Way to Go

So, I just got back from my pelvic exam. I can't really call it an "annual exam" because it's been, like, 4 years since I got one.

Anyway, except for waiting for an hour for a 15-minute exam, it went fine.

The painful part came as I was leaving and getting ready to pay. I assumed I would pay the cost of a normal office visit co-pay: 15 or 20 dollars. When I got to the window, the person informed me that my insurance doesn't cover annual exams for the cost of the co-pay; I have to do the 80/20 thing instead. Twenty percent of my exam came to almost 40 dollars, at least twice what I was expecting to pay.

Way to go, lame insurance company! Way to encourage preventative medicine.

Though my previous job was lacking in many respects (many, many respects), the insurance plan was pretty good. I didn't really realize how good it was until I've had to spend time dealing with other insurance plans.

Ah, insurance sucks anyway. When Obama becomes president, we won't have to deal with the blood-sucking insurance industry anym-- oh, wait...

Status Quo: Maintained

As for the DH's health issues, he went to the doctor last week and the prognosis is, if not good, at least not bad.

Some of the DH's tests came back negative for liver or kidney cancer. The doc also said his prostate seemed normal. That's the good news.

The not-so-good news is that there is still no word on the cancer it was most likely to be if it was cancer at all: bladder cancer.

The DH said the doc told him it was highly unlikely to be bladder cancer: he's too young and doesn't have any other risk factors, except smoking, which apparently is a big one. Largely because the DH smoked in the past and occasionally smokes now is a large part of the reason they are going to go ahead and look around the ol' bladder in a week or so.

If it's not the big C, the doc seemed at a loss for what it could be. Probably prostate issues, but who knows?

So, I remain vaguely uneasy while sort of reassured and cautiously optimistic but still nervous.