Monies!!

Guess who has two thumbs, breast cancer, and a positive account balance?

This Girl!

Money has always been a touchy subject for me because I'm typically bad at it. I don't want the subject to be off limits here, though, so I'll just fill in a bit on my personal situation.

Here's how I understand my health insurance

• Right Now: I pay the copay listed on my little plastic card until
• Hard Times: I reach some limit and have to start paying for treatment out-of-pocket then
• Manageable?: after I reach a certain threshold of personal expense, I only have to pay for a percentage of the cost (whatever that is).

I may be wrong. Not only am I bad at money, but I avoid things I find overwhelming (and understanding my health insurance falls into that category). Getting a clearer picture of this is on my To Do List. Near the bottom. 

The point is this: cancer means tons of doctors' appointments. While my copay is reasonable at $25 a pop, those add up quickly. I have an average of 1.5 appointments a week. That's an additional expense of $150 a month that I have to factor into a budget that's been reduced by 35% (I receive 65% of my normal pay while on medical leave). Not to mention the one-time three-time expense of the $100 surgery copay. I'm being bled dry. 

Cancer also means being your own social worker, secretary, and advocate. Which you can do, you know, in between crippling surgeries, doctors appointments, depression, and doses of narcotics. So the blame is partially mine that my application for extended medical leave was not actually approved until I had been out of work for about 6 weeks. Which means I haven't collected a paycheck since February 15th. Seeing a positive account balance this morning was enough to tamp down the nausea from my antibiotic.