What I have to do, and what I want to give

Looks like the next few weeks will be only scattered updates when I can steal Robert's computer. I have to send my dear laptop friend to the Toshiba computer fixing people. It has a few problems that have to be taken care of. It has to go to Tel Aviv because of the warranty it is still under. I will update from Robert's computer, but the hours he works on it are prime writing hours for me. When he isn't using it, I also usually am not able to, but I'm sure I'll find time. I have to write; I have to get it out. There is too much to deal with without you guys sharing the burden with me.

At the moment the next steps are to 1) get a CT scan, and to 2) order copies of all my previous tests. After that is done, 3) go back to Dr. Bikels (orthopedic oncologist at Ichilov) and focus on a possibility of a treatment plan. I also have to petition my HMO, Clalit, to cover my treatments at Ichilov. Yes, we have private insurance, but we'd still have to pay 30% of any charges, our co-pay. That could really add up, especially when we are talking about the reconstruction surgeries.

If Clalit grants approval, it is completely covered by the national health care. Dr. Bikels faxed me a letter yesterday ordering the CT, and also appealing directly to Clalit to honor my rights as an Israeli citizen to choose any public hospital in the country. The orthopedic oncology unit in Ichilov is the only one in the country. Dr. Bikels wrote in the letter (in his own script, not a computer letter) that I am his patient and there is no choice but for Clalit to approve it.

So I made an appointment with my family doctor here in Be'er Sheva for Sunday to 4) give him [family doctor] a copy of this letter and have him take it to the board of appeals at Clalit. I also need from him to 5) order the CT scan based on the referral for it in the letter.

Then I need to 6) call Soroka and make an appointment for a CT. I hope they don't give me another run around of waiting many months. That creates more things to do. With Soroka I also have to start going through the details of 7) ordering copies of my tests in the past year (bone scans, and last year's CT scan when I had Cellulitis). I loathe all this. You gotta do all this stuff to prove you need help, but having all this to do demands you get help to do it all.

So, believe it or not, that's why I decided to join a project in Arad (45 minutes south of Be'er Sheva, closer to the Dead Sea) to help people who can't do this stuff. Specifically, pregnant women who are new immigrants from Sudan. I am going with Hilary (my dear friend and midwife) today to meet them and asses their pre-natal needs. Hilary leads the project. I'll help when I can, and skip when I need to. I feel like I can make a difference, and this system is so hard, even *knowing* Hebrew and *knowing* the ropes. It is very hard to be a new immigrant in a new land, no language of the land, and be pregnant. They speak English a bit, so that's what we are going to use to communicate. The project needs English speaking birth professionals. I am excited to take part in it.

So, signing off, and wishing my computer a refuah shleima u'mehira (quick and full recovery). Toshiba Satellite Ben Sarah Rachel. ;-)

Shabbat Shalom