We hope she's the one

As you know, Brad gets a massage every week because of his injuries. Dealing with the bureaucratic red tape of this while living this lifestyle is frustrating to say the least. Through Veteran's Affairs his massages are paid through Medavie Blue Cross.

Although his Veteran's account shows that he requires these massages, rather than attach the billing authorization to Brad it is attached to the Massage Therapist. Well when you move around and constantly change Therapists you have to contact MBC so they can provide an authorization number to said Therapist. And I'm sure you can imagine what making a change in a Governmental Bureaucracy is like.. it takes forever.

When we first arrived on Salt Spring Island we immediately set about trying to find him a good Massage Therapist. All the RMTs on the island were booked up months in advance so we went further afield and made an appt in Duncan, there was the usual trouble getting the authorization number for the woman and Brad had to get involved and sort that out with MBC.

Thursday, after 5 weeks... 5 very long weeks, the day finally arrived. OMG he was excited to finally get some relief. We had to leave home by 9:15am to get the 10:30am ferry because if we didn't get there early enough we might not get on and the 11:30am ferry (ideal for a 12:30pm appt) was classified DC (Dangerous Cargo) and passengers are not allowed.

Anyway, we got to Duncan and Brad had his massage while I did the laundry.

The woman was terrible. Barely applied any pressure while Brad needs Deep Tissue Massage... (even though this was all explained prior) and she hummed. Yes, hummed in an alternating pitch the entire time. He said it was the worst massage he's ever had.

Yesterday, I set about trying to find someone on SSI. Off I went, drove from one to another and finally got so frustrated and angry at this ridiculous system. There are only 6 MDC authorized Massage Therapists on SSI, all of which are booked and as one woman told me, it takes them so long to get paid by Vets Affairs that they don't want to bother with it.

It's not like this is a warm fuzzy massage, this is medically necessary so that he can move and function. He is a Veteran for Gods sake. Oh man, after that woman I was fit to be tied... still am.

I pulled over and just started calling because I was just too angry to be driving, and I found her. The name on the top of my list. I explained what was happening and she agreed to see Brad. We have to wait until Nov 7th but he's in. Such a relief. I explained the Deep Tissue stuff and the essence of his injuries, so we are hoping that this will be the one.

We have decided to just pay for the massage and if it all works out then we'll get the Authorization number. It will mean waiting upwards of 12-16 weeks to get paid back, but... in the end it's easier. - if you can afford the waiting, that is.

This BS of having to authorize the individual therapist is ridiculous, you go through hell to get it sorted only to find out the service isn't what you need. The Therapists are already pre-approved by Medavie Blue Cross, they have a list to choose from, so as long as Brad has the authorization and the Therapist is on their list..... am I really that Blonde?

We did this down in California, paying for each massage then submitting the bill and waiting to get paid. Most of that didn't get back to our bank until we were in Saskatchewan... and we spent 6 months in the states sending bills back every month or so. This was required because they don't do auto payment to American providers, you can have the service down there but you must submit the bills and await repayment. We asked before we even left our house and we were assured that it wasn't a problem... then we got there....

It's a game of frustration. Ridiculous red tape bureaucracy.

Here's hoping she's the one!