are we already a full week into 2020? yes, yes we are. throughout the week, i medicated my cough with varying degrees of success. poor andy was, i'm sure, woken up multiple times on multiple nights due to my random coughing fits. things are under control now, at this point i mostly just sound like i've been smoking three packs a day for a while now. super sexy.

i tried to keep to myself with my office door shut during the week so as to avoid infecting/irritating my coworkers. normally, i am all about the liberal use of sick time as needed, but i've already sort of been doing that over the past several months. plus with holidays and everything else, i was feeling a little behind... hopefully i didn't annoy everyone too much.

thursday was, of course, chemo day. for some reason, despite having the exact same insurance as last year, and the exact same treatments as last year, the oncologist's office insisted that i suddenly owed more out-of-pocket costs this year. it is important to note that i work in my organization's human resources department, and while i am a fiscal person, not a program person, i am pretty well schooled about our benefits and healthcare plan. it was infuriating to be told that i owed money that i KNEW i did not owe, but in order to proceed with the office visit, i had to swipe my card anyway. oooooh... LIVID. i was livid. i am generally pretty chill, but i do NOT take kindly to being told i am wrong when i know damn well i am right. (we'll return to this later in the post).

chemo treatment is every thursday, but seeing the oncologist beforehand only happens every two or three weeks. dr. m continues to be pleased with my body's response to the treatments ("i can't feel anything -- it just feels like normal breast tissue!"), so that is always a good pep talk and reminder. we discussed my future appointment with the breast surgeon in february, as well as dr. m's opinion that i have inflammatory breast cancer. i questioned her about that, as i had specifically asked dr. h on the day of The Original Call if she thought it was IBC; dr. h had said no. dr. m simply stated that she disagreed. to be honest, i thought most signs pointed to IBC as well (the problem area of my breast was originally firm, heavy, warm to the touch, red/pink skin, fast growing). i am hoping to get that cleared up before my appointment with the surgeon; perhaps getting my relevant physicians to discuss my case with each other regarding that assessment. it wouldn't have changed the chemotherapy treatment (it doesn't change the invasive ductal carcinoma diagnosis), but from what i know, it might inform future plans (surgery type, radiation frequency, follow-up scans, port removal, etc.). i could include details on what i know about IBC, but i will refrain until i discuss with my doctors. long story short is that IBC is rare, and not preferable.

after seeing dr. m, it was time for the usual taxol infusion, round 9! three more to go. nothing of note: benadryl, sleepies, cryotherapy, colbert. afterwards, i needed to schedule the last three appointments, and due to a new system, we waited way longer than was usual. all in all, the day was not a great experience administratively at the oncology office. c'mon guys, get it together.

friday was another day at work, and friday was also when i called the oncology office's billing department to give them a what for. it took three different interactions (with the same person); a significant amount of time raising my voice; the billing office calling united healthcare; and me being persistent in my knowledge of my own healthcare plan, but things finally got straightened out. there is a note in my file that, yes, my healthcare plan is ridiculously amazing, and no, i will not be charged any out-of-pocket costs just because it doesn't seem possible to you that all i owe is the copay. now, when my FSA account will be refunded thursday's incorrect payment is yet to be seen, but i trust it will happen. hey, i know people.

on the last call, the call where she confirmed everything i had been explaining about my healthcare plan, i apologized to the woman in the billing department for the previous call's yelling. she countered by telling me she was glad i insisted in getting it right. i responded by saying that i knew i was right, and i knew i was right to argue, and i knew to continue down that path relentlessly, despite being told that i was wrong -- and relayed that what infuriates me the most about the experience is all the patients who DON'T know they can argue, who DON'T have the confidence or the knowledge to argue with their physician's office, who DON'T know they might accidentally be overpaying. the state of healthcare and insurance is more complicated than it needs to be, and i don't understand why that is. she agreed, i thanked her for resolving the situation, all was well, and my blood pressure finally began to decrease.

saturday was a morning of sleeping in, playing a random board game with andy, and eating leftover chili. the afternoon was errand running and the evening was watching nfl playoffs at his uncle's (mostly for the food and the tradition, as we are kind of over the nfl season at this point). today was church, more nfl watching tradition in the afternoon, and some evening blogging. thus ends Week 20 in Cancer Land... what will Week 21 bring? let's do this.