Good thing there are no symptoms yet, have needed every ounce of energy to fight this damn Insurance company. They've double-talked and lied their way to what they hoped would be the least effective and least expensive treatment but underestimated Queenie and I. And me. 

The biopsy, sadly, verified the original suspicion so I'm likely to be gone for weeks, perhaps months. First the insurance company called Roswell and told them there was no coverage. Then when we called to straighten things up they came up with this insane rule that said if we could get any treatment within 30 miles they would only cover that. The local center could treat me for the mildest form but not for what I have. So we appealed and they sent us to another rep who offered to send in an appeal but claimed it would automatically get rejected and she hung up on us. Twice. So back to the first who was 'absolutely certain' this was a real policy and that we'd just have to accept it at which point I off-handed said "well dear, the settlement from this lawsuit should be great for you after the fact". Suddenly we remembered that the referring Doc can send in a justification (something both reps originally claimed was not allowed). So Tuesday we were on the Phone from noon until 8PM when all the phones at the insurance company went dead.

This morning we engaged the Oncologist, the insurance clowns, Roswell, and a health care advocate. Suddenly the insurance company realized no one was rolling over and we went from "we MIGHT hear back from your appeal in 15 days IF everything is in order" to "Approved" but even that took almost 2 hours on the phone to get to. And glory be, this was the first time the optional after-call survey from the insurance company worked, the other half dozen calls it failed to load. Suffice to say they didn't get the survey results they were hoping for ......

So tomorrow evening we drive the 4 hours to Buffalo, have some more testing done, then meet with the specialist to see where we go from here. Um, besides Buffalo ... ;-)

I hear tell I may get to test drive the bald look. There will likely be ugly days ahead. But here we go, headed for better days when it's all done and said. 

BTW- What's it like staying in a hospital? I've never stayed even a single night since, you know, when I was a wee little slug.