Did you get your MRI? It sounds like things are progressing nicely for you. I just had my 2nd hearing on Nov. 3rd & I think it went well. Looking at my denial letter from the April hearing, things that were focused on were 1) I do laundry 2) I food shop 3) I drive my daughter to school. When I went back this time I brought with me a page I made in Word, explaining my laundry area showing I have a "dirty clothes" basket on a chair, so that I do not have to bend. I also highlighted the dryer which is set up on a base so that I do not have to bend. On top of the dryer is the clean clothes basket- clothes get folded & go straight into it. To the right of the dryer are hangers, any shirts coming out of the dryer get hung. If you food shop, be sure to note if your food shopping consists of picking up 2 or 3 bags worth of groceries to get you by till someone can go with you. Also note that if you do food shop, how often you go (me- every 10 to 14 days). If you food shop & get employees to load soda or heavy items in your cart, or if they unload your cart into your car for you. At this hearing I also made sure they knew that it was incorrectly noted that I drive my daughter to school & that I drive her to the bus stop which is around the corner. Your symptoms mimic mine. I've got a computer desk, my monitor is to the left, a wireless keyboard & mouse. If you can picture this, I have 2 chairs in front of the desk, 1 my high back computer chair, the other a fold up chair I keep my feet on. A heating pad is on the computer chair. I get up, turn on the heat, then sit down & put my feet up. My keyboard is on my lap. I'll sit here for close to 2 hours before I'm able to get up & do anything. The heating pad has been a life-saver. Where are your spasms? What are you doing for them? I've found that the heat plus trigger points helped with those. I used to be really bad, so much so that my legs would shake like jello. I keep crutches just in case. We found out by accident after I had a discography (5 needles) that showed no results (Dr did it wrong) I was in worse shape due to him hitting a nerve. My neuro prescribed methylprednisolen dose pak, let me tell you, that was the thing that stopped the bad spasms. It was like this magic pill, after that, going back for trigger points every 4 months or so instead of every month. I'm also taking Zanaflex at night with Skelaxin as needed during the day. If you want to email me from my member page, let me know where your pain is. If it is lower back, down to the toes like me I've got some great photos I found on the web that I put into a word file detailing my treatment, medications (current & tried) as well as a description of my pain along with the photographs which I edited to show exactly where my pain is. I just uploaded 2 of my edited pics- & . I've also got some muscle views, side spine views. If you notice, each pic has different color pain lines- they each mean something different like stabbing, shooting pain, numbness, etc. Took me about a week to find the various pics, it was not easy. Good luck

I have not only ours, but have been over the years caregiver for both my mother and aunt. I'd highly recommend keeping them for at least several years. Just about a week ago, I got an EOB from her supplemental for Aunt (who died in Jan) for a service that was performed in Dec. Reasons you need to keep them for a while: not all facilities bill promptly--you often need to go 6 months back to make sure benefits are coordinating properly; if you end up in an estate situation, you sometimes need those records; often you think a bill is taken care of, an the facility thinks it's NOT*; also, aside from the financial aspects, those are a great addition to your health record (what year was it I had my appendectomy?)--everything is on them, and you can refer to them. There's also the tax stituation--you need to be able to verify your health deductions--what you paid, what was paid for you, etc. *We've had a problem with this just recently. I was in the ER last August, DH paid the bill IN FULL, IN CASH and got a Paid in full receipt the beginning of SEPT (2011). We've been billed at least 5 times since for a portion of that bill. Each time we've addressed the issue, sending proof we paid it--and been told the matter was cleared off our account. And just a few weeks ago, I got a letter saying they would be turning the matter over to collections--I have been told one more time that our account is cleared. The gal I spoke to seemed surprised that I wanted written proof (????????) I got a printout of the account with a 0 balance, but I'm not wholely convinced yet.... I cannot tell you how many times, for one reason or another, I've had to refer back to those records years later. I'd hang on to them--neatly organized, of course.

For the first time in my life, we both got huge boxes from Aetna filled to the brim with pharmaceuticals. We are on my retired husband's state plan and have no option except to chose Aetna. I stashed it all in my medicine chest and most will be very handy. I do like the masks they provided except I don't like to be a walking advertisement for Aetna.

Jill302, thank you for that link. It sure looks like the person my DH spoke to was wrong. That makes more sense and makes the choice easier for me. Oakley, BCBS is the provider for the plans I can get that offer some out of network coverage, but it's 30-50% and would apply to everyone I would see at home other than my PCP and in-patient care at one hospital. None of my generic medications would be covered, and for all of that I would be paying hundreds of dollars more each month -- just to not risk being drained or bankrupt by an out of state and out of network medical surprise. I have been covered by BCBS many times, including most recently. I would have stayed with them if they offered individual coverage that would equal my group coverage -- even at the COBRA rates, it would have been a viable option. The plans they do offer individuals don't work for me.