Communication Problems

Some day they will find a surgery that will correct the problem.

 I called a medical place that I buy supplies from on the wrong day. There are all kinds of doctors, foot doctor, head doctor, eye doctor, etc. My sleep doctor thought I should have a new mask for my C-pap. So I waited a couple days and called the medical supply place. 
The phone rang a hundred times, and finally Ms Sorehead came on, a real living human being. She was not happy, not happy at all. 
I told her my doctor wanted me to have a different C-pap and my question is, “Will Medicare pay for it, since I just got one in April?” She said, “No, they only pay for one every ten years.”  “TEN YEARS?” I screeched. It’s getting late in the day and I may be dead in ten years. I was thinking that maybe they could forward it to me. I kept that thought to myself because I can tell you, without fear of contradiction, Ms Sorehead was not finding me very humorous.  


I said that I didn’t want the whole operation, I just want the mask. “Well, that is different.” She roared.”  “Yes, they will pay for a mask.” Then I asked, with a trembling voice, if the Dr had called the order in yet. “No, they have not.” She said. So I said, “Goodbye.”
The next day, I drove over there to pick it up. This time a young man helped me.  He offered me a chair behind the desk with him. Wasn’t that sweet of him. Truth is the place is such a zoo, there was no place in front of the desk unless I wanted to sit on the counter.  He put everything into the computer, and got the mask. While we were discussing it, I thought I should make sure Medicare was going to pay for it.  He said, “No, you got the last one in April, and they only pay for a new one in six months.”  I would need to wait until October.  I thought to myself, how much can a little plastic cost, I will just buy it. So I asked him how much it would cost. He said, “ around 200 dollars.” I will wait until October. I didn’t tell him that Ms Sorehead had told me Medicare would pay for it. 
If anyone wears a C-Pap for sleep apnea, you may not have heard this. I have been on one for a few years, and had never been told that the section that, fits over your nose needs to be replaced every month or two, depending on which type you have because they start leaking. I found out the one I am using can be replaced twice a month. The mask always works great when I first get a new one, and then they start leaking after about a month, and it keeps me awake. So I got the new nose section and it was wonderful. They had told me about the filters that need to be replaced and always ask if I need more, but nobody had ever mentioned the nose section needing to be replaced.