Happy Birthday, Terri!

Geni (the genealogy program) sent a reminder that Terri McBride turns 43 today. I called and wished her a happy birthday. She was out with some friends for coffee this morning and was going out this evening for dinner with friends to celebrate her birthday and as a going away party for one of the guys who is being deployed.

We went to Joe Saltel's dance this morning. Bob Reece was there, but Doris was home, still not up to dancing and feeling pretty rough with her back pain. Bob suggested that he and I could go through the C-1 lessons together, and Ken and Doris could keep each other company and watch.

I finally made it to the produce sale that is held every Tuesday afternoon at the clubhouse. I got a big bunch of broccoli, a cored pineapple, some grapefruit and oranges, and some apples. All of them looked really good and fresh.

When I got back from my walk, Ken had received a call from the doctor's office saying there was a hold-up in getting authorization from the insurance company. Ken spent the next few hours talking with people at the doctor's office, the hospital, and the insurance company. Finally it was agreed that the surgery would be postponed until Thursday, when Dr. Six fortunately had a cancellation. We thought that the approval would be routine and would come through tomorrow, but later Ken got a voicemail from the insurance company saying that the request had been denied. They always reject the Dynesys procedure as investigational, but indicated that a decompression and fusion would be approved, and that Ken had a right to appeal. So now we're waiting to talk with Dr. Six tomorrow to see what's next.

It is especially frustrating to run into this last-minute problem, since we asked Dr. Six's billing department to verify that the surgery would be approved the first time we met with him a month ago. Ken called too, and was assured that all would be well. Ken had some suspicion that the Dynesys procedure might be rejected since it is described as experimental in the US, although several European countries approve it.

Gary and Mary Ann came over this evening to play some Golf. They brought Ken some chocolates to cheer him up in the hospital. Gary has had back surgery, so they know something of what Ken might be going through.