November 09, 2009

Some lymphedema improvement

My hand continues to improve somewhat. I have been sleeping without bandaging for about a week. Today I have been able to be without the glove until now, about 3 PM. I also saw the oncologist hits morning and he asked about the lymphedema. He thinks that the improvement in the lymphedema is my cancer not being as active. Huh.

I called the compression garment provider, Mary Catherine's and Daughters, to see if they had a second over-the-counter glove for me. (In May, they forgot to tell me the second glove had arrived and the owner brought it to me while I was in the hospital.) It turns out that they only order a certain number of garments in any given week, and so my sleeves and second glove will likely not arrive until the end of the week of Thanksgiving. I don't know why they have this policy, especially since my insurance company has already authorized payment for the garments. So I have another few weeks to wear the old sleeves and hope they are giving me enough compression. At least they told me they have already ordered the garments. Granted, the sleeves are custom made in Germany, so I knew it would take a few weeks, but the glove? It's an OTC item.

If I hadn't already given them my business, I might be tempted to go to another provider. But at this point it would be more effort to cancel the authorization request and get a new one for a different provider. But I am not impressed with this kind of customer service.

2 comments:

  1. I hope that you made that clear to them, as well. Really, that is horrifying, esp. given the problems that some people have with lymphodema. It's like making someone wait for a bandaid when they're bleeding.

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  2. I'm glad your lymphedema is doing better!! I'm surprised you have to get your gloves made in Germany! I was lucky; we have a company locally, measured me at an office on the hospital campus. I have a bright pink one and a flesh colored one.

    So glad your hand/arm is doing better! That was one of my biggest fears and something I probably pitched the biggest hissy fits about.

    Thanks for blogging!!

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