Expenses...Yee Gads

For no reason I can explain, I decided to log on to our health insurance website - and Holy Crap doesn't begin to cover it.  Never, ever more thankful for good insurance - and even though we moved to a higher deductible policy a couple years ago - and since doing that have had several 'major' medical things happen...the kind the actuarials say are 'once every five-ten year events' type things and we've had several...but even with those events combined with our higher deductibles, we are still so lucky to be well-insured.

H.'s week long adventure is approaching $320,000 in bills.  We will pay about $5K of that out of pocket.  Wow.  I can't imagine.  The helicopter was $40,000.  His stay in Modesto was just over $250,000.  Add in assorted radiologists; specialists; oncologist; etc. - and you have WOW wrapped in nice neat package - which undoubtedly looks like a bar of gold.  A very heavy bar of gold wrapped in high denomination bills.

I paid the hospital what they calculated we would owe based on the deductible we'd met so far on our policy....and of course, the actual submission of bills had them last in line (vs. first) towards deductible.  Resulting in me overpaying them by several thousand dollars.  Hoping we can easily get that back once they get confirmation from my insurance that I only should have paid them $700 vs. $4,100.  I will need that difference back 'cuz the ambulance was first and I owe them $2400.  Pronto.  Ambulances are always first, right?

My wonderful finance guy J. will help figure it all out and he will be driving to Modesto a couple times in the next week or two anyway - so he can swing by the hospital to hopefully get a credit on our American Express card.  (I didn't have the check book with me and figured 'why not get cash back?'...).

We had a lovely visit with a family we met when H. was in rehab 4 summers ago.  P. is a lovely girl and she and H. have kept in touch over the years.  Thanks to Facebook, we keep up with their family and have watched Phoebe's little girl A. grow up on Facebook.  Phoebe's parents are two of the sweetest people - and from England!  A. used to be a nurse but is now working in hospitals helping with construction projects, etc. - and D. is a librarian.  They are a hoot - and even though we haven't seen them in 4 years or so, we picked up right where we left off.  Lovely visit and hope we are able to see them again soon.  D. IM'd me on Facebook very shortly after we confirmed H.'s diagnosis and said "P. really wants to see him".  They drove out from Alameda (about an hour and a half from here).  So nice of them to come out.

I am mildly thinking about going in to work for a bit tomorrow...just to tidy up my desk; organize a bit.  When I stopped by this week, I realized that I had left in a hurry and it is a wreck....and I need to get a grip on things in preparation for a very busy week.

I feel OK about going back - and grateful for a job that does allow flexibility in my schedule. My days are my own - and meetings can be adjusted or missed if needed.  I don't have to worry about using sick time for appointments - just do what I need to do.  Being able to go in late as needed will be a huge help and same with needing to leave early.  I can manage to wedge it all in somehow.

That's how I feel today.  Remind me I said all this in a few days when I feel it all crashing down...

Chloe went outside this morning and spent time burrowing, sniffing, 'hunting' and running around for awhile.  I finally gave up and closed the door and left her to it.  Big mistake 'cuz she ate something that has made her sick - she's been barfing all day.  Ugh.  We wondered if she was just upset from having an 18 month toddler roaming around - but I'm pretty sure she ate something she shouldn't have in her foraging.  Chloe wasn't sure what to think about A. . You could almost see her pensively thinking 'I'm doing my best to adjust to adult visitors and now I am informed strangers come in smaller sizes, too?  And they run around and squeal and laugh and cry and....'.  It was too much for her.  We knew she wouldn't hurt A. - but she ended up spending most of their visit doing a low 'growl' - just to make it known that she was not sure about any of this.

The new fridge is making ice as fast as it can.  We've cycled two plus gallons of water through the water dispenser and threw out the first half tub of ice and are now a 'go' dispensing whatever we need.  The water pump to the ice maker is a little louder than our old fridge but we will adjust.  Once it's full, it will hardly ever need to fill.  The freezer is totally empty but we will start moving stuff in from the outside freezer today.  Costco trip tomorrow where we will resist filling it up.

H. is doing well and is out and about again today.  He was home very late (early) this morning and I worry about him when I get up at 1AM and realize he's not home yet.  I try to remind myself that it's better he goes out when he's feeling good 'cuz there are going to be plenty of days when he's not going to be feeling good.  Next weekend will likely be him not feeling great - and every other weekend thereafter for a few months, assuming the scheduling doesn't change too much.