I am woken by a call from Mercy Radiology booking me in for an MRI of my spine. I ask about health insurance coverage and am told that they will apply for pre-approval and get back to me. The standalone cost of the MRI without insurance is $3630. Yikes! Fingers crossed that Southern Cross comes to the party.

I realise I’ve overslept and missed my fortnightly online Te Reo Tutorial. I’m so far behind that I’m not sure it matters. We have a few weeks off over Christmas and I’ll do my best to catch up then but at this point I feel like I might be overstretching a bit by trying to study a language with everything else going on.

I get my shit together in time for Art Therapy Class. It’s lovely to catch up with these ladies. They are always so positive and we have a laugh about the absurdity of living with cancer and what we have to go through. And of course there is the art which is fun as well. Today I continue on with a pencil drawing I started last week. 

After class I get a call back from Mercy – pre-approval for insurance coverage has been declined. I call Southern Cross. The decline is a glitch in the system and I am told that coverage should be fine. Unfortunately, they say, I will have to pay upfront and claim the fee back. Rather than being reassured, the words should be fine leave me with a sense of unease. With my past experience of misinformation from Southern Cross I decide to call again to double check. I explain that the cancer is in my breast but the MRI is for my spine. This consultant says I will need to get a letter from Dr MP stating that she suspects that the cancer has metastasised to my spine, as this will provide the link that Southern Cross needs to connect the dots between radiation and the requested imaging. I am a bit in shock. I hadn’t really considered this as the reason for the speedy referral. I call ARO and explain my situation. The receptionist tells me she will talk to Dr MP and get back to me. So it’s wait and see for now. I’m certainly not keen to pay that much upfront, in any case.

Uncle J takes me for Radiation Round 11. My skin is looking redder and itching constantly now. I’m slathering on the Strata gel and hydrocortisone cream and hoping it doesn’t get worse.

11 down, 4 to go.