On Purpose

 

We were finally seen by an orthopedic doctor Friday: one week after Seth's accident on the one wheel. What a long week spent on the phone with those On Hold Recordings ("Your healthcare is our top priority!" = a big fat syrupy lie), insurance customer service reps, orthopedic schedulers and switchboard operators... You know that scene in The Princess Bride where the Count puts Westley on that machine and then calmly reports, "I've just sucked one year of your life away." I felt just like Westley felt too.  

I know now what took so long for Seth to be seen. Are you ready for it? The insurance company had Seth's birthdate wrong in their information. One little number--a 0 instead of a 9--meant the difference between an appointment early in the week and one on Friday. Yes, we still would have needed a referral and prior authorization, but No, it did not have to take so long except that things got hung up with that wrong birthdate. The authorization was sent over when the Primary Care doctor said it had been, but because of that 0 instead of a 9 it took days to figure out where it went. Thankfully at a crucial moment, the Lord brought to mind a conversation I had at the PCP visit, where the check-in lady mentioned that the insurance company had Seth's birthdate as 11/10 instead of 11/19. She had said, "You'll want to correct that with them." Two days later, on Thursday, which was day FOUR of trying to make an appointment, as I was speaking with the scheduler at Orthopedics, ready to pull my hair out because our authorization STILL had not been received, the Lord randomly replayed that comment in my mind. Of course! Each time the lady tried to look up our authorization, she had asked for Seth's birthdate. They look you up by your birthdate. Not your name. Your b-i-r-t-h-d-a-t-e.

She had been just about to hang up with me but I had that flash of memory and I said, "Before you go, would you mind just humoring me for a second? Could you try looking up 11-10 as his birthdate instead of 11-19? Just because I think it might be wrong with the insurance company." She tried it and breathed, "There it is! The authorization is right there! It was under the wrong birthdate!" I promised her up and down that I would call immediately after hanging up with her and get that birthdate changed with the insurance company if she would just make us an appointment please.

"I have one available for tomorrow," she said doubtfully, "but it's in Nocatee so that probably won't wo--" 

"I'll take it! At this point I'll drive to Mississippi if I have to! THANK YOU!!!"

During this incredibly long stressful week, I allowed myself to get frustrated by what I perceived as the inefficiencies of The System, by all the ways big bureaucracies have stuck their noses into places they have no business going. I chafed under the lack of common sense I met with at every turn and the helpless feeling of not being able to get an appointment when I knew we needed one. It was constant work to rehearse the truth that God was behind it all, working those situations out for His good purposes. Because He was! The fat-fingered birthdate entry was the human reason his appointment was delayed, but I think God had a bigger purpose. 

Seth had sprained his wrist in his fall last Friday and it just didn't seem to be making progress toward healing like a sprain should. It was still extremely painful and very swollen, especially around his thumb. I asked the orthopedic doctor if he could take a look at the ER xrays of that wrist, just to make sure it wasn't broken after all. He did review the films and everything looked fine, but he sat down with Seth and looked carefully at his hand, pressing on certain spots. 

"Does it hurt here?" No. "Here?" No. "Here?" The doctor pressed the base of Seth's thumb. "YEOW!" Seth almost jumped out of the chair. The doctor said that the films from the ER had concentrated on the wrist, but he wanted one that concentrated on the thumb/hand area. He sent the Xray lady in and 30 mins later, he came back in and said Seth's thumb was broken, and they would need to put a cast on his forearm and hand!

Do you see what happened there? The insurance company typed 0 when they should have typed 9. This caused a delay of at least 4 days being seen by a doctor. Four days where his "sprained wrist" just wasn't getting better, which caused me to wonder why it wasn't healing and ask about it at the Orthopedic doctor. Had we been seen four days earlier, I wouldn't have even thought to ask about his hand, because it would have been within the sphere of the normal pain and healing process. The hours I spent on the phone last week allowed Seth's broken thumb to be diagnosed and treated.  Had he not been treated for that broken thumb, the doctor said it would have healed in such a way that could restrict blood flow to the bone and cause other problems for Seth later in life. It was a mercy we were delayed being seen!

All in the providence of God. No mistakes. No secondary causes. All for God's glory and our good. When will I learn? :)