I WON!!!!

I am soooooooooooooo excited!  After two years of haggling and waiting, I have been approved for disability!  Howard was so sure I would get it but I was very skeptical.  I am so glad he was right!

It is not a big raise in my monthly check, but I am so thrilled to start Medicare.  The private policy that I have had to take out costs a lot a month and has a $5,000.00 deductible.  I refused to get some tests and treatments the doctors wanted me to have because of this.  Now, I hope to be able to try out some things and hopefully get some relief.

Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it sounds to get all this started.  My Medicare started in July.  In addition to that, I need a prescription drug policy and a supplement for the part Medicare does not cover.  Do you realize how many insurance companies there are?  At last count, I figure around a gazillion or so.

I was always told that anything worth having is worth the trouble it takes to get it.  I hope that is true.  I have cauliflower ear from talking on the phone and trying to get someone to understand what I am looking for.  Many of the agents I reach tell me it is easier to go online and fill out what I need.  It may be easy for them, but I have found that my brain is having a hard time figuring out what they are asking for or telling me.  I did not go to insurance school and do not understand many of their terms.  I am not so sure they do either.  From reading some of the things, I think a lot of it is gibberish written just to confuse us so we will give up and let them handle it. 

I think that even a year ago I could have handled this better.  My brain was not quite so garbled and things made more sense.  Now, I can read something several times and still not get what they are trying to tell me.  It is so terribly frustrating.

Howard is getting pretty deaf.  He always wants me to talk on the phone because he spends more of the time saying “what?” and the other person often gets a little flustered and irritated.  Most of the time, I am OK with this.  Sometimes though, my speech is hard to understand and my brain will not put words in an order that makes sense to me.  I hear words, but often I don’t hear them as parts of a sentence or idea.  My “huh?” is becoming as prevalent as his!

I have a good friend who has a lot of problems with her speech.  She tends to apologize for this.  She is such a sweet, bubbly person that I kind of get angry with her for apologizing for something she has no control over.  Until my speech began to start getting pretty noticeable, I did not understand this.  Now, I do.  Unfortunately, the more I try to explain my problem, the more agitated I get and the harder it is to get out of my mouth.

Although I was thrilled to get the disability ruling, it is also sad.  I guess when you see it written down in black and white it becomes a reality you can’t ignore.  I am so thankful to the Good Lord above that I go approved, but I really wish I did not have the problems it took to get the approval.  Know what I mean?

Anyway, here is a little bit of CUTE to take our minds off of our disabilities and problems.  When Buffy went for her last grooming, it was around St. Patrick's day and the groomer put bowties on all her clients.  Isn't she cute?!