Update on Things

Awhile back I went public with just some of the daily nonsense we deal with trying to get things resolved. I specifically wrote about the most recent issue with NELNET regarding Sandi’s student loans as well as a separate issue with a collection agency doing business as SYNERPRISE CONSULTING. That post is here if you want to take a look.

Today we got a letter from NELNET regarding Sandi’s student loans.  The form letter, which has our address wrong yet again, indicates they are reviewing the “Total And Permanent Disability Discharge Application” for completeness before sending it on to the Department of Education. In addition to not being signed or having any contact information for any responsible party at NELNET, the form letter fails to specify any time frame for their own review or how long it takes the Department of Education to make a decision once NELNET sends it in.

I’m not impressed.

At this point they have had it since December 13, rejected the fully completed application due to their internal processing errors, and got it back mid-January along with a sharply worded note.  From their correspondence we still have no idea if this takes 60 days, 6 months, or 6 years.

I should have had a job writing form letters. I never realized that one really could get paid for drafting stuff that told the recipient nothing important.

Also in the mail was a letter from the collection agency doing business as SYNERPRISE CONSULTING. Not even a letter as most of the deal was a fill in the blank form where somebody, also apparently born without a name, handwrote information in. They have closed the file on Sandi and returned the fully paid account back to Excel Anesthesia. At least they managed to get the address correct and tell us something.

Sigh.

Still no word on the CT Scan from last week. At this point, we really don’t expect to hear anything until we see the folks down at Texas Oncology on Friday. Not that we expect the CT Scan to mean anything as it never once showed her cancer before. Still, we would like to know what it showed.

Hopefully the current forecast of snow flurries on Thursday will be just that and nothing more as it is a long haul from here as it is when the streets are dry. Since they plan on a six hour infusion to try and stabilize her immune system it is pretty important we get down there and let them do their thing.

She remains massively swollen in her feet and lower legs. Swelling has been an issue all along but the last couple of weeks there has been a pronounced change. Why that is we have no idea but she is in some pain in her feet from that. Whether they can come up with anything to help that I do not know, but we will again bring it to their attention.  Friday is going to be one of those marathon days that do a number on both of us.

In case you did not already know today is World Cancer Day.  

So, on behalf of Sandi and millions of other cancer patients and survivors--know the various warning signs of the different types of cancer. Please, if something seems off, go get checked. No matter how unpleasant the test (granted with her type of cancer there were no warning signs) it beats going through treatment because you ignored something.

Doctor Stuff And More

I have a far lower patience threshold for stupidity lately than normal which is why I recently have left a number of yahoo groups. Those who see my posts on social media know that I popped a fuse earlier today. NELNET is one of Sandi's student loan providers and has provided grossly incompetent service since  they got a hold of a couple of her loans a few years back. It got so bad over a year or so ago that we filed formal complaints with both the US Justice Department as well as the Department of Education regarding their incompetence and bullying behavior.

Ultimately, a Vice President at NELNET was contacted by the government and fixed the problem while blaming us repeatedly in a letter that was supposed to be an apology. One of those "I'm sorry that you were inconvenienced at this difficult time" type letters instead of a true apology. I had to write two more letters  explaining the full reality of the situation they alone caused while also providing written documentation of their incompetence using their own letters to prove to her that what she was being told internally was lies, all lies, and damn lies.

Kick it forward to last month.  We discover to our horror that, somehow, NELNET has been awarded the contract to handle all TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY APPLICATIONS on behalf of the Department of Education. Instead of sending your fully completed application to the Department of Education, you have to send it to a post office box handled by NELNET. They review the application and then forward it on to the DOE whether you are a veteran, civilian, or whatever. They handle all of them and you have no choice, but to go through them.

So, Sandi fills out the application on December 9 and we take it in to the doctor at Texas Oncology at Medical City Dallas Hospital. He has some things going on, so he does it on December 13th. We get it back and mail it in at that time. I double checked it first to make sure it was fully complete and photocopy it and the cover letter that is going with it.

Today we get two letters of denial from NELNET. Both letters cite reasons that are wrong. Not just wrong, but so wrong you wonder if a monkey could do a better job.

The first letter which is dated December 31, 2013 and meter postmarked January 6, which we received today, January 16, 2014 says the application has expired. Therefore, because the application has expired we need to do a new one.

WRONG!

You have sixty days from the date of the application to submit it. Sandi filled it out and signed it on December 9. It had not been even thirty days when they rejected it--according to their letter dated December 31, 2013.

