I've always been blessed with fairly amazing insurance. My dad worked for the city of Houston for several decades, so our family has always had the group policy with a large subscriber base and it's stayed the same since I was born.

After he retired, we kept the same insurance as part of his pension plan. Our co-pays rarely change for either doctors or prescriptions. They pay roughly eighty percent of most procedures and devices. And since I was blessed with a stable income family, I'm able to afford the $45 copays and twenty percent of the pump.

But in the last few years and with the new health issues, my health bills seem to be piling up. And with the economy the way it is, I'm starting to stress about how to pay for some of the necessary (and probably not so necessary) items.

My insurance has started rejecting some procedures (like the ultrasound I had done for my ovarian cyst last spring) and a few incidents with Medtronic have left me on the phone fighting for coverage and crying over the stress of my health.

I'm frustrated by my insurance company because I see their faults and I see the effort I put in so that I can live with as few health problems as possible. As a patient, it's difficult to sit on the phone for hours and not get anywhere. Half the time, I get sent back to the same person I spoke to before and told the same thing. My head spins in circles.

I wish that Medtronic and my insurance company would communicate together without putting me in the middle of everything. I wish that both companies would put the patient first and have a little understanding.

I would love to speak to the same person every time at my insurance company. I want someone who is familiar with my case and my issues, who knows when I've called ten times before, who takes time to research things for me instead of sending me in circles.

If all the companies involved would step back and look at the situation, I think they'd see that I'm only trying to get my money back or get procedures payed for that I had no warning about. If they could put my shoes on, they'd see how many hours I add up working on this, on top of school and my jobs and trying to live. They'd understand that the stress of insurance companies only adds to the demise of my health.

Does having chronic illnesses mean inevitable insurance frustration? Are there resources out there for those of us that hassle with insurance? What rights do I have? Is money more important than my health?

I'm left confused, frustrated, and utterly empty in trying to get my insurance settled and keep my health intact. All I'm asking for is a little empathy and someone who is on my side, for once.