Sometimes fixing a problem is easier than we expect
Caregiving often requires heavy lifting — but not always
“I called to ask your scholarship provider,” my dad said over the phone. “They think you’re a freshman.”
The problem? I was a second-semester sophomore.
At the beginning of my fourth semester of undergrad studies, my father discovered that one of my scholarships hadn’t been applied to my account. The following day, I went to the registrar’s office and casually relayed the story to one of the workers. After a quick search, she smiled at me.
“Well,” she said, “it’s because you are a freshman.” Although she printed off the papers as proof, I didn’t want to look at them.
Every worst-case scenario played in my head as I walked back to my room with the papers in hand. Maybe I didn’t have enough credits, or there was a class I’d forgotten to take, or I didn’t register correctly. Finally, I worked up enough courage to look at the printout.
According to the document, I was a freshman — or at least the person with that Social Security number was. Apparently, when my alma mater switched to a completely digital database, every student had to be entered into the system manually. However, when they entered my Social Security number, it was mistyped by two digits.
To add insult to injury, someone caught the problem and reentered my correct information but forgot to erase the old data, thereby creating two “Danitas” in the system, splitting my transcript in half, and making “us” freshmen.
Thankfully, after that discovery, my scholarship was applied to the correct version of me. All my fretting was unnecessary. It all came down to a minor investigation and a fixable mistake.
I never would’ve guessed I’d revisit this scenario 25 years later.
Another quick fix
When our oldest daughter, whom we lovingly call Ladybug, was diagnosed with hereditary angioedema (HAE), we quickly learned how much work was involved in obtaining anything she needed.
Like other rare diseases, HAE treatment requires specialty medications with prior authorizations, insurance battles, liaisons, medical supplies, and coordinated home deliveries. Admittedly, in the beginning, it wasn’t easy. There were numerous emails, faxes, and countless hours of phone calls. While I never backed down from advocating for our daughter, I soon discovered that it comes with a unique type of weariness and anxiety that only other caregivers understand.
Recently, when I called the specialty pharmacy to set up a new prescription delivery, the medication liaison and I discovered an anomaly in Ladybug’s account that would make her new prescription unavailable.
I felt myself gearing up for what I thought was about to be weeks of advocacy, anxiety, and frustration. Yet, in a fleeting moment, I remembered my sophomore year. Sure enough, after a little investigation, I discovered that when Ladybug’s records were submitted for the new medication, someone forgot to include the “s” in our last name — another quick fix.
As caregivers, our job sometimes requires heavy lifting, but other times, the devil is in the details.
Note: Angioedema News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Angioedema News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to angioedema.
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