Having to Prove You’re Sick … Again and Again

                                                                  

For many of us, the multiple sclerosis diagnosis process was (or perhaps still is) a long, drawn-out, trying time. MS is often called a “diagnosis by elimination,” meaning that many other conditions must usually be ruled out before MS is finally settled upon. This can make for numerous batteries of tests, years of misdiagnosis, and being made to feel like it’s all in our heads.

Then we hear we have MS and we have to deal with that whole thing on personal, professional, emotional, familial, spiritual, and financial levels. We sort and sift our way through medical expenses, insurance benefits, employment concerns, co-pays, disability rights, and all the rest.

We’re not alone in the world of MS. People experiencing symptoms of several chronic conditions are treated to the same difficult process.

Just living with a chronic illness can be a full-time job.

The grieving process of coping with MS can be long and often repeated. The disease progresses, taking more abilities from us in nibbles and chunks. Each time we relearn how to keep on living.

Yet another recurring emotional (and financial) burden comes in the form of insurance-provider required medical reports and independent medical exams.

Disease modifying medications slow down the progression of MS, and symptom management drugs can take the edge off some of the day-to-day struggles, but no one has yet cured MS.

Still, we get letters from insurers requiring us to schedule appointments with our MS doctors, pay for an exam visit, shell out for the fee to have forms completed by the doctor (the same forms each time) — often with deadlines that are difficult to meet considering the time it takes to get in to see the neurologist.

All the while, the threat of being cut off from insurance coverage or benefits looms over our heads.

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