The Boobeaucracy is Unbelievable.

You'd think, would you not, that I was not going to have much trouble with the Boobeaucracy except at regularly-stated intervals, would you not?

And you would be wrong.

First, billings. There was a bill (which I paid) for my recent visit to Dana-Farber to see my surgeon for the final post-surgical follow-up this year. Fine.

And then there was another bill, from the hospital where the surgery was performed, because my surgeon does her surgery there.

Mind you, the hospital did nothing -- not one thing -- to make this visit possible. It wasn't held in their building. Their resources were not used for scheduling it. Her time was not taken up when she could have been in surgery, as this appointment was during one of her standard clinics. The hospital did nothing. But since she did the surgery at their hospital, they get to bill me for a follow-up. And, to pile Pelion on Ossa (look it up, look it up), they billed me as if this was just an additional bill from last August that had somehow been missing since then. No record anywhere on the bill that this was for the follow-up. I had to call to figure that out.

This is the first time in the whole farrago of bills that I have been billed by one facility for receiving services at another facility. The only resources I used from Brigham and Women's Hospital were the computing, printing, envelop-stuffing, and postage required to send out the bill. This seems to have justified a bill of more than $100 dollars, of which I am paying $27.50.

AND THEN!

CVS Caremark, who recently took over the contract for the Federal Employees Benefit Program's Special Pharmacy, called today -- yes, on Memorial Day -- to find out if I was still taking Neulasta. The person calling didn't know what the drug was for, only that it was an expensive injectable. I clearly explained that there was no way I was taking Neulasta for nine months because that much chemotherapy would kill an elephant, and she said, "Then I'll close the account."

Right. Because no one can write a computer program to look at open accounts and pull ones that look funny for review by a human, another whole group of humans are working overtime on a holiday weekend and billing the government for their time.

Which means I (and you, if you pay taxes) just paid for this foolishness. It's enough to make a person really rather annoyed!

May brings out the cows...

... and they all lick my head.

(Note to self: I really, really need some better lighting in here.)

This is after a hard day of head-rubbing, hair-tearing, and other work-related nonsense; also some power napping, cat nuzzling and other, less stressful activities. But still -- yes, very curly and without much direction. In back, where I can't take a picture, it could almost be described as what we used to call a Jew-fro.

Also, remember how I looked a lot like my mom? For reasons I'm not entirely clear on -- it's not just because the hair is off my face -- I now look much more like my dad.

More thoughts on breast changes to follow.