I rolled out of bed this morning and immediately launched myself into chores. Got some laundry going, got all my head scarves ironed and put away, washed some dishes… Now it’s time for a bit of breakfast and then a shower, then it’s back to folding laundry and some other household oddments until I have to leave for my appointment with Dr. Santiago this afternoon. I contacted the insurance company yesterday and was told through a chat that no authorization request for my Blincyto treatment had been received. I did a screen grab of the chat window, which included an insurance company phone number, and sent it to my doc via text. So far there’s been nothing but crickets but I’ll talk to him today about it and see what the issue is. He probably isn’t even aware of the problem but I’ve a feeling that he will NOT be happy about it. This is nuts. My chemo cycles two years ago ran like clockwork in comparison to this bloody nightmare. I still blame United Healthcare but I’m beginning to suspect that something may be up with the lines of communication within the Texas Oncology office, and possibly even with Dr. Santiago himself. I adore him but since my appointment with Dr. Bachiere (who was crystal-clear in all of his explanations), I’ve noticed a marked difference between the two doctors’ styles of communication. Whereas Dr. Santiago can sometimes get a bit lost in tangiential explanations, Dr. Bachiere is almost laser-focused on the topic of discussion and there is NO waffling. It may simply be that Dr. Bachiere’s grasp of English is more thorough, even though both doctors arrived in the US from Puerto Rico at roughly the same time. Dunno. It’s a mystery.

So, I have NEWS. Providing what I was told today is correct, and providing all the planets are in alignment, I *should* be going in to the hospital on the 26th for the start of my Blincyto treatment. Yeah, I know… I’m not holding my breath either. Still, Dr. Santiago’s nurse said that the authorization came through, which is something. I suppose the last remaining hurdle now is finding room for me in the Oncology unit. Maybe now I’ll be able to sleep through the night without awakening at 3am to worry about stuff that’s out of my control anyway. Oy.