Baby Steps

The good news is that the surgeon told me today that I can begin bearing weight immediately, and I will likely be able to drive again in 7-10 days. Today was the first time I left the house in four weeks. Ideally I'd like to be able to meet my friend "for coffee" (term used lightly because I don't actually drink coffee) on November 26, and I'd like to be able to go to church in person on November 28. When the surgeon asked me to try standing on both legs, I had my right foot on the floor while standing for the first time in 9+ weeks, but I wasn't really putting any weight on it. Then he asked me to take a step. I couldn't do it. My brain was saying lift your right leg and take a step, but I was frozen like a statue. I felt utterly foolish. I have been walking for about 48 years, and I've forgotten how in 9.5 weeks? When I broke my ankle 28 or 29 years ago, I had no trouble immediately walking once I was able to resume, but that time (in addition to being almost 30 years younger than I am now), I had only been in a cast for 6 weeks, and part of that time was in a walking cast, and I didn't have any pins or plates inserted in my ankle (no surgery that time). The doctor said I can go from the boot to a regular shoe but should wear an ankle brace. He was going to give me one, but when I told him about the fact our insurance says we owe $21,365.83, he said it would be better if we got a brace at CVS or Walmart as it would be cheaper than what the hospital will charge. Similarly, he had been planning to give me a referral for PT, but he suggested I might want to try to forgo it in light of the fact the insurance probably wouldn't pay a dime towards it. Thankfully, Yvonne was an OT, and she gave me some assistance via FaceTime this afternoon.

I have been working for the last four weeks on improving my range of motion with my ankle when it's been elevated. The problem at the moment is my leg muscles have atrophied. I need to strengthen my leg so I can walk again. Plus it's partially psychological. I've been so accustomed to protecting my ankle that my brain is having a very hard time with the concept of actually using it even though part of me really, really, really, really, really wants to be able to walk! The other part of me is scared. The $20K bill isn't exactly helping, as I surely don't want to fall again. Hopefully there will be drastic improvement over the next 7-10 days as right now I can't take even one tiny step with both legs even if I'm holding on to the walker. I'm grateful I have permission, and now I am praying I will regain the ability to actually take advantage of the permission I have been given as I want to be rid of using a walker and walk up the stairs instead of crawling on my hands and knees.

As for the insurance debacle, I made many calls to the insurance company yesterday and got nowhere. Today I called the hospital's billing department to see if they could be of assistance. They are going to try to help. They said on October 6 (day before the surgery) the insurance told them no authorization was needed, but they also failed to mention they would pay less than $1K toward the surgery (which cost over $20K). The only other time I've encountered medical bills this large was with IVF, but in those instances the hospital told us in advance what the insurance wouldn't cover so we had time to save up money. We didn't have informed consent this time around. I would have paid COBRA to extend our previous insurance had I known this one was only going to pay a very small portion of the surgery, but now we're past the 60 day deadline. I have also filed a complaint with the Insurance Commission in PA. I'm hoping that one of these two actions will result in either the insurance company paying more towards the surgery OR the hospital greatly reducing the charges to something more reasonable for us to pay. And I really, really hope we switch to a different health insurance by December 1 as this one is awful!!!

I had placed a grocery order for Walmart to be picked up sometime between 8-9am as my appointment was at 8am and is very close to a Walmart. While we were at the doctor's office I got a text saying it was delayed and not ready to be picked up yet. We drove to Walmart so Paul could buy me a brace, and he asked around 9:30 when the grocery order would be ready. The manager said he had no idea when it would be ready. I needed to get home to homeschool the kids, and Paul needed to go to work so we couldn't wait there indefinitely. So I cancelled the order and later placed another one to be picked up tomorrow night between 7-8pm. Hopefully they will have our ready order tomorrow.