avoided this. Had I stayed home, circumstances would not be different, since my next round of regular appointments with these doctors is not until this spring anyway. I suppose if I was at home though, I might be able to get in to see these doctors sooner than my upcoming scheduled appointments. The primary problem, though, is doctor turnover.
In additional to this problem with getting documentation of previous care for insurance purposes, I need to either go back to Maine for my upcoming appointments or make arrangements to see new doctors out here. I don't want to fly back to Maine. I stopped flying for work or pleasure about five years ago due to my disability, because I couldn't handle the increased pain, fatigue, stress, and cognitive fog associated with all the activities of flying somewhere: getting to the airport, transporting my luggage, sitting in a confined space for the duration of the flight, getting ground transportation and traveling to the hotel, arranging housing, and interacting with people on a schedule. So here's another disability related absurdity: to document my disability, I need to do something my disability makes extremely difficult. That absurdity extends over this whole process of documenting disability: It's exhausting, stressful, and requires me to exercise the same cognitive and physical skills that working would, so to document my inability to do these things, I have to do them.
We could drive and pull the trailer back to Maine, but since we've already decided we're going to sell the house in Maine eventually and no longer have the state as our residence, it makes little sense to go back just for the purpose of getting medical documentation. Instead, I need to get a new set of doctors somewhere out West, where we're willing to travel every four months or so, and who will work with me over the phone to arrange care when I'm not in the immediate area. Where should this be? It has to be somewhere that is accessible to us regardless of the time of year. This rules out places where the trailer would experience significantly below-freezing periods (our pipes would freeze). Temperatures over 90 degrees would also be difficult to tolerate, given my heat sensitivity. Many rvers have disabilities and similar limitations related to weather, so I'm sure this is a challenge that others face as well.
My first thought was that we could go back to the doctors I previously had when we lived in New Mexico, since they know me. The most important specialist for my ongoing care has been the rheumatologist, and my rheumatologist in NM was excellent. But when I called his practice in Albuquerque, he had retired...again with the doctor turnover.
I'm worried that I won't be able to get documentation of disability for my insurance company even though I've been seeing doctors and receiving care throughout this past year. I'm worried that I won't be able to find new doctors who will understand our on-the-road situation once we go full time, and who will work with me to provide ongoing care while we travel. I'm scared that the whole full time traveling thing will prove impossible and we'll have to settle somewhere--not so that I can receive ongoing medical care, but so that I can document that care. It has been a stressful few weeks.
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