Oh TriCare...Why Must You Irritate Me So?!

Thursday night I began to get a little bit of a sore throat, which is VERY common for me this time of year. 9 times out of 10 it's either strep throat or a sinus infection. I have HUGE tonsils! I'm talking these suckers should have been taken out as soon as I was born! MASSIVE! So I get myself a mirror, stick out my tongue and say "AHHHH" and just as I thought there was a huge white spot on my left tonsil. Knowing my history, I hop onto the internet to do the online check in for UrgentMed for the next morning. As the night goes on my sore throat gradually gets worse. UrgentMed calls me at 8:15am to inform me that they are ready to see me. So I brush my teeth really quick, throw my hair up and drive to the doctor's office. I get there and they go through their usual insurance speech, so I hand them my TriCare card and my military id. The receptionist looks at the cards, looks at me and asks "Is this for active or non-active duty?" I let her know that my husband is active duty and she responds with, "Oh I'm sorry honey. We can't accept active duty TriCare." When I ask her why, she informs me that they are not allowed to since Ft. Sill is so close. She goes on to tell me that I can either go to Ft. Sill or I can go to the ER. First of all, I'm NOT going to Ft. Sill because A). I have NO idea where the clinic is there and B). Lawton scares the ever-loving crap out of me. Secondly, there is no way that I am going to the ER for A SORE THROAT!! I mean, let's be honest people...that's not only a complete waste of my time, but I would sit there for hours upon hours because we all know I'm not going to die from a sore throat. I leave UrgentMed frustrated and on the verge of tears because I'm starving but can't swallow, so I do what any pregnant woman would do, I call my Mom. My Mom is seriously my rock. I have NO idea what I would do without her! So she tells me to just call my Ob and see if they would be able to do anything for me. Why didn't I think of that in the first place?! DUH!! So I call my doctors office and leave her nurse a message. She immediately calls me back and tells me to come in so they can swab me for strep. I get to her office, get right into a room and immediately get swabbed for strep. By the way, if you live in Duncan, Oklahoma and need an Ob, Dr. Stacie Elfrink at Duncan Medical Associates is the GREATEST doctor EVER!!! Anyway, the test came back negative and we decided it was my allergies and sinuses, so I got some Z-Pack, Suddafed and Robitussin and besides the annoying cough, I'm good as new!!!


The point of the story...as grateful as I am for the benefits that the military provides for my family, they REALLY make it hard to love them!!!