It took THREE YEARS and countless appointments, phone calls, voicemails, MyChart messages, faxes (yes, faxes), appeal letters, follow-ups, blood draws, stool samples (ugh), and tears, but my insurance company finally — OH MY GOD FINALLY! — agreed to approve the medicine that will hopefully get my Crohn’s disease into remission. In 2016, my doctor wanted me self-administering Stelara injections every four weeks. That, he was quite certain, would get me back to a “normal” life. He felt really good about it, and so did I. But the insurance company said, “Nah. She can have it every eight weeks.” For three years, we have been pleading our case — that just a little more medicine might give my intestines the chilled-out kick they need. We heard “no” so many times. We followed up so many times. My gastroenterologist, who is the chief of medicine at nyulangone, backed everything up with test results, with so many blood samples, with colonoscopy photos (#glamourshots), and with his well-respect...