Mission Medicare posted 3/8/2007 6:37:28 PM | 1 kudo what's this?     report abuse tagged: family, dad, dads, health

fuchia04

My dad is actually not doing the best.:( Last week he could barely get out of bed. The weakness and pain in his legs seem to be getting worse. However, seeing my Aunt P (who is two years older than her brother) zip around the house in relatively good fashion, makes me think strongly that my father is a bit too young to be having these problems. It's hard to believe (and a bit frustrating) that it would be so difficult for doctors to pinpoint what the problem is. It turns out, it is likely NOT related to the diabetes.

My Aunt P left yesterday, by the way, and I guess you could say the visit went great. Her reason for coming down was obviously not just to catch up on old times, however (although that did happen). It seems something I mentioned in an e-mail to one other family member ignited a rash of family concern, which apparently resulted in my dad's sister being sent down, on a mission of sorts, to ease the minds of concerned family members. And, by now, I presume my Aunt P is “reporting” back to family with the findings she gathered from her 'expedition'.

From the moment she stepped off the plane, she was ready to get down to business – and that business was, of course, to see what was ailing Dad and to see to it that it got taken care of immediately.

Sounding like a cross between a drill sergeant doling out some tough love, and a caring sister, Aunt P laid out the agenda for Dad, for that day and that week, and told him what he needed to do. And although he wasn't feeling too good, he was surprisingly cooperative, only saying “yes” like an obedient child, to his sister, as she spoke. Of course, even on his best day (or for that matter his worst of days), I've never before, in any point in my life, seen this 6 foot 7 inch mountain, that I call my father, so willingly submit to anyone like this. It was a sight to behold.

She managed to get a lot done for him. I was impressed. During the week she was here, he went from having no medical insurance coverage whatsoever, to having it and making his first visit to a doctor - before she left. During this time, Dad was signed up for Medicare Part B (which, by the way, involved, having to drive to Dad's old work to get a letter verifying he had medical coverage, along with two trips to the Social Security office and one more to the Dept of Children & families to get other needed forms). And he has been scheduled for some more doctor's appointments in the coming weeks.

We're still trying to get Dad signed up for Medicare part D, but we could run into a snag or two with that, as his bank account is rather too large to allow him to qualify. However, I happened to speak to my friend Jill, this morning, who happened to mention a no-cost insurance program for residents that he could maybe sign up for, which would possibly pay for his medication, so I'll have to look into that.

Of course, my Aunt P said she would be calling to check up on us to make sure Dad is following through with all the doctor's appointments and taking the medications and doing this and that and whatever else and and...

Well, of course, we promised we'd make sure everything got done the way it was 'sposed to. lol...And I guess we had better! She said she'd send in "the other girls" if we didn't... lol. I suppose that means my concerned sisters in Texas and Ohio..;)

- the Fuchian

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