Then things got even stupider.

The second denial letter received today which is dated January 3, 2014 and meter postmarked January 6 says the application --THE EXACT SAME APPLICATION---was rejected for two reasons. 1)Her birth date is missing and 2) the doctor failed to complete section one.

Wrong and WRONG!

There is no place on the application for a birth date. Prevalently the new ones as of this year require that information but the one we have that they sent us last year does not have a section requesting a birth date.

The doctor certainly did fill out section one. You can clearly see he marked the "yes" box which indicates her illness will lead to death and that box is marked right above where he wrote "terminal" in the diagnosis line along with the specific multi word name of her damn cancer.

So, in both letters we got today, everything they said was wrong is actually correct and meanwhile they have blocked her from having her application processed because they flat out screwed up. Unfortunately, Sandi saw the letters before I got them out of the mail and became highly agitated and very upset about them as well as a collection letter from an outfit doing business as SYNERPRISE CONSULTING with offices up in Kansas and here in Plano. Their letter was on a debt with Excel Anesthesia who was paid two months ago after I contacted the feds and the state to complain about their billing practices and errors which had led to issues with Aetna. After spending months writing letters to both outfits and getting the runaround from both and lots of finger pointing from folks who could not sign their name, I copied everything and sent to the Feds and State folks. That got the ball rolling in both places and finally, because I screamed blood murder, they got paid. Absolutely no debt at all is owed to Excel Anesthesia and has not been owed for over two months. Plenty of time for them to fix it in their system and yet today we got this too.

That just got her even more upset. Needless to say that is NOT helpful to her at all. Part of the rage is steroids based and part of it is what the cancer has done to her on top of everything else. Normally these things come, I figure out how we should handle them, and then talk to her about it. I have a chance to prepare her for what has come and can tell her how I will make it right. But, this time that didn't happen and she became very upset.

With the student loan nonsense I hand wrote notes on their letters pointing out their mistakes, copied everything, shoved it all in one envelope and sent it back. No point in writing a cover letter because that could confuse them. Circle the error, note the correct information on the form, and send it all back in one envelope after making copies.

With Synerprise Consulting, I told them to cease and desist immediately with their collection activity. I provided them the copies of the governmental complaint letters, the dates their client was paid,  and told them to get back with their client, Excel Anesthesia,  and clear her name before we escalated things federally. They should know I won't hesitate to report them for their collection activities--done it before and they had to deal with the consequences of that.

Not only was this stuff I didn't need today, Sandi really didn't need it. The last few days have been very difficult as she is having massive mood swings much worse than the normal ones. She has also had some increased trouble breathing. Whether that is because of the record mountain cedar pollen counts we have been experiencing daily (she is highly allergic to mountain cedar) or something else is going on, I don't know. She desperately needs a PET SCAN and so far insurance has refused to pay for it here as they want her to have it down at Mayo in Jacksonvill as part of her followup care. That is impossible as she remains oxygen dependent and the airlines and those in charge will not let her fly.

She is also massively swollen in her feet and lower legs. Swelling has been an issue all along but the last few days has been more pronounced than normal. Whether they will try again to combat this with a multi hour IV drip tomorrow morning I don't know. We have an appointment early in the morning after we get Scott to UTD and it could be a very long day.

And the fight goes on and on and on....

Update

Well, we still don't have Medicaid or Social Security Disability for Sandi, "Lite Up Texas" has lost our application for reduced power and phone bills for the fifth time so we have to apply yet again, and we got over 10k in medical bills delivered here today. Both GREAT LAKES STUDENT LOANS and NELNET have failed to process her forbearance paperwork and continue to harass us multiple times a day with robo calls about payments and worthless form letters. This after SALLIE MAE turned us over to a collection agency earlier this month despite the fact we were supposedly on a forbearance deal and had not heard from them in  months. Not to mention our crummy money situation with rent due this week which we do not have. 

I have talked briefly to Sandi today and I don't know much. I don't think they actually started harvesting stem cells today. The procedure seems to have changed from what I had understood it to be for harvesting. I do know she had the PICC line deal implanted into her chest so now she has another port type deal in there with three lines into it. I also know she was hurting pretty good after this one was done and had a new pain pill prescription to help her.

So, I don't know much. What I do know isn't good. Damn right depressing and I am very fedup on so many levels. It didn't help that I have fallen twice this evening. Do not panic--nothing broke. Just bruised up a bit----again.

Tomorrow we do all this again.....