You yourself go to the doctors and ask for a flu shot. You don't have the flu.. but you could get it. You're taking care of yourself and taking the right precautions to keep yourself healthy. You don't think anything of it, your insurance is going to cover.
Your son has an incredibly rare congenital heart defect amongst other heart abnormalities. RSV could potentially kill him and at the very least land him at Children's for an extended stay. You do worry about it. Because you have an insanely high deductible with one of the worst health insurance companies and they want the money upfront before they will have their pharmacy send the pediatrician the shot. One dose is $5,800. One. Dose. Let's do a little math, shall we?
One dose a month during the cold and flu season. November, December, January, February, March.. that's five months. Five doses.
5,800 x 5 = 29,000
Your husband tirelessly worked on finding some way to make this happen without financially drowning. With the help of the pediatrician's office, he found a program through the manufacturer that would send us the shot for free if you can prove you cannot afford it. After submitting paperwork and pay stubs and God knows what else, we are approved. Yay!
At Jack's last appointment, the nurse submitted the paperwork and request for his next dose which was due to happen today. Each dose has to happen within a certain time frame.
Jack and I got to the pediatrician's office and as always, he is hamming it up with all the ladies at the front desk. We get called back and then it starts... he is so adverse to nurses, doctors and doctor offices in general, it's honestly torture for the little guy. They took his sats, temp, weight and blood pressure. The practitioner comes in and checks his lungs, eyes, ears, mouth and belly.. all while Jack is screaming through his tears that he wants to go home. She assures me he looks and sounds well enough for his next dose and that the nurse will be in shortly.
As soon as I pull his shirt back on, the nurse pops back in and says, "I'm so sorry, but we don't have his synagis in the office. They never sent it, it looks like a problem with the insurance."
My heart drops. The tears start to well. Not again. Not this again.
I apologize for crying. The nurse apologizes profusely. I assure her it's not her fault. She tells me she will talk to the nurse in charge of booking these shots and that it will be figured out.
Jeremy called and talked to the nurse who got in touch with the program we have been going through. They received all of our paperwork the day of his last dose. Jack's pediatrician forgot to date next to his name, so they did not accept the request. They never reached out to the pediatrician's office to let them know. If they had, I have full confidence in the nursing staff that it would have been resolved and Jack would've had his dosage ready and waiting today.
A date. On a form. I can literally feel the heat in my face.. the anger and frustration just coming to a complete boil. My son's health, maybe even his life, being compromised over a missing date on a form. And I get it, a form wasn't filled out completely, but to just not inform anyone so that the problem could be rectified is inexcusable.. deplorable really. Because my son's health and well being means so little? How?
After all of this, the nurse resubmitted the paperwork and is expecting his dose to be in within 1 to 2 days. They will call us as soon as it comes in and we will take him right in.
My son's health depends on this shot. His little body and broken heart could not handle RSV. He needs this shot. Why does it have to be so impossible to just get him what he needs? There have been a couple times I've felt defeated..today was one of those days. Somedays the hoops are just hoops and they are easy to jump. Sometimes they are on fire; the flames are just too high to land on the other side unscathed.
This face. Those eyes. That little heart.
"Mama, go home?"
Rocking his scar.
