06/18/2021
By Kate Stone Lombardi
Let’s start by saying that I recognize my good fortune. I have health insurance, limited as it may be. And my medical problems to date are all mechanical – that is, I have parts that are giving me problems, but not (knock wood) any progressive illnesses.
THAT SAID, I’m sorry to share The Saga of the Steroid Injection.
April – Hooray! I got my second vaccination shot. Time to deal with a bunch of medical issues I’d put on hold, like the shooting pain in my back emanating from my herniated disk and arthritis. Call pain doc who has given me steroid injections in the past. She tells me it’s been too long for her to schedule a shot without an exam – refers me to an orthopedist. OK.
Later April – See orthopedist. She diagnoses a herniated disc and arthritis and recommends a steroid shot. OK.
That week – Call pain doc to report on orthopedist findings. Pain doc says she needs to examine me herself before scheduling injection. OK.
May – Visit pain doc. She diagnoses a herniated disk and arthritis and says I need a steroid shot. OK. I schedule the shot on my way out of office. Told I must get a Covid test precisely 5 days – no earlier, no later – before procedure.
May – have Covid test.
Four Days Later – Realize I haven’t heard from Pain doc office confirming appointment. Call office. I am not on the schedule. They don’t know what happened. Clerical error. Apologize and reschedule. Sigh.
Later May – have another Covid test. Appointment for injection confirmed.
Four Days Later – Call from the pain doctor’s office. Insurance Company has declined coverage for procedure. Doctor promises to appeal decision.
One week later – I fly to the West Coast for 10 days to see my kids for the first time in 14 months (pandemic.)
June -Return home to find message on my answering machine (yes, I still use one) saying the procedure has been approved by my insurance company. Yay! OK!
A few days later – call to schedule appointment for injection. Can’t do it. Insurance only approved the procedure within a certain time frame, and that time has expired.
Next day – Call insurance company to plea for another extension.
Another week later – Extension approved. I make another appointment for the injection.
Monday – Another Covid test
This morning – Call from pain doctor’s office. They see on my medical records that I’m taking antibiotics for an infection in an entirely different body part. Appointment canceled – doctor won’t inject steroids while I’m on our antibiotics because they suppress the immune system. I can’t even…
I don’t have to tell you my insurance extension is going to run out by the time I’m done with my course of antibiotics.
Is the Universe telling me not to have this injection? If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. I need to go lay down.