Bunch'a money hungry rat bastards!

As you know, Covid put Lynn out of her job of 15 years, so it's been a bit of a financial burden, especially since they screwed her out of 4-5 weeks (or more? can't even remember now) of vacation pay. Once the Covid dust settled, she had a job lined up at the Sheriff's Dept. (she previously worked for LAPD before we left California) She cleared the original testing, passed a couple other qualifications, passed the polygraph exam and all she had left was her physical, which was scheduled. A few days before her physical, she woke up and couldn't get out of bed! Major pain from her butt to her foot. Finally got her into the doc and they diagnosed sciatica and suggested Tylenol. No improvement and she was basically crippled. If we went to the grocery store, I'd have to park, go in, get an electric scooter, bring it back out, get her loaded up, etc. etc. etc.

Now, since she's been unemployed and bringing in zero income, we've had to pay through the nose for private medical insurance. Whether he has anything to do with it or not, ever since the day Mr. Biden took office, our IRA (our only retirement) has been going into the toilet. Since the first of this year, it's been RAPIDLY going even deeper into the toilet with no end in sight. To add insult to injury, Sleepy Joe also put an end to my eBay business and I'm stuck sitting on a bazillion $$$ of inventory I can't move. Needless to say, it's been a bit rough, but we're making the most of it. But screw the politics, back to the bottom-feeding trumpet monkeys!

When the Sheriff's Dep't. job fell through, we had to work on finding some relief for Lynn. Now the fun really starts and I can see how these mf'ing doctors play the insurance game. Now, mind you, we are paying for insurance, but office visits run us $100 each (anything else is covered once that co-pay is made). Now, if there are special type procedures, there's another co-pay with a cap of $9500.00. I'm now feeling like these f'ing doctors form a good ol' boy network and run their own personal insurance scam based on referrals. Once they see we have insurance, the bullshit begins!

Per insurance requirements, we have to first see her primary care physician. We did and paid our $100 co-pay. BUT, the ONLY thing the doc did at that required appointment was to suggest Tylenol and refer us to (her cohort buddy?) the Rheumatologist. Ok, we head off to the suggested Rheumatologist and pay ANOTHER $100! What does he do? Not a f'ing thing, but refers us to a Pain Management Specialist! You guessed it, ANOTHER $100! What does he do? Gives her a steroid injection, which did nothing. We go back in, pay another $100 and what does he do? As usual, not a F'ING thing other than give Lynn a RX for (don't remember what, I'd have to ask her), but it barely did anything and she's still in a ton of pain, but can at least manage to walk short distances. We called the pain management doc and said it's not helping much, so .... BINGO! He refers us to cohort number 4 ... a Neurosurgeon. We plop down ANOTHER G..damned $100 and listen to his b/s. He's a surgeon, so of course, he suggests surgery. We ask what that will cost us and what a surprise, our cap, $9500! Before signing on the dotted line, I ask if that will fix her problem. His answer? Maybe, maybe not! HUH? "What does that mean", I ask. He tells us it may do nothing at all, it may help a little, or it may help a lot. Then again, it may go away and come back 6-months later. By now, I'd had enough and told him to stick his surgery up his rosie red ass and we walked out.

Now in the meantime, Murphey's Law kicks in and one morning I went to get out of bed and went straight to the floor. I had a shooting pain from my right butt cheek to my foot ... the EXACT same thing Lynn has been complaining about. I suffered with it for a week (hoping it would go away, it didn't) and finally called the VA, talked to my doc, he said it sounded exactly like sciatica and sent an emergency Rx straight to the grocery store 2 blocks from our house! We picked it up that same afternoon. I took one dose as soon as we got home and another before I went to bed. The next day, not even a HINT of pain. In fact, I've ridden my bicycle every day and have not had even a hint of pain. I quit taking the pills and all is fine. Out of desperation, Lynn took one of my leftover meds and had almost immediate relief! The Rx is for 3/day (as needed) and she's been taking ONE like every other day. NO PAIN. She stopped them, went back to her meds and the pain returned. Back to my meds, the pain is gone. Ok. it's now a no-brainer ... MY med works, hers does not.

Yesterday, we called her Pain Doctor and told him what was going on and asked if he could please change her Rx to the same med I'm taking. He said no, he could not do that and we'd have to come in for an office visit to get a new Rx. WTF???? Appointment for WHAT? At the initial visit, he didn't do so much as take her temperature, she just told him of how the pain felt and he prescribed the med! The ONLY reason I see that he wants her back in is for ... surprise, surprise ... another $100 office visit. I'm so sick of these money-grubbing assholes I could spit! I'm tempted to not even tell the VA my pain is gone completely and simply refill my Rx and give it to her ... but I'm just not like that and will pass. I'm beginning to hate these greedy m'fers and can't help but wonder why our medical insurance costs are so high in this country?