I type this as I’m sitting in the passenger seat of one of my best friend’s cars, on the way to a last-minute medical appointment that I didn’t even know I had until today.

Elizabeth and I on the way to a million appointments because I am in driving jail.

Coming into this whole process, I thought the physical medical aspect would be the most stressful part. Ironically, it’s actually been dealing with the insurance and healthcare system that has caused me the most stress. Not everyone is as lucky as I am to have friends willing to drop everything and help.

I’m still unable to drive because I’m waiting to hit the three-month seizure-free requirement. So add that to my growing list of headaches. Then throw an inefficient medical system on top of it.

As I’m writing this, I’ve already navigated to three different pharmacies in three different buildings in the same hospital complex just to pick up prescriptions that I only discovered existed because I happened to check the medical app. Those prescriptions are now costing me money that I shouldn’t have to pay because I’ve already hit my out-of-pocket maximum. Yet again. This is a problem I’ve already dealt with several times despite reporting it to Member Services multiple times.

Now we’re racing to an out-of-network fertility appointment because I have to harvest my eggs before chemotherapy. My original in-network doctor’s schedule simply didn’t line up with my radiation schedule, so I was referred to another doctor.

Seems simple enough, right?

Wrong.

Even though the two doctors literally work in the same building—with offices next to each other—they’re on completely different medical systems. So now important messages are going to my spam folder, I have an entirely different patient portal to monitor, and none of it talks to each other.

WTF.

No wonder my parents keep talking about moving back to Taiwan. They can make a same-day appointment. No referrals. No jumping through hoops. No endless phone calls. Just... healthcare.

Seriously. 😐

This is why so many people are struggling. Health is wealth, but it shouldn't be this dependent on money, connections, or your ability to navigate a maze of bureaucracy. I'm incredibly fortunate to have a brother who's a doctor and friends who are willing to help me through all of this.

But how do people without those advantages do it?

I’m grateful. Truly. But people should know how broken this system is. Before all of this, I was pretty ignorant to how difficult it could be. Now I know.

And as a filmmaker and writer, I hope I can use my stories to shine a light on it.

As for how I’m feeling? Besides a mild headache, I actually feel pretty great. I’m grateful.

We’ll see how the next days go. Feel free to follow along.

Falling Forward | PHASE 2 | Insurance Hell