Posted on 08/03/2010 6:34:26 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
A got a new perspective a year or so ago. My adult son that was married less than 6 weeks calls me ask for medical advice, he was feeling lousy. We go over his symptoms which include upper abdominal pain and just feeling lousy. Take some gas-x was my advice. He calls me a few hours later and says that the pain has move lower and he is feeling queasy. So he leaves work. My opinion is he has the flu.
A few more hours pass and he informs me that his wife has taken him to ER. I am thinking what a drama queen, let them tell you that you just have the flu. A few hours in ER with no significant test results, no high white count, no fever, just abd pain, vomiting and feel lousy. At the last minute before they release him the ER doc decides to run a catscan. The results were surprising, his appendix lit up. Oh this changes everything. Immediately scheduled him for surgery. I arrive feeling like a bad medical mom.
As they are setting him up for the surgery, the surgeon is telling him that the ONLY reason that they are doing this surgery is due to the catscan results. After the surgery the doctor comes in to talk to us. Her eyes were as big as saucers as she informs us that not only did my son have appendicitis, but that it had gangrene. If that ER doc had not done that catscan they had not discovered the appendicitis during that ER visit and my son would have died.
Total cost of the surgery/ER was $17,000. My son did have medical insurance (military) but if he didn't I would write you a check.
“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”
— P.J. O’Rourke
P.J. never fails to nail it.
A very long story made short - seven days in the hospital - a scar from just above my navel to my groin - and about 5 months before I could actually walk around without some feeling of pain.
$63K plus.
My Gastro Dr. thought I had colon cancer and I was rushed from a colonoscopy exam right to the hospital.
Clean bill of health - no cancer
But abdominal pain CAN BE very serious, so I hope you are feeling beter and that you ARE better.
Which is one of the reasons I don't donate blood to the Red Cross.
Not too long ago, I lived in Yuma, AZ then I moved to Flagstaff. The gal I was dating in Yuma would dive up for the weekend or I would drive down to see her. For about a year she had a low grade fever an none of the doctor in Yuma could find out the problem and just gave her antibiotics. Of course after they wore off, the fever was back.
One time she came up to see me and her fever got worse and her blood pressure went through the roof. After three days in the hospital and exploratory surgery, the