Update from the crazy side of things

Life has been crazy and I have not had a chance to blog lately. As promised, here are the updates:

IEP's gathering dust....

Well, the big kid went back to school and we found out that he was dropped from his Behavioral Intervention Class and mainstreamed. Our goal is mainstream, but dang - right out of the gate in 7th grade?! For a kid with zero social skills?! Why not paint a big ol' target on his back and get it over with quickly?

I walked into the school on the first day with him and was told to "just send him to class, no schedule changes will be made during the first week of school". After I got done laughing my booty off, I made my way to the counselor's office. They were appropriately horrified and immediately fixed the goof up.

Monkeys....

Found an iPhone app where you can shake a monkey. Super funny - except when you see the look of horror on your baby's face and remember you have called her a monkey all her life.

Doctors who need listening ears....

So, about 2 weeks before school started, my son's psychiatrist took him off of his mood stabilizer to try something different. The "new" med made him manic/irritable/angry within a few days. I called the pdoc and told him it wasn't working out to well and asked what we should do. His answer? "Just stop it." Um, really?

Yeah, so last week after the 2 new holes and the death threats (from my son, not me - although I was quickly reaching the end of my rope) we went back on the original mood stabilizer.

Ok, so one more time - perhaps it would save us all a bit of frustration and repair bills if you would just freaking listen to the woman who has been with this kid the last 13 years. No stimulant without a mood stabilizer!!! GEEESH!

Speeding Tickets....

The day it all came to a head with the mood stabilizer, my son said he wanted to "be dead" because he hated feeling like he was. I was on my way home and was faced with a dilemma..call the mother in law and risk her fanning the flames or keep him on the phone while driving like a crazy woman? Well, you know where this is going. Yes, I got a ticket for doing 75 in a 60. I tried to explain why I was in a hurry (if nothing else, maybe they could send someone over to check on him) only to be cut off and told "the issue will be there when you get home".

Well, gee, Officer No-Compassion, did you take a special class at the academy to get so jaded or did it come with the badge?

Emotional rollercoaster.....

Yep. Still on it, but big kid seems to be leveling off and I big puffy heart his ability to bounce back from this major set back.

Duplicity....

*Sigh* too much to go into right now. Very concerned about my sister. Will see about blogging about that when it doesn't feel so overwhelming.

Finally - possible winning lottery ticket...

Wish it had been me, but found out my husband forgot to buy that winning lottery ticket. Yes, he is still alive. Although, we did buy this amazing huge new subzero freezer....

Long Time No Post

Things are hectic and stressful as ever. I will just give you an update soon. The update will probably include:

IEP's gathering dust
Monkeys
Doctors who need listening ears
Speeding tickets
Emotional rollercoaster
Duplicity
and possible winning lottery ticket! <~ ok, fine -- wishful thinking but a girl can dream.

Too tired to write it all down but I will within the next day or two.

More Insurance Company Fun

*UPDATE!*
The insurance company has been sufficiently reassured that, yes, I would be taking an anti-anxiety/anti-depression medication to combat anxiety and depression! Bonus - as a result of my doctor's sound judgement with her drug therapy, it was found to adhere to the plan's guideline for coverage. I was able to pick it up for a whopping $23.79. Whew! Being cranky is exhausting!
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It’s no big secret that my life can be crazy. I have a child with special needs, a stressful job, another child who thinks she is Demi Lavato, a furry hyperactive child who has recently decided to dig to China via my backyard, a house falling down around me, a 1 ½ hour commute each way for work and a traveling husband. And that’s all stuff I’ve already admitted to. :-)

So, I have bouts of depression and major anxiety issues. Major. Like, I can’t really seem to sleep and think the sky is falling anxiety issues. I have taken medication for this stuff for a couple of years. Recently, though, my favored medication stopped working. This is common with anti-depressants and my doctor decided we needed to try something in a different drug family.

Imagine my lack of surprise when I went to pick up this medication and found it was denied by my insurance company. When I called to find out exactly why it was denied, I was told I needed prior authorization. That made me a little, well….crazy.

This is the response I received from the “Prescription Insurance Company Practicing Medicine on the Side” when I told them their logic was moronic at best, but mostly just plain old irresponsible. I have changed the identifying information only because I recognize that the people who work for this evil organization know not what they do.

And what they do is…make me crazy.

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To Crazy Mama,

Thank you for your online inquiry. According to plan design, Wellbutrin tabs require a prior authorization before it is covered. To initiate this process, please have your physician call 1-800-***-****. You can verify with Member Services that the prior authorization has been filed with Prescription Insurance Company Practicing Medicine on the Side. Once the prior authorization has been filed, a prescription may be submitted for processing.

