Back Problems; Medicare D; Bel Ami

Mother sprained her lower back last Saturdsy and has been very uncomfortable ever since. She had some pain pills to take from a previous episode. And when the nurse visited yesterday, she called the doctor who, in turn, called in a prescription to the druggist for muscle relaxants.

Although the muscle relaxants won't work overnight, she was at least able to spend most of the day sleeping. I'm hoping that by tomorrow, she'll feel better.

Anything she attempts to do has to be done with care and physical assistance. But there are certain things I have to do in the outside world, so I've tried to time my trips to match her sleeping.

She had a problem similiar to this in the March while she was in the nursing home. And the doctor prescribed Fentanyl. Which as the article indicates "an analgesic potency of about 80 times that of morphine." It got rid of the pain but made her very, very confused.

Since then the FDA has put out an advisory FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on the Fentanyl Patch.

The retirement plan she is under previously provided drug coverage but no longer. They recommended one of the private prescription care plans, and I chose one of the higher-prized options in hopes of covering as many drugs as possible. Drugs fit into one of four tiers: preferred generic products; preferred brand-name products; nonpreferred generic and brand-name products; and speciality products and other high-cost products. The higher the tier, the more costly the product.

But there's no simple way to know which drug falls into which tier.

There was much hoopla about being able to sign up starting November 15. What was not mentioned was the need for the prescription drug card by January 1. Fortunately, I received a letter yesterday that indicated some policy numbers that could be used until the cards arrive.

There's an on-line site that allows you to set up an account. But to do that you need the id numbers from the card which, of course, I don't have.

The sad part about all this is that I have some sense of what is going on. But I'm sure there are millions who are going to be totally lost by the process. There is no way my mother could figure this out on her own.

PAX!