Power Chain Pain

I was always wondering what the eff you guys were talking about with all this powerchain nonsense. It sounded like something for a car. Well, I had the joy today of finding out just exactly what all this powerchain fun is all about. PAIN!!!! Wow. Thank god I still have some pain meds left over from my teeth being pulled. I am feeling better now since I have taken one. But earlier, at work, not good.

Now, I don't consider myself a wuss, but seriously, it felt like my lower teeth were being hit with a hammer over and over. I don't know why, but it didn't bother my upper teeth as much. Thank god, the real pain did not kick in till about 4. So, I only had to suffer thru another hour at work. And I ignored the warning label on the Advil bottle (wait 4 hours, only take one or two) and I took 3 advil AGAIN.

Anyway, enough with my bitching. :) I am happy they are finally moving again. And I talked to my ortho again about surgery and he said there is a small possibility I could have the surgery as early as December. But, he said that is really pushing it. I am thinking it will most likely not be until after April 15, 2009. But this discussion led directly into the insurance talk. I informed him that although I recieved a verbal consent from my insurace co back in December, they never gave me a written consent b/c at the time, they did not have anything submitted to them (i.e. x-rays, molds, etc). He said that I am basically committed to surgery at this point b/c of the particular teeth I had pulled. (i am committed anyway b/c this is what I want), but the whole thing made me nervous and realize that I should probably call up the surgeons office right away.

Let me say that I LOVE my surgeon, but the secretaries in his office are not very nice. Even though I specifically asked for the person who deals with insurance, she insisted she could handle my question. Well, basically, long story short, she said that they do not submit anything to the insurance company until the surgery is about to be scheduled!!! WTF?! I tried every which way to explain to her that what my ortho does is completely dependent on if I can have surgery or not, so I need to get this approved asap. Well, she couldn't give a crap. She basically said no.

So, I emailed my ortho (who literally emailed me write back - LOVE him!) and he said he would contact my surgeon as soon as possible (they work together farily often). And surprisingly the surgeon emailed back within the hour and said it was not a problem at all, he would have the insurance person take care of it right away. So, that woman was wrong the whole time. God, I really can't stand the secretaries in that office.

Anyway, thanks to all of your posts, I have been quite ready for this insurance thing to be quite an ordeal. I just hope it all works out in the end. I have been told by my ortho and my surgeon that it shouldnt' be a problem. And even the insurance woman at the surgeons office (who is the only nice one there) told me back in December that they usually don't have any problems with my insurance company. God, I hope not.

Anyway, how bad were all of your guys experiences with insurance?