Ear tubes

(Note: This post is too long. And not funny. Maybe just skip it. Unless you had a really horrible day because they didn't have the creamer you like at the convenience store. If that sounds like you, read on. Suck my life.)

Today I took my five year old son to an ear specialist because he's been having recurring ear infections since he was about three. He has some hearing loss in both ears but the doctors say it is probably not permanent. They want to put tubes in his ears to aid drainage and say he should feel better immediately.

I have taken him to his pediatrician five times since September. I wish the man had recommended the specialist before this. I don't know why he didn't, unless it's because I don't have any medical insurance.

When I moved here three years ago, and up until three months ago, I did have but they never paid any of my son's bills because they didn't have a copy of his birth certificate (and I guess I had to prove he was actually mine to get him on my policy). I faxed one but it was unfaxable because it was on the kind of paper that doesn't photocopy. When I found out about that I went to their offices and hand delivered the original birth certificate (which cost me $25 and a day of missed work to get) with a note attached saying it couldn't be scanned and to please return it when they had the information they needed, as it was my only copy. I called them weeks later after not having heard anything more about it, just to make sure it was taken care of. It wasn't. They had scanned it into their system, and, of course, it couldn't be read. Or returned, for some reason.

So I called the state registrar and explained my situation to a few different people before they connected me with someone who said she had heard of this situation before, and recommended that I order a specific "Long form" certified copy, which she explained would be photocopiable and scannable and faxable and so I did. And it was. But the bills still aren't paid.

That might be because I didn't find out about this situation until I called the pediatrician to schedule an appointment for my kid's pre-kindergarten physical, without which they would not have let him into school. I made the appointment and got a call back about two minutes later saying they wouldn't be able to see him until I paid a bill from the previous year. This was the first I had heard about it. I had to pay $300 to get him in, and I had to borrow that. Since it took me about two months to settle the situation when it finally came to my attention, I think I might be somehow past some kind of claim-filing deadline, and am pretty much screwed. Which is doubly awesome because the doctor also gives a big discount for people who have no insurance (or at least know they don't have any insurance). I also missed several hours of work, spaced out over this period, so that I could deal with the situation during actual business hours. Since I was working 7am - 6pm at the time, I really had no other option.

I am the unluckiest person ever to somehow have internet access. If you are reading this on a computer and not through your neighbor's window, your life is better than mine.

Also, I am changing pediatricians.