Norah Lynn
Fisher was born on August 14, 2013. From the beginning, Norah has been the
sweetest, happiest, most content baby I’ve ever encountered. Everyone who
spends time with her from her doctors and family to friends and strangers, talks
about her amazing demeanor. She is truly a treasure. This made finding out
about her heart conditions all the more devastating and shocking.
Our
pediatrician recommended Dr. Farah Garmany, an award-winning pediatric
cardiologist, when he heard an irregularity during her first check up. There are pediatric cardiologists within the
same practice, but our pediatrician knew Norah needed the best. Dr. Garmany was serious, aggressive, and
informative from the beginning. She made
no bones about what could happen to our baby.
She proved she was the best; relying on her instincts and then
confirming her suspicions with various tests.
Norah was diagnosed with a hole in her heart and Wolff Parkinson White syndrome.
Norah’s heart has extra circuits and
will randomly fire off at up to 300 beats per minute during one of her
spells. Dr. Garmany told us that it is
not an extremely rare disorder; some people live their whole lives not knowing
they have WPW and others die at age 8 leaving behind parents who had no idea.
Norah
was hooked up to monitors overnight and came back for test after test. While the financial consequences of Norah’s
medical issues are a tough burden, the emotional toll is much, much
harder. Every time she naps for more
than an hour, every time she is in the middle of playing and suddenly starts
screaming, when her feet turn blue or her face turns red; we are constantly
panicked. The silver lining is that our
amazing pediatrician helped catch it early and we have (had) full faith in one
of the best pediatric cardiologists in the country.
Over
the last 6 months, tests and sonograms have confirmed that the hole has closed
up on its own! It’s odd to say we were lucky that Norah had a hole in her
heart, but that is what led to finding the WPW. She is thriving and has grown
into a smart, funny ball of energy, earning her the nickname “Norah the
Explorer.” She gives us hope while we await her next round of tests, which were
originally scheduled for the first week of June.
In
late May, we were notified that because of tripling premiums, my husband’s
employer was dropping Cigna for a new insurance. This comes one year after they
dropped United Healthcare because premiums were increasing drastically. United and Cigna are very similar and
adequate insurances, however we did lose coverage, options, and our deductible
went from one thousand per family member to two thousand per family
member. Out of pocket for our family
went from eight thousand to eighteen thousand.
Last
year we lost thousands in out of pocket expenses to keep premiums bearable,
this year his employer changed to a policy with fewer doctors. It should also be said that my husband’s
employer is not the bad party here; they’ve increased their contributions every
year to reduce premiums as well. Most employers care deeply about their people, but the tide of Obamacare will be too big to be shielded from. We lost doctors. We lost our most important doctor; Norah lost Dr. Garmany. We have to start all over; removed from the expert we fully trust. Obamacare has taken away the peace we had knowing our baby had the best care possible.
To
Twitter trolls: we do not have Obamacare; we did, in fact, check the coverage;
and we do, actually, care about our daughter’s well-being. We are stuck with one plan, one option, and
it is a company that nobody knows. Even
doctors in the network believe that they are not in the network. We found out in the last week of May that
open enrollment ends June 1st with Norah’s looming appointment June
6th. We searched immediately
for our doctors, spent every day writing appeals and trying to get Dr. Garmany
and others in the network. We are the
third party, trying to match doctors who have never heard of a sketchy PPO to a
PPO that has one person trying to answer the phone for the entire company. A billing specialist at one of our doctors
asked if we were insured with “Uncle Jerry’s Medical Insurance and Tackle Shop.”
Obamacare
is the problem. Period. Insurances companies were providing a product that was
voluntary to purchase and people bought it willingly and happily. Some, like my husband, pick one job over
another for medical benefits that the company provides. Medical insurance is a benefit and was a good benefit for us. Insurance companies must cover their asses
because they are now being forced to sell a product they do not want to sell,
many times to people who do not want to buy it.
Anyone who cannot find Obamacare at fault for the massive number of
families who have lost coverage, doctors, or endured huge increases in premiums
and deductibles is in denial or in need of strong medication.
I
want to shed light on my problem because there are millions of families that
have similar issues and millions more to come.
This is only the beginning; as time ticks down to the new date of the
employer mandate, millions more will have a story just like Norah’s. Obamacare is a ruse, rammed through Congress
in a disgusting fashion and shoved down the throats of good, tax-paying
Americans. The dirty trick of Obamacare
is to destroy companies like Cigna and United, who cannot provide affordable
insurance while covering people at forced rates that would otherwise cause them
to lose billions, while insurance companies like First Health Network will pop
up all over the place and provide insurance that nobody wants. Obamacare is designed to destroy private
insurance and force Americans into Uncle Sam’s loving arms.
Blaming Obamacare brings out the trolls
who I spoke of earlier, the ones that talk to purple unicorns about the meaning
of life. Those idiots have come after me
in droves to defend their beloved king. I have heard the worst society has to
offer and it does not bother me; these are worthless and miserable roaches,
lurking in the dark to try to hurt people who haven’t gulped down Kool-Aid
until they are void of rational reasoning.
They hide behind their keyboard; they are cowards who would never act so
disgusting in the real world.
I am not implying that the trolls who come
after my family and me represent all democrats or progressives. I would make the point that they are
employing the same strategies that the left is famous for using time and
again. The left seeks to eliminate all
conversation that defies their message.
It is a staple for the left to attack personally and lie to align the
conversation to fit their message. The
left spawns the kind of vultures who go a step too far, the kind who attack my
baby and me.
The
good news is that my rant on Twitter has gained the attention of some
remarkable people; followers who have offered support, doctors and insurance
representatives who have offered advice, and pediatric cardiologists in our
area, who have promised to try to work with our new insurance and get into the
network. Norah has a new appointment set
for this summer; I am confident that our insurance issues will be resolved
before then. There is no limit to what
we will endure for our baby. I am not
complaining about the extra effort involved in securing the doctor, I am simply
pointing out that it is unnecessary and everyday Americans should not have to
lose what they have worked for so that politicians can incentivize votes. Liberals who have stumbled upon Norah’s story
feel stung; their reaction is the real story.
Hard-line leftists would rather degrade a suffering family with a sick
child than admit that the crown jewel they’ve been fighting to pass for so long
is a complete failure.
