28 June 2021
We have been rationing our supply of Vashe* for weeks now but last week we started dipping into our last 8.5 oz. bottle.
We'd been asking for leftovers at the Plastic Surgery Clinic (the most reliable source of the stuff) but there haven't been any. As an alternative, both physician assistants offered to order some for us through Durable Medical Equipment, but nothing has shown up. And it's been weeks.
Joyce used the KP app on her iPhone to order a bottle through the Kaiser pharmacy last Friday. Pickup was scheduled for Saturday after 5:30.
The pharmacy closes on Saturday at 5:30.
When she called around 4:30 to see if it was ready for pickup, the pharmacist said they didn't have any. They recommended CVS or Walgreens. Neither of which carries it.
So yesterday I tried to place an order through Joyce's Byram account only to find out (at Step 7 in the process) that she has a $93 past due bill from April. The order was consequently blocked until payment.
Ironically, Byram just sent her a $300 refund for overpayment.
If you see the logic in that, please sent a bottle of the bourbon you're drinking. A full bottle.
Joyce called Byram this morning to straighten things out but the office closes for lunch. She has an invoice from them for $93 due the first week of July. Somebody got things very wrong, obviously. She'll try again tomorrow.
Walmart sells the stuff but there's no Walmart here. Amazon sells it, too, but Joyce won't order from Amazon on principle. At $50 a pint, she'd like Medicare to pick up its 80 percent of the bill anyway.
Meanwhile Vic the LVN filling in for Salwa said he'd ask at the office about getting us some. He has another patient who uses it so he was hopeful but in the past these requests haven't gone anywhere.
We're hoping to hear from the pharmacy in a day or two and to clear up the Byram accounting issue and to snag some from the clinic next week.
Or we'll just start using saline solution. There's oceans of that stuff around.