pathology and insurance

i had my follow up appointment with the obgyn/surgeon this morning. i had a whole list of questions ready to ask. two of the four incisions still bleed when i take a shower and the right incision is still bruised and swollen.

well, she alleviated all my fears. the incisions are healing nicely, despite the occasional bleeding (she said this was normal). the right incision is bruised, but she was not surprised by that at all because she knew she yanked that one around more during surgery (ouch!). she lifted all my restrictions and seemed to think i would be back to normal in a couple more weeks.

i have to go back for one more follow up at the end of this month and then i am officially over and done with this drama!

and the pathology report: BENIGN!!! praise the Lord! while we were expecting a benign diagnosis, it was still a relief to hear the official report.

so we are so thankful for your prayers and the Lord's favor towards us!

and for whatever reason i feel like i need to explain our insurance situation. i've been thinking about it over the past several days. john's employer does offer insurance. in fact, they were just up for re-enrollment on february 1, so all of this is current information. we are quite fortunate that john's employer pays 90% of his insurance coverage. the remaining is nominal and is taken automatically out of john's check each pay period.

if we were to carry family coverage through john's employer our monthly premium would be $1200! that premium is more than our monthly mortgage! seriously, who can afford that? and while we are certainly not advocates of obama's health plan, we are that part of the population that finds itself in a bad situation.

so last february, we decided to investigate other options for coverage for me and the boys. we applied and the boys were approved. i was denied. i don't have cancer, i don't require daily medication, i've just had a few blips on the radar (case in point, this cyst!) that apparently they didn't like. it's really sad. while i should have argued and pursued a better outcome, i didn't. i was happy the boys had coverage and had plans to reapply with another company for myself when things settled down. well, things never settle down around here, and i never followed up with anything. i've been healthy (because i generally am!) and haven't had a need to even see a doctor.

until two weeks ago.

so i guess i just felt like defending myself if anyone out there in blogland thought that i was irresponsible for not having insurance. we simply cannot afford it. and honestly, thanks to the good nature of the hospital and doctors (though i should probably attribute their provision ultimately to the Lord), we will pay less for the surgery than what we would have paid in insurance premiums for a year. but maybe now i'll be motivated to navigate the mess of insurance coverage and try to find an affordable plan that will take me and all my strange health anomalies!

thanks again for all your prayers! we are praising the Lord for His care and provision!