Just Another Day in Paradise - Part 1
I get a phone call from my son last night at about 9:00. He's calling me from the police station. He's been arrested for underage drinking, underage possession of alcohol, and possession of drug paraphenalia (marijuana pipe). Apparently, he decided that it was a good idea to sit in one of the pavilions in a public park and drink and get high. For some reason, no one that he was with was arrested. Maybe because the stuff was in his car.
He tells me that I can pick him up in about 30 minutes from the juvenile detention center. I get there and it's much longer than 30 minutes. Nothing like seeing your child brought in wearing handcuffs. I fill out the paperwork and we meet with the juvenile officer. She's going to send him to court and she wants him in a substance abuse program. They give him a drug test there and he tests positive for marijuana and opiates (Oxycontin????). They have people from Bradford come out and evaluate him and they agree that he should be admitted that night. After much drama, angst, and tears, he voluntarily agrees to go. By this time, it's 1:00 am. They let me take him to Bradford myself, as I need to make a quick stop to pick him up some shower, shampoo, deodorant, etc. By the time we finish filling out the paperwork at Bradford, it's 3:00 am.
When they arrested him, they didn't impound his car, but it was still sitting in the park. The park was about 3 miles from our house. I got home about 4:00 am and thought about walking to go get it, but decided to call a cab instead. I finally manage to lay down at 5:00 am for about 3 hours.
I take some clothes and his prescription medication to Bradford before I go in to work. My friends at work that I've told ask me why I came in at all. Well, in the first place, sitting at home by myself worrying didn't look too appealing to me and secondly, the insane work deadlines aren't going away. The combination of lack of sleep, stress, and worrying has caused me to cry several times at work.
The thing that may have broken me is to get a call from Bradford at 4:00 pm. that my insurance won't pay for treatment. None of the options that they gave me were going to work, IMO: 1) pay 1/2 today and 1/2 within 5 days of the total payment ($9,000), 2) fill out a credit application to finance my son's stay (probably not going to work considering how hard it was for me to finally get the truck loan), or 3) wait 3-6 weeks to get him in a state program. And, BTW, they need an answer by noon Friday. I go to see our HR person in tears to try and figure out what to do. She gives me some phone numbers to call. Those phone numbers lead to other phone numbers, but I finally talk to someone who can access the notes for Bradford's inquiry today. The BC/BS guy is telling me that the insurance will pay 100% for 30 days for in-network inpatient treatment and 70% (with a $500 deductible) for out of network treatment. Bradford apparently asked about coverage for residential treatment, which BC/BS defines as going for treatment 8 hours/day and then going home. What BC/BS will cover is inpatient care, which is what I thought Bradford was. Of course, by the time I get this information, the people that I need to talk to at Bradford are gone for the day.
Someone at work just told me to go home and get some rest. That sounds good in theory, but I'm pretty sure that I won't even be able to sleep, no matter how tired I am. I'm a compulsive worrier.
He tells me that I can pick him up in about 30 minutes from the juvenile detention center. I get there and it's much longer than 30 minutes. Nothing like seeing your child brought in wearing handcuffs. I fill out the paperwork and we meet with the juvenile officer. She's going to send him to court and she wants him in a substance abuse program. They give him a drug test there and he tests positive for marijuana and opiates (Oxycontin????). They have people from Bradford come out and evaluate him and they agree that he should be admitted that night. After much drama, angst, and tears, he voluntarily agrees to go. By this time, it's 1:00 am. They let me take him to Bradford myself, as I need to make a quick stop to pick him up some shower, shampoo, deodorant, etc. By the time we finish filling out the paperwork at Bradford, it's 3:00 am.
When they arrested him, they didn't impound his car, but it was still sitting in the park. The park was about 3 miles from our house. I got home about 4:00 am and thought about walking to go get it, but decided to call a cab instead. I finally manage to lay down at 5:00 am for about 3 hours.
I take some clothes and his prescription medication to Bradford before I go in to work. My friends at work that I've told ask me why I came in at all. Well, in the first place, sitting at home by myself worrying didn't look too appealing to me and secondly, the insane work deadlines aren't going away. The combination of lack of sleep, stress, and worrying has caused me to cry several times at work.
The thing that may have broken me is to get a call from Bradford at 4:00 pm. that my insurance won't pay for treatment. None of the options that they gave me were going to work, IMO: 1) pay 1/2 today and 1/2 within 5 days of the total payment ($9,000), 2) fill out a credit application to finance my son's stay (probably not going to work considering how hard it was for me to finally get the truck loan), or 3) wait 3-6 weeks to get him in a state program. And, BTW, they need an answer by noon Friday. I go to see our HR person in tears to try and figure out what to do. She gives me some phone numbers to call. Those phone numbers lead to other phone numbers, but I finally talk to someone who can access the notes for Bradford's inquiry today. The BC/BS guy is telling me that the insurance will pay 100% for 30 days for in-network inpatient treatment and 70% (with a $500 deductible) for out of network treatment. Bradford apparently asked about coverage for residential treatment, which BC/BS defines as going for treatment 8 hours/day and then going home. What BC/BS will cover is inpatient care, which is what I thought Bradford was. Of course, by the time I get this information, the people that I need to talk to at Bradford are gone for the day.
Someone at work just told me to go home and get some rest. That sounds good in theory, but I'm pretty sure that I won't even be able to sleep, no matter how tired I am. I'm a compulsive worrier.
posted by Enigmatics @ 9:39 PM
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