Why now???

[figmo]

I was doing my KLIV shift this morning. My usual editor was on vacation, and the fill-in editor wasn't scheduled to show up till 8am. It was 7:51am, and I was rushing from the newsroom to the on-air studio to be there in time for my 7:52 newscast when I tripped and fell, landing face-first into a file cabinet drawer. Not having time to react to the pain, thinking "I must get up right away and do my newscast," I scraped myself up and started the newscast, noting that my mouth felt a little weird. "Good morning, you're lithening to fiftheen-ninedy, K-L-I-V, Thilicon Valley'th Newth Thtathun...." WTF?????!? I don't normally lisp, but suddenly I was unable to form words properly.

I struggled through the newscast, started the Economy Report for that hour, then looked down and noticed I was dripping blood. DOUBLE-WTF?????!? After the newscast I walked to the bathroom and noticed a 2in long gash straight across my chin. I opened my mouth and noticed three of my lower teeth had pushed back nearly half an inch backwards into my mouth. No wonder I could hardly talk! As soon as Luke, the editor, was able to, I had him take over the on-air duties and rushed myself to El Camino Hospital.

The diagnosis: The gash in my chin, luckily, didn't go all the way through to the inside of my mouth, but I had a few cuts inside there anyway. The physicians' assistant on duty managed to get the on-call plastic surgeon to come in and do my mouth. I now have 36 stitches. Next, they had a trauma dentist. He was able to move my teeth closer to their correct positions and then glued on supports similar to what they used to call "invisible" braces. The good news: My teeth weren't broken at the roots. The bad news: I appear to have broken my jaw. It's a greenstick fracture, but I am under doctors orders to use my lower jaw as little as possible for the next week.

Warren is taking a test that started at 3pm, so I was careful not to call him (as if I could!). Instead, I called dimakoi and got her to pick me up. Somehow Warren had figured out that I'd fallen at the station and had managed to drive myself to the hospital. Still, I'm glad he didn't know so he couldn't worry about me ("broken jaw" sounds pretty effing nasty, right?). She took me to the drug store, and they were told my health care coverage had expired on the 31st of last month. TRIPLE-WTF?????!? The folks from the health plan won't be in till Monday, so I can't take care of business till then.

Meanwhile, if there's anything I can do to make the healing go faster, suggestions are welcome! I do not want to have to do a "proxy" concert at Denvention!

Comments

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Worker's compensation will allegedly cover everything but the plastic surgeon.

If there's any way I can sing at the con, I will, even if it means sucking down lots of pain killers. You won't get to see the stitches at the con because I'm scheduling my flight for Wednesday so the plastic surgeon can remove them (it's the soonest he feels safe doing so).

[danceswithlife]

Hm. Workers' comp should probably pick up the prescription as well, but you might have to go to the pharmacy your w.c. carrier recognizes.

Piece of advice...if this is billable to W.C (and all of it should be! They can't correct cuts in the mouth without a plastic surgeon, or deep cuts such as the chin), then don't confuse the issue by billing your health carrier. If you do, you will be unraveling it for months. Your employer should fill out a first report of injury (a special form required by the state), and you should carry a copy to any physician you go to--check with them first to make sure they accept workers' comp. Not all doctor do, nor are they required to. Your emergency care is covered, and the hospital should bill the W.C. carrier for you. You may be required to go to the doctors your employer has selected for non-emergency care for the first 30 days. If you ignore that, again, you will be unraveling it for months, and may have to pay stuff out of your pocket (your health carrier *will not* cover this AT ALL since it is work related. Don't even bill them. They will either deny the claims or request any money they pay back from the doctors). Email me if I can answer any more questions for you, Lynn. lolamccrary at yahoo dot com. I know this isn't a time you want to deal with this shit, but please take seriously the fact that not doing so could have bad financial repercussions for you.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Thank you soooo much for pointing this out!!!

The plastic surgeon refused to deal with workers' comp claims, so I had to sign a form saying I knew that.

As for the rest, it's on my List Of Things To Do for Monday when the billing dept. is open. Dealing with them when I can barely talk will be a challenge. If there's a way I can do it in email it'd be preferable. As it is I'm going to have fun and games explaining why I need my 17-inch PowerBook at work tomorrow (I've been using a full screen set to 48pt font to communicate with Warren).

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

Get another plastic surgeon.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Um, it's a little late, as he already stitched up my face.