Adulting and Waiting

Something to be said for verifying your bills before you pay them (aka adulting). 

Why in the world is this bill making me pay 3 of 4 things that have had insurance adjustments, but the 4th doesn’t? It would make sense if it was the only thing listed, but I had another 6 things “waiting” on insurance that were not factored into my payment. How does that make sense?!

I’ll have to call them. I watch my claims on Anthem so I know what I should be paying and what the insurance adjustments will look like. I don’t want to pay that and end up with a credit or something. That’s obnoxious on its own and sometimes messes things up more. 

I had my echocardiogram today. After finally getting everything approved to do (bone density, echo, CT, and port), I got the call Friday morning that everything got scheduled. I contacted Stanford shortly afterwards, but they didn’t get back to me till after 5pm. They wanted me to cancel everything except the echo so they could determine what imaging needed to be completed. They also said they could expedite anything I did need. I had been low-key stressing about it all weekend (not sure why, but only came up when I was trying to sleep...). Called my doctor as soon as their office opened today and got a call back later from one of the NPs wondering why I wanted to cancel since Dr. Aziz had ordered them. So I explained about doing the clinical. I knew the bone density was (literally) in 2 hours and I could go to that if they couldn’t cancel. After speaking with her, she said they’d go ahead and cancel everything but the echo to make it easier if they wanted them done they didn’t have to request the results from SVMH then. She was understanding, so that was nice.

Of course the echo was super easy since it’s an ultrasound of the heart. I was in and out in an hour. It did make my tumor hurt a little afterwards. Stupid thing has been hurting off and on the past 2 days. Anytime someone messes with it or near it, it makes it twinge. Most of the time, it doesn’t hurt so a twinge isn’t bad, but I instinctively want to rub at it and Chris is always telling me to stop before I realize what I’m doing. My excuse of “it hurts” just makes him yell at me more. Haha My incision points still hurt occasionally so sometimes I can’t tell which is hurting till I find the pain point too. That excuse doesn’t work either. :)

Now it’s a matter of waiting for my appointment on Friday. This is the start of week 3 of “waiting.” It’s the most irritating thing right now. I want to START so I can get this over with sooner! The longer this drags out, the longer into the year this goes and I want to be done before the end of summer. I also feel like anything I plan to do at work I need to put a mental “tentative” sticker over it in case things change. It’s not fun when you’re a planner and like to be reliable for people. Also, there is that part of you that goes “is the tumor getting bigger? Is it spreading more?” So, yeah, I know once it gets into gear it’ll be full blast, but this snail pace is killer. 

Sometimes I feel like I’m staring at a pendulum swinging back and forth and back and forth...

On that note, there was an update to my pathology report. 

Those “micro-calcifications” found were reclassified (for lack of a better word) as a “sclerosing adenosis.” Actually, the pathology report said, “they were better described as.” What in the world does that mean? Sounds like the pathologist isn’t even quite sure what it is, but knows they’re not calcifications. Cool...

Google came to the rescue and basically I have a bunch of extra tissue growth in one spot in my breast. They’re benign and oftentimes don’t need to have anything done to them unless they cause pain. Because of the way they look on mammograms, there is no way to determine what it is till biopsy. 

There isn’t much known in terms of them being predictors for breast cancer; however, a few studies have suggested they may be an indicator of a higher risk for breast cancer (remember, they’re benign so can’t become cancerous). I mean, if you think about it, kind of makes sense. Your body is producing extra tissue. Itself is not cancerous, but it does mean your body is producing something not “normal.” 

Chris just looked at me and went “why is your body producing so many “extra” things?” Haha

At any rate, I assume the surgeon will remove the tissue at time of the lump since they’re nearby. I think that’s the mystery spot on the MRI near the lump they called the “linear mass” anyway and the radiologist who viewed my MRI suggested removal at time of surgery. 

With that...I’m on to the wait game till Friday!