Bureaucratic B.S?

FINALLY- Yet another battle with the VA to get my bill for an outside provider (endocrinologist) paid was settled. My visit was in September of last year.

My problem was getting the VA to do the right thing.  By their own directives - they are supposed to provide me (pay for) an outside provider for a need they (VA) don't provide. As you can tell by the timing, I am relatively persistent. Also (and unfortunately) I am experienced in dealing with their (VA) system when they are dragging their heels about paying anything outside the system.

They did to me what I call "Ping Pong" . To get around it I went to my "ultimate weapon" called the "Patient Advocate", which I highly recommend if you are a trans vet and get caught in the system. (Do NOT get stuck in billing!!!) The woman in billing was quite satisfied telling me I was wrong and hell no they weren't paying. So, I had to keep going back to Advocate monthly to assure them my problem was not solved and I was not going away. Then, they bounced me from Dayton, Ohio to Omaha, Nebraska-who knew absolutely nothing about my case. Two months ago, I got a call from an unknown person who said my claim was to be paid-in 60 days. Really?

So yesterday, the long  unpaid doctors office wrote me a nice letter saying the VA finally paid. Plus, the other silver lining to all of this is (as I have written about here in Cyrsti's Condo) I now have an in house endocrinologist. The problem is, what is stable today could change tomorrow.

I will say though-everybody within the VA system to a person has been kind and caring to me. Plowing through the bureaucracy is the big problem.

Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

Ker Plunk! Good morning and another Sunday Edition of the Cyrsti's Condo has hit your virtual front porch! Our weather here in O-H-I-O is slightly overcast and muggy so summer is definitely on the way -so last get started!

Page One.- The Week that Was - or Wasn't:  During the past seven days or so, again we seem to be slowing down a bit from the barrage of publicity stemming from Bruce Jenner. My opinion has always been Jenner, Zoey Tur and the rest of the Hollywood crowd which show up on my doorstep on television are just a little too slippery for my liking. I have been surprised though how many civilians I have interacted with who don't think that way. So, that is what is most important. As it turns out, most of my week came from surprise input from the outside.

Page Two.-Back to College? I was completely surprised last week when Megan from Simmons College contacted me concerning contributing to their Trans*forming the Dialogue initiative this summer. First and foremost this means all of you will have a chance to contribute to questions such as what is OK to ask a transgender person or not. It is supposed to go live sometime in June. Plus, a little about Simmons College. Simmons is ONLY the third US women’s college to accept students who identify as transgender. Each time the gender barrier is broken down for transgender women anywhere it is huge. In the recent past, certain "women only" colleges have led the discrimination charge to bar us. I'm sure another question to add to their dialogue would be "what constitutes a woman?" It should be very interesting and you all will be the first to know when I learn more!

Page Three.- My Sisters in? : Page Two Continued: What does constitute a "woman"? How close or how far away are we transgender women from our generic sisters? The easy answer is there isn't one. The easy answer used by radical feminists is if you weren't born with a vagina, then you will never ever be a woman. Then there are the ever present radical transsexuals who believe somehow if you haven't or can't buy your own vagina-you too are the outside looking in. Then again (as always) there is a huge middle ground. The problem is it is an emotionally charged issue to be sure. But last week I took three ideas from Ginger Burr's Total Image Consultant's site which to me spoke deeply to my life as a transgender woman. Here is the post very simply called "Good Questions."

Page Four.- The Back Page: Well kids, it's time to go. somehow my old dog knows she has time for a walk mixed into her busy day. Sadly, the week to come will mark the end of another icon of my generation-the retirement of "David Letterman." I'm sure I will end up blaming and cussing the effect of my HRT hormones as I view the last show.
On a positive note though-have a GREAT week and thanks for stopping by Cyrsti's Condo!

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Woman of the Day"

Our feature cover today is Francine Garcia (Arnold Clavio)