Prior authorization occurs to ensure that prescriptions are being used for the purposes covered under the plan. When your prescription is filled, it is electronically submitted and instantly reviewed for eligibility, coverage, health, safety and cost issues.

This is to ensure that the drug being prescribed will not interact with any other medications you're taking or any allergies you have. In some cases, certain drugs have other uses that are not covered or are not considered effective. When this occurs, coverage for the prescription is denied.

In all cases, it is your physician who determines which drug therapy is prescribed for you. On occasion, your physician may need to provide additional information to determine if and how much of a drug will be covered by the plan.

If your use of the drug doesn't adhere to the plan's guidelines for coverage, you will be responsible for paying for the full cost of the drug.

Thank you for visiting justtrytogetmedication.com.

Catherine D.
eCSR for Prescription Insurance Company Practicing Medicine on the Side

If you have any further questions or issues, please visit our site at http://www. justtrytogetmedication.com

This e-mail message and any attachments contain confidential information from Prescription Insurance Company Practicing Medicine on the Side. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that disclosure, printing, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this electronic information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply message and then delete the electronic message and any attachments.

Betty Update

I went to the doctor on Friday to see about getting Betty evicted from my face. In my mind, she needs to cough up some rent, or go the heck away. My doctor said it is cystic acne and wants me to take a heavy duty antibiotic for 2 weeks. If she has successfully been eradicated, we're good, if not, she has to do some sort of procedure in the office in 2 weeks.

Don't ask what the procedure is, I think it will involve cutting of some sort and I immediately checked out of that conversation. EEWWW!

Keep your fingers crossed that I don't have to go back in 2 weeks. I'm a bit squeamish.

Stressed

Since this is my blog, I am going to vent for a minute. Ok? Um, thanks.

So, school is starting 2 weeks from tomorrow. I'm very stressed. We have had hit or miss luck in finding teachers that "get" my son. Last year was not stellar. This year he goes into the 7th grade. My inner groans are not because I expect acne and girls to come a-callin'. My groans and worries are because he is like a 5 year old trapped in an almost 13 year old's body.

Today was full of tantrums and just made me, well...sad. Very, very sad. My boy struggles to cope with day to day struggles that most of us just go through and never notice. To him, though, it's all a big deal. Couldn't find a shirt without a tag? His solution is to throw stuff and cry. You and me? Well, we'd probably cut the tag out of the shirt or find a different one altogether. It was that kind of stuff ALL DAY LONG.

My man-child likes to be alone (FYI - it's his world and he tolerates the rest of the human race). So, he is done with sharing his space with his sister and me. He wants to talk back to the computer and not have one of the girls telling him to stop talking to himself because he is clearly talking to the computer, not himself.

I'm stressed not only about the teachers but about the kids. He is so into Bakugan and dinosaurs, but other kids his age aren't. I'm worried about if/when he'll get into a fight because he is not like the rest of them. Kids are mean. 7th graders are in a category all to themselves.

Part of the reason for the on-going tantrums today were brought on by our preparations for school. We did some shopping for clothes and school supplies very early yesterday. I had hoped that by avoiding the crowds he could handle it better than if we went closer to school starting and during the busy part of the day. I don't know if we did too much or what, but he is very over both his sister and me. Today, I thought we should spend the day relaxing at home, but that irritated him because we were in his way.

The other part of the reason is because last Tuesday his pdoc (psychiatrist) changed his mood stabilizer. He took him off of Abilify and put him on Trileptal. He changed it because we were seeing a lot more irritability and anger than usual. He was going to have to go up on the dosage, but the Abilify was causing a huge weight gain. If he went up, the weight would, too, which would cause the med to need to be upped and so on.....

So, we have been titrating up on the Trileptal and he won't be on his full daily dosage until Tuesday, but we won't see the full benefit for another week or so. AAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH! Another week of this?!

Bad Marketing Strategy

Here's a thought....if you are begging for money outside of 7-11, how about not screaming at people when they tell you no? Cuz I'm thinking the screaming is gonna have a negative impact on your "earnings".

I dunno...just a thought.

Meet Betty

Nurse K inspired me to introduce you to Betty. She is either my hatchling or my twin just now getting around to joining me in this world (geez, where were you in the 7th grade, Betty?). I somehow acquired her after our trip to Sea World in mid-June. Who knows why she is still festering, but you might as well have fun, right?

Betty felt sassy this evening. So, she did a crooked sassy pose for you.

This is where she thought about the main reason she doesn't seek medical attention. Evil Insurance Company.

I'm rather attached to her. Whaddya think??

You're only getting glimpses because of the evil folks out there that will use this post as nothing more than gossip fodder. Poor Betty has been through enough, hasn't she?