Springtime Held Hostage

I think that winter is holding spring hostage. Someone needs to play the ransom.

Although I noticed daffodils and crocus in bloom today--temperatures in the 30's and 40's do not make for inviting springtime activities.

Some of the trees are beginning to break into leaf buds, yet there is still the threat of snow in the forecast. Last year the high temperature on March 22nd was 76 degrees. Today's high is expected to be 50 degrees. Yesterday it was 48 degrees but it felt much colder and as I write this my thermometer is showing 26 degrees.

I am getting ready for baseball practice and may need to wear a parka! I'm gonna freeze out there as the assistant coach for a Jax's t-ball team. Although I do normally wear a glove I wonder if you can play baseball while wearing mittens.

I keep looking for signs of revival and green. There is precious little green yet.

I believe that when spring actually arrives, it is going to be fantastic. But, I could really use an 80 degree day--right now! I keep thinking that I was supposed to be in Sarasota, Florida, this weekend but plans changed. It is supposed to be 80 degrees there on Saturday.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Prescription Wars

Coming to a pharmacy near you is the latest assault on our healthcare system.

I am on a couple of maintenance medicines, which I have been on now for over 15-20 years. Due to recent changes in the healthcare system I have encountered problems when attempting to refill existing prescriptions for two of my medicines.

Overnight, it seems, the insurance company has deemed that the prescriptions needed pre-authorization. This means paperwork and delays in refilling prescriptions that my doctors deem necessary for my health and well-being.  That translates into frustration, and right now, being out of one medicine waiting for the process to complete.

In both cases my insurance company determined that the medicines that I have been taking for over a decade are no longer covered and that in their estimation, not my doctor's recommendation, I had to try a different formulations before the medicines which have been working so well for almost two decades could be approved.

I have questions!

Why did this all have to wait until I needed a refill before it was made known to me? Surprise!

Why didn't my insurance company notify me before it became a personal crisis that the medicines needed to be "preauthorized?"

How can something that I have been taking for almost 20 years be "preauthorized?" Time travel?

Why has it taken over two full weeks to resolve this situation and I still do not have the medicine? Recognizing that I began the process which what I thought was a valid refill which can only be refilled within seven days of running out.

Why does the insurance company believe that they are more familiar with my medical situation than the doctor I have been seeing for 15 years?

Why did this become "MY" problem to resolve? It has taken an appointment with my doctor, multiple calls to the insurance company and multiple visits to the pharmacy to get resolution even though I do not have the medicine in hand. I'm told by the pharmacy that it is on order. My insurance company has decided upon something so obscure that the pharmacy doesn't stock it!

Is this Obama-care? Everyone has healthcare but no one has health care from medical professionals? Insurance companies determine the level of care. Does the emperor have any clothes?

The story of my second medicine is not nearly so dramatic. The insurance company denied my claim despite documentation from my physician and so I am paying for it out of pocket rather than use the approved substitute.

At some point I am going to try to package this situation for my Representative and Senators in Congress so that they can hear first-hand the impact of their decisions.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Under the Jeep in the Driveway

As I arrived home last evening from a hard fought racquetball match what did I find in my drive? Jeremy under his Jeep attaching running boards he bought off Craigslist. I almost didn't see my son prostrate under his vehicle as I started backing into the drive. He never works on his vehicle alone--until tonight. And he was doing a great job.

That he was nearly done was the miraculous part. That there was a crisis associated with the relatively minor project was operations normal. The guy at Home Depot had sold him the wrong bolts--SAE instead of metric, and they did not fit. Always something it seems with every project.

Lucas was in the house with Chris who was fixing stir fry for dinner wondering when we would be in to eat the fantastic dinner she had created, while Jeremy and I were out in the cooling evening temperatures with our hands getting increasingly numb.

After wolfing down dinner and sloshing through a glass of a really nice merlot, we were off to Lowe's to get the right bolts.

Upon returning, the bolts were installed in less than 10 minutes and the project was completed.

Why does every project never go as smoothly as it should? I guess that is just the price I pay for being a "do it yourselfer."

It keeps every project interesting and makes me question the cost-benefit of doing it myself or hiring someone. Thank goodness I hired professionals to do the roof.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Zillbilly Losing Battle to Cancer

One of the fixtures at Orioles games for the past 17 season has been an usher in one of the sections on the club level who dresses in county (or hillbilly) garb with a fiddle and plays along with the seventh inning stretch music. I myself, have enjoyed watching his antics as he incites the crowd and creates joy among those in attendance at the games. He always seemed to be there leading the section in singing along to the song--Thank God I'm a Country Boy by John Denver.

Kevin Cowherd writing in the Baltimore Sun reported yesterday that his run is all but over. The usher, Charlie Zill, has stage four lung cancer. His days as an usher are over and his hope now is to see one or two more Orioles games in person as a spectator. He is hoping for a miracle as, according to the article, he was just evaluated for hospice.

I have never met Charlie in person, but I, like many thousands of others, have smiled and enjoyed his enthusiasm for life and baseball. They have dubbed his dance the Zillbilly and it was shown on the big screen at the games along with the crowd.

I know that during the seventh inning stretch I will always look to the section where he stood and remember him and his Zillbilly dance. And I will especially remember his final performance during the last playoff game against the Yankees where he willed himself to be Zillbilly, one last time, knowing that it might be his final performance. I was there, unaware of the battle with cancer that he was losing--and he knew it, as he led the sold out crowd in a most magical evening.

