Okay, this isn't a "how-to" post. I'm just de-stressing myself a little more.
I am currently calming down my poor heart after looking at the printout I got from Dakota Clinic on Monday regarding the Oct. 20th visit. (I got the printout on Monday and finally looked at it while eating lunch.) According to that printout, I owed $1486.56 -- this was after all of the BlueCross BlueShield of MN adjustments and payments. The total amount of charges was $5971.50. This is for ONE visit to a blood specialist plus having 19 vials of blood drawn. I didn't even get to stay overnight or anything! (Not even a free pen!)
Anyhow, I went back to my original spreadsheet regarding the insurance claims that I was working on over the weekend. At the bottom of this sheet I created a separate column for all of the charges, BCBS payments, contract adjustments, and my payments. The total charges added up to what the total charges were at the top of the spreadsheet where I had listed out the individual insurance claims. The adjustments added up and the BCBS payments added up. Hmmm.. that's not good. This might mean I do own the $1400. So, up at the top of the spreadsheet I went back through the claims and added new columns for my responsibility, BCBS payments, contract adj, and then a totals column. A-ha. The charges that had been previously paid were not added in.... This was noted on the insurance claims by BlueCross BlueShield that the clinic was recharging some of the fees. That's a total of $835!!!! So, subtracting THAT amount from the $1486.56, well, then the total was way less. Anyhow, I called BlueCross to make sure that the charges that had been marked as previously paid were to be dismissed. I called Dakota Clinic and the total amount due right now from me is $519.61 -- and that includes a lot of the foot doctor stuff and with my primary care physician on the cholesterol stuff. WHEW!!! Even though $500 is still a lot of money, at least it isn't that much PLUS the $1400.
I'm hoping the pressure that I feel in my chest goes away soon. It feels like I was laying down and Dexter, the standard schnauzer, jumped up on it.
Now that I've explained my STRESS and the fact that it is all OKAY now.. I wanted to write that I am SO glad that we have 3FatChicks (and the Calorie Queens website) as an outlet to vent or even just as something to DO so that the call to eat food in response to stress and/or the now perceived "drama is over" response can be ignored. I didn't eat ONE THING in response to all of this. I cruised the boards, posting or just reading. I did have my snack at 3 pm - a fat-free yogurt and one serving of mixed frozen fruit.
On a side note, I walked on the treadmill today. Woo-hoo! I only did 10 minutes though... per directions from the physical therapist. I'm supposed to ease my foot into exercise again. So I eased.
Good for you, Kimberly! Good for challenging them on the money. Good for you for keeping such good records. Good for you for standing up for yourself!
Good for you for not heading to the fridge and for finding an alternate way to help you get through the stress. And when you did have your snack, you had a really good-for-you one. It would have been way easy to have ice cream or M&Ms or whatever your "comfort" food is.
And good for you for getting your walking in!
All in all, I'd say you deserve a big ol' pat-on-the-back for today! Hooray for Kimberly!!!
This is so hard for me, so it's nice to hear about someone who overcame it. I stress-eat (and eat out of boredom) all too much, and haven't found a way to combat it yet.
Wow, WTG! I'm encouraged to see someone overcome this- stress eating is definitely my BIGGEST saboteur. With two toddler boys at home, I am literally hopping up and down, and running around all day long. I've remarked on several occasions, that if I wasn't such a stress eater, I'd be a size 4 by now.
I often grab something when I'm stressed, but also sometimes once the situation as passed- leftover nervous energy I guess. I'm going to take your indirect advice and try to get myself moving to a workout tape, or surfing 3FC when stress strikes again!
I am definitely an emotional eater. If I'm happy, sad, angry, worried, etc.... I want to eat. Ugh, I just felt so STRESSED yesterday... It was the kind of stress where you feel like all of your insides have completely dropped. (Food really did seem like a good way to fill the "empty" cavity.) I'm just happy to know that I DON'T owe that much money. It wouldn't have been the end of the world, but still!
I really want to show a loss at my weigh-in next Tuesday.
We had water in our basement yesterday. I called the plumber today because there was more water. He thinks it is a sewer issue plus our drain vents might be blocked, our sump pump hose was frozen AND he thinks it is also ground water coming in. Oh, and he thought the wax seal for our main floor toilet might be leaking. Hello.......! It is WINTER. How can water be coming in?? In fact, with the wind chill factored in.. it is 50º below zero!
Thankfully my husband said he would come home from work to answer any other questions. The plumber had to leave for a bit so maybe John will be home by then. He can work from home with his laptop.
The good news? There isn't anything in the house to eat anyhow. Well, only good stuff. I could have a carrot binge. That is so unexciting that I think I'll skip it. LOL
The good news? There isn't anything in the house to eat anyhow. Well, only good stuff. I could have a carrot binge. That is so unexciting that I think I'll skip it. LOL
Good for you Kimberly! I hate money troubles, they really freak me out. Found out one of the deposits for my wedding is going to be a bit bigger and expected due a bit sooner than I thought. I guess instead of eating I worked on a couple charts of income and expenses to see if I could actually pay it on time (thank goodness for 0% interest credit cards ). This after getting my car fixed. I thought about not eating for the next month to save some money but since I'm pretty sure my fiance won't go along with that, looks like I'll just have to wait until it all turns out in the end.
Wow, Kimberly. Hope you can get the plumbing problems sorted out quickly. Water in the basement can be a real mess. Does the plumber have any facts? Or did his whole visit hinge on what it *may* be?
The plumber only charged us $178. He roto-rooted the sewer line. He would have been able to do more if my husband would have gotten home while the plumber was still here.
I guess part of the reason for the water was because we had the sump pump unplugged. He said that was a very bad idea because of the water level or something like that.
So... we'll see if the sewer thing was the main reason for everything else. Oh, he thinks that the sewer thing could have overflowed the toilet in the basement and that might be part of the problem with water in the basement too.
???
Kimberly
PS. My husband wasn't very impressed with my overview of what the plumber did or said. LOL ??? That's why I was hoping he'd get home while the plumber was still here.
I sure hope that clears everything up for you. We had water in our (unfinished) basement a few years back, caused by a ice dams on the roof that trickled down the walls. What a PITA to get all cleaned up.
Just keep telling yourself... sopping up water is additional exercise for the day!
I'm glad to see that you're all right or that would be another insurance claim I can't imagine living with temps of 50 below, I live in the upper south(NC) and it rarely gets in the teens in the winter. You are a better woman than I am, I wimp out when it hits the 20's. I hope things get better for you.
Well, another "good news" sort of thing is that at least with all of my medical stuff, I'm pretty much guaranteed to hit the $1500 out of pocket maximum in the last month and half. Then everything is paid 100% by insurance. Okay, so it really isn't all that good because that's a lot of moola to shell out. However, my paycheck is "extra" money for us so at least we aren't going into debt because of my crazy foot. Did I mention that I had to have orthotics for my shoes that cost $190 each plus wear some carbon steel plates? Holy buckets. I have two plates in my left shoe and one in my right. Each plate is $130. The orthotics and plates are NOT covered by health insurance. (Orthotics are only covered if I am a diabetic, which I'm not.) Just the stuff that goes in my shoes adds up to $770. Crazy.
So.... My post isn't that I am upset about anything anymore. Just a "matter of fact" I guess. We have plans to perhaps start a family in March or April.. so if this should be a high-risk involving any hospital stays or whatever, at least insurance will be paying for that.
I'm just glad that this all happened NOW rather than say, last year when I was single. The money issues would have been VERY stressful. Up until the medical stuff, I'd been using my income to pay off my debt. I was a big time credit card user. My husband isn't. If he charges something, it is paid off that month. I'm looking forward to getting my last credit card paid off and then I'll be paying off my car. When that is all done, all of my income will go to savings.
Avoiding Stress Eating
). This after getting my car fixed. I thought about not eating for the next month to save some money but since I'm pretty sure my fiance won't go along with that, looks like I'll just have to wait until it all turns out in the end. 
I hope things get better for you.
