What does a Nazi and a code have to do with Jen’s medical condition? Read on to find out.
Frederich Wegener was a German pathologist who in 1936 and 1939 was the first person to give a full description of the disease that is now afflicting Jen. It came to be known as Wegener’s disease or Wegener’s granulomatosis. However, in 2006, two doctors investigating Wegener’s past, determined that at some point he was involved in the Nazi regime and was even wanted by Polish authorities for possible war crimes. Given his professional past, there has been a desire by the medical community to refer to this disease as P-Anca Vasculitis rather than attaching it to Wegener’s name. (Read more about Wegener in this 2008 New York Times article)
By faith, we have scheduled an infusion of Rituxan for Jennifer for this Thursday. I say “by faith” because we still have not been approved by our insurance to cover this treatment. This despite the fact that we have been waiting for 3 weeks for an approval that should probably take 3 days or even less.
So what is the holdup? A code. That’s right, a code. Not a Nazi code but a medical code. Somehow, the insurance company was given a code that represents Jen’s condition that is not accurate. The code is not correct for the diagnosis she has. So we’re scrambling this week to get the code corrected so that Jen can begin the infusions to treat her disease.
While it all seems like a simple thing to correct, somehow when dealing with insurance companies and approvals such as these, nothing is quite as simple as it would seem it should be.
So we ask for your prayers this week. Pray that we would get the approval for the infusion BEFORE Jen gets the infusion. Pray that we would be able to get our doctor and the insurance company to communicate the right information with one another in an expeditious fashion. And lastly, pray that these infusions (she’ll need one per week for four weeks) will put the vasculitis into remission and that Jen will be on the road to managing this disease.
Thanks so much for your continued prayers. We are grateful for your love and support.
Please let us know how you are doing and if there is any way we can pray for you as well.
God Bless!
Dave & Jen
The Lowedown 