Tom Drapeau

For those following my Twitter feed, you already knew that @ShayWade and I got married last weekend. But since it was such a Big Day in my life, I thought I would record more of it here than just “Married!“.

Everyone’s definition of a big wedding is different. For us, even though we had less than 100 people, we still went through all of the planning exercises of a wedding twice the size. And its a strange feeling, an event you have been planning for a year really ends (with the ceremony) in less than a half hour. Then once you’ve posed for photos, and you sit down at your reception table, there is this hush where you wonder what you should be worrying about next. After so many weeks and months of worry, the wedding happened perfectly and now its done.

But more on the wedding: KidWonder was amazingly well behaved. He ran up to me right as my groomsmen and I were about to walk down the aisle, breathless: “Daddy! Daddy!” “What?” “Flower!” pointing at the flower pinned to his tux. That sort of thing brings you right down to earth.

KidWonder, looking dapper and with flower:

It was great to see that so much family that could make the trip. MomWonder and I live in New York, and our families mostly live in Massachusetts and Missouri. It was really nice of so many folks to go out of their way to share our Big Day with us.

A funny moment for us came when our emcee was concluding the ceremony. He was reading from a piece of paper he had folded to be of a more discreet size, and due to the folding, skipped over the “i now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride”. (we immediately corrected that error, and kissed a few times to make sure!)

The reception went well, if a bit fast. We spent most of it getting pictures taken (most of which we haven’t seen yet), then going through some traditional reception stuff (cake cutting, bouquet throwing, garter throwing, etc). Apparently I didn’t take off the garter in an alluring fashion, so was asked to do it again, which I obliged (some people!)

All in all it was a great day. It is an amazing feeling when you look around a big room and know that everyone came because they know YOU. A parting shot from the happy couple:

We’ll be sure to post more pictures when they are available.

tdrapeau Wedding KidWonder, MomWonder, Wedding

At the beginning of the year, MomWonder and I had to rush KidWonder to a local hospital because he was having trouble breathing. We had called our pediatrician in the morning, explained the situation, and were told to bring him to the emergency room.

When we got to the ER, we were asked about our health insurance. No problem, I said, our family is covered under United Healthcare. Great, they said, and allowed KW to see a doctor. As it turned out, he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis, which is what they say when your child has asthma but is too young to be declared to have asthma. Weird stuff, but whatever.

The attending physician had the nurse administer 3 doses albuterol via a nebulizer, and afterwards KW breathed easier, and we were so much happier.

Then, the bill came. The attending physician, who spent a total of maybe 10 minutes with KW, charged us $691. We waited for United Healthcare to pay for the visit – they did not. As I investigated, it turned out that the attending physician was not in network. The hospital neglected to tell us this when asking for our insurance. As I probed further, I discovered that the physician’s group practice was in network, even though the doctor himself wasn’t. Puzzled, I pressed on with this line of logic, and was told by UHC that we could resubmit the claim to the group practice. This time, it worked! A network discount of $470 chopped the total down to $221, which UHC paid. Hooray!

And yet… that was just the beginning. I received a bill now for $470, the original $691 minus the $221 UHC paid. I was confused as to why the discount wasn’t being recognized by the doctor’s practice. Continuing, I was told that the practice was in disagreement with UHC as to how much the procedure should cost. UHC thought $221, the practice thought $285. I asked if I could just pay $64, the difference between the 2 discount amounts. No, I was told.

At this point, several months had passed. I called again and again, hoping to get this matter resolved. UHC considered the matter closed, and even sent a letter to the physician asking him to leave me alone, that this procedure had been paid for/covered, and the matter was closed. Still I kept receiving bills.

I called UHC again, went through first line, second line, rapid response groups. Finally, exasperated, I was told that UHC’s Network Management would get involved. I was assured that when Network Management gets involved, things get resolved. The doctor would be called personally, and be told to knock it off. I thought this odyssey might actually be at an end. I thought wrong.

Yet another bill arrives, still asking for the $470 difference between the original amount and the $221 paid by UHC. Calling for the 15th time, I got in touch with a UHC rep and was told the bad news. Network management called the doctor. The doctor told UHC to buzz off, that he’s not in their network. Since he’s not in the network, the Network Management group have no mojo over him. There’s nothing they can do to him, since he has nothing to lose with them.

At this point, all I want to do is to be this soccer player and make the doctor the defender:

A week ago, 10 months after our little KidWonder had trouble breathing, I wrote a check for $470 to stop a collections agency from getting involved. And I feel a little sick about the whole process. I spent extra time on the phone with the last UHC rep, making sure I asked what was on my mind: What am I supposed to do when my 8 month old child can’t breathe and the only doctor in the ER isn’t in network? I got the highest level of insurance that I could, the PPO coverage, and yet it didn’t seem to make a lick of a difference.

Well, I guess that’s the whole rant. I’m still raw from the whole experience.

tdrapeau KidWonder Health Insurance, KidWonder, MomWonder, Rant, UHC

I haven’t written in a while, work has kept me pretty busy. We did get a chance to get out for an afternoon, though, and checked out Sherwood Island State Park, a place I’ve wanted to visit since we moved into the Westchester area. It lived up to its billing, although its not exactly beach weather in the Northeast any more. The park is clean, well kept, peaceful. Almost idyllic.

Anyhow, KidWonder had a blast, and we got the chance to snap some photos. I’ve embedded a Flickr slideshow here, I hope it works.

And just in case you missed it in the slideshow, or couldn’t open the slideshow, my favorite pic of The Dancing Machine:

tdrapeau KidWonder KidWonder, MomWonder, Park, Sherwood

with the help of the Grammie-and-Pa bought walker.

Video clip courtesy of MomWonder (and Youtube). Hurrah!

tdrapeau KidWonder KidWonder, MomWonder, Walking, YouTube

A big Happy Mother’s Day shout out to all of the mothers out there. MomWonder, KidWonder and I had a great Mother’s Day adventure today. We headed to a local entertainment complex where we stopped for lunch at Applebee’s:

MomWonder, enjoying a hot fudge sundae:

KidWonder, enjoying some of Dad’s chocolate mousse:

Fully energized, the Wonder team headed to the Bowl-a-rama for a heated game of ten pin. Here MomWonder is engaging in the questionable practice of getting extra luck for an upcoming shot :

We ended our outing at the Pool room next to the bowling alley. Here KidWonder is showing us how easy a game of 8-ball can be:

Great fun was had by all. We’re now home, relaxing as KidWonder gets a nap. Happy Mother’s Day MomWonder. You have made such an impact on KidWonder’s life (and mine!) and we’ve had so much fun in the last 10 1/2 months together.

tdrapeau MomWonder Bowling, KidWonder, MomWonder, Mother's Day, Pool

tdrapeau KidWonder Dad, Flickr, KidWonder, MomWonder

KidWonder just had his birth-month-day, or as MomWonder and I call it, his month-versary! He’s now 3/4. To celebrate, we took some pics. Here is one that shows just how grown up he is.

moar funny pictures

tdrapeau Uncategorized KidWonder, MomWonder, monthversary