I pray that Charlie gets his miracle.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - March 18, 2013

1. Having a doctor's appointment at 8AM on a Monday morning does not represent the best way to start off a busy week.

2. It is not that a person is as bad as they could be, it is that they are never a good as they could be.  - J.I. Packer

3. Heard in church yesterday: We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.

4. March madness is upon us! It has overtaken us already. Which team will win it all?

5. It is time to tune-up the mower for another year of fun and dust in the yard.

6. Why does 34 degrees this morning seem so much colder than 34 degrees felt a month ago?

7. Spring officially starts this week--I sure hope the temperatures start to improve soon or Orioles Opening Day is going to be cold.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Misuse of Animals

People sometimes just do dumb things.

Shark in Swimming Pool in California

I was saddened this week as I read the account of the shark which was flown from NY to LA for a commercial shoot. The article Kmart Shark Dies After Being Placed Into LA Pool for Commercial details the event.

Why ship a shark across the country for a commercial? Even better--why is a shark being used in a commercial for a retail store? Despite the safety assurances, shipping a shark has to be a very stressful event for the shark. Not to mention the expense to the company.

The whole incident just doesn't make the common sense threshold.

And on top of the loss of the shark a report about the incident in the LA Times states: "When the animal died, Kmart asked that a second shark be brought on set, but the production company refused and replaced the animal with an animatronic hippopotamus, Gallucci alleged in her letter."

"Perhaps more maddening is that white-tip sharks are on the list of threatened species due to a decline in population following the popularity of shark fin soup, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)." reports Ecorazzi. 

This whole incident just does not make any sense to me on any level.

I'm going to boycott Kmart for a while, because they need to get their ecological priorities straight. This incident demonstrates a lack of awareness and concern for threatened marine wildlife and the environment. They should have donated the money used for this commercial to a charitable foundation rather than killing one and possibly another shark before someone with common sense stepped into the situation.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Traffic Reflections

Every so often, I am reminded about how the joy of driving a nice car on a fast highway, like I see in the commercials, is not my usual driving experience.

I tend to wind up driving bumper to bumper lurching along on a rain swept highway at speeds below a slow jog turning a normal fifteen minute trip into an hour.

Why is it that rain makes the traffic snarl?

IMPORTANT DRIVING TIP: The lever on the left side of the steering wheel is designed to let other drivers know what is being planned BEFORE executing the maneuver. I just appreciate other drivers who crash (almost literally) across three lanes of traffic to get onto and off ramp they almost missed without regard for traffic around them or even thinking about a turn signal.

I saw a deer standing beside a particularly dark section of highway yesterday morning. I wonder . . .

I have been seeing more vehicles on the highway with unrepaired damage. Do they have insurance?

Driving should be a pleasure, not a chore.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

I have heard the saying that "no good deed goes unpunished" for many years. In fact, upon doing a little research the statement is attributed to Oscar Wilde. In my work worklife sometimes it seems to be the reality.  In my private life though, not so much--until yesterday.

How can two minutes doing a good deed turn into a fifteen minute delay? Fairly easily, as it turns out.

Heading out the door to take Makayla to the vet for her annual teeth cleaning I was asked to take a pie to the car to celebrate Pi-day. My hands were full and so I needed to make two trips. One trip for the pie and one for Makayla and her stuff.

That 2 minute delay leaving the house did not seem like a lot of time, but upon arriving at the vet to drop Makayla off another person with two dogs walked in just before me--maybe 30 seconds ahead of me. No bid deal, I was wrong!

Fifteen minutes later, the man was done checking his dogs into the vet for their procedures. It took less than 5 minutes to check Makayla in for her dental cleaning.

Ugh.

As the clock ticked and my blood pressure climbed I was in awe of how slow the checkin procedure was and how the man with the dogs found new and creative ways to lengthen the process.

The maxim about no good deed going unpunished was confirmed. Two minutes doing a good deed became a fifteen minute delay.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Pope for the World

I have been watching, fascinated again, as the Catholics select Pope.

It is a spectacle, complete with the Swiss Guards in full medieval regalia parading through the square.

I waited for the smoke to show like so many others looking at the most watched chimney in the world. I was also amused by the seagull perched in the chimney almost as if waiting for the smoke like the rest of us.

It is an exciting time. A rebirth of sorts--especially with the selection of the first Pope from the Americas. The transition of power--orderly and peaceful with reverence is a template for nations to emulate. I would not want 115 old men selecting the next leader for the U.S., but with that significant exception the selection of the Pope is a model process.

I watched the television to get the first glimpse of the leader of the Catholics. He is not my Pope, but still, I am interested in the process and the changes which will ultimately occur as the new leader takes control. I has been an interesting diversion from the murder-of-the-day news.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Governments and Furloughs

I read yesterday that Department of Defense employees will be receiving notices of impending furloughs as early as this Friday. I also read that the Senate has decided that Federal workers will not receive raises this year, for the third consecutive year.

I have lost about 5 percent of my income against inflation without the raises during the past three years, on top of that Maryland and federal taxes continue to increase as do healthcare and utility bills. I am losing money working.

And now, as a reward for my faithfulness, the DoD has decided to take another 20 percent of my pay for the rest of the fiscal year though furloughs. What a sweet deal!

What is wrong with this picture?

Under my healthcare plan,  some of my prescriptions are no longer considered necessary--and are therefore not covered. I love finding out about that when I go in for a refill and there isn't time to get a different prescription before running out. Oh, andI love it best when it is now "my" problem to solve even though "they" changed the rules and didn't have the courtesy to tell me.

Is the news getting any better? I think not. I am afraid to do my taxes for last year because I know I am going to have to pay the increases that Maryland levied mid-year that were not prorated. Politicians just don't get it.

Ok, so this is a rant. Maybe someone in high places will listen if we start talking about the insanity of it all.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD