Dr. Michael J. Pitman

I found him. My surgeon. He came into my life out of the blue and I fell hard!

Seriously, friends, that is what it is like when you suffer from a medical problem that you just want to get taken care of, you are having problems with your insurance company and no one will work with you and suddenly you find a doctor, who is good at what he does, who takes your insurance and suddenly all is right in the world, all is in sync. Like falling in love. I am in medical love with Dr. Michael J. Pitman.

My insurance woes seem to be a thing of the past, my surgery is scheduled, my doctor is not only talented he is hot for gods sake!

September 26th, 2007, the cyst will be happily removed from the vocal chord so that i can continue my journey towards rock stardom, or at least so I can continue my journey somewhere and if that doesn't pan out, at least I can sing about it!

Crash, burn, crumble. My father tells me on Friday evening that September 26th, in fact, will not be my surgery date because he and my mother have planned a vacation for themselves that they are not willing to cancel. Which I suppose I understand, I mean they only go away on vacation about 4 times a year, so giving up this one would indefinitely ruin their lives. Now, because my doctor only does surgery the first and third wednesday of the month I have to put this surgery off another 2 weeks instead of one week. I appreciate my parents and their supportive attitude about what I do and what I am going through, but I would honestly rather get this over with now then have them in town when I get this over with. Basically, the bottom line here is that right now for the moment I am pissed as hell at my own creators for not shelling out whatever dough it is to postpone their trip by a week or two so that I can finish with this issue already. Not to mention that I am in fact an adult, at an age I'd rather not reveal, which entitles me the right to make my own decision, so that if i want to have this surgery while they are away they have no right to tell me I can't.

And that is my vent for the day, now its not my insurance, its not my trip to LA, its my parents getting in the way. An addition to my streak of bad luck. What to do.

In other news, because my inability to sing has caused me an inability to pursue my music personally and professionaly in general I have taken on a new project. Remember Mr. Derek James from one of my earlier entries? Well he has approached me and asked me for some help on his career. It happens to be that I know an exorbitant amount of people in this small New York music business and he seems to think I can help him get somewhere. So I booked him an opening slot on my friend and Geffen Recording artist Matt White's October tour, I booked him a slot at the New York City Marathon and we are working on some more fun things for Derek.

It is definitely a strange thing to transfer energy from my own career onto someone else's but in a way its humbling and its a great way to come up with ideas to help him and also to help myself in the long run.

And call me crazy, but out of all of this new artist management craziness, my boyfriend Dean and I decided to start up a company to manage and promote artists. We are calling it Rebel Spirit. Yes I know mixing business with pleasure can lead to disaster and with my luck it probably will, but still, at this point in my life I spend every day on the couch awaiting my surgery, so why not busy myself with something productive and music I believe in!

There you have it.

x,
red out loud

Arlene's with Atomictom!

What an amazing show I had at Arlene's Grocery with Atomictom. I have not written about it as of yet and its been 3 weeks, one show and a 2 week trip to LA since then, but I must include it in this blog, because it was a big part of my "months before surgery."

Luke White of the Manhattan based band, Atomictom, is a dear friend, a dear person and a great talent. He and I have known each other for many years and have watched each other perform shows all over Manhattan. Finally we made great big plans to do a big show together, my last in NYC before my trip to LA and my break from performing.

It was a fantastic night, PACKED house (thank you to all of you that made it out) and the new band I tried out was wonderful (many members of my original band were out on the road with other artists). We worked out free drink tickets (with the help of the Major Who Team) to be given to all those in attendance and people had a blast. Luke and I were stoked and all went well.

I was more conscious then ever about singing, there were no throw away lines, no throw away notes, every moment counted to me because the truth is I just have no idea when I will be able to perform for my loyal new york friends and fans (or for anyone for that matter) again. It was emotional, it was scary and it was an absolute triumph!

The show was a perfect send off for my trip to LA, which you can read about below, was a super success and I can not wait to get back there!

x
Red Out Loud

Sicko

I have not seen the movie Mr. Moore calls his greatest piece, but I am now experiencing American Healthcare system personally, so why see the movie?

I need surgery on my vocal cords so that I can possibly achieve a career in music, one I have been pushing for since I am young. The only problem is that I am finding out that my insurance may not cover this surgery. No good reason other then the fact that I have only been on my insurance for three consecutive months. Here in this country you must not only have insurance, you must have it for at least 12 months consecutively if you want to have any medical needs covered. Surgery that is. So if you are just reading this and are just recognizing that you need to get yourself some health insurance, please a) get it and then b) dont plan on walking outside because if you, let's say, god forbid, get hit by a car you will have to live with your injuries for over a year if you want your health insurance provider to give you any money towards your need. Oh, unless you are rich, then you can pay THOUSANDS of dollars just to sit in a hospital and fix it yourself.

I found out about this injury to my vocal chords three months into my insurance membership, my first attempt to deal with my problem was to see a doctor out of my network, then to try and switch up to an insurance plan that he might accept then to find out that a new insurance plan would count this as a preexisting condition, then to find out that maybe I might pay my doctor out of pocket and still have my hospital stay covered, then to find out that most doctors only participate with the hospital, to then find out that there is a doctor in my network who is capable of this surgery to then find out it still may not be covered because of my short membership with my insurance company. My options are looking like I either will have to BEG to have this done, because without this surgery I will be stuck at home, with no way of making money until March which is when I would LEGALLY be allowed to have this surgery and be sure my insurance would cover it, my other option is to pay $15000 for this surgery. $10,000 of which goes to my hospital stay. This is an in and out procedure, so im not sure why 2 hours in the hospital costs $10,000. If you must know, the professional who is going to actually fix my instrument would only cost about $4,000 which is a reasonable price, in my opinion, to save your life blood!

This is my precarious situation. I sit, I wait, I talk to insurance companies and billing managers at doctors offices all day. It's amazing.

The Mint

I wonder when my next show will be. Tonight I played my last scheduled show before my potentially scheduled vocal surgery. It was incredible. My first out of town show, here in LA and I brought out about 50 people, lots of industry and many new faces. The sound was great, everyone at the mint was so accommadating and my voice was in excellent shape. "The Secret" and the additionaly steroids really came in handy!

I started the night playing with Fools For APril- it was a blast to sing backgrounds for them, then I had my band come up and weplayed a set. It seemed to be well received, there was some talking in the audience, but there was also a lot of applause and a lot of great feedback after! A reporter from the Jewish Journal wants to discuss a potential piece, I have a meeting set with a potential lawyer and I met 2 of my myspace fans which was amazing!

I am now wired because we went to Swingers for food and drink and I am still on a high from the show- which is what I love so much about performing....

My voice felt today as though I had willed away my injury- and wouldn't that be a dream....we shall see...all i know is performing is addictive and I cant wait to get back up!

Thanks to all who made it out and helped me make this very successful!

More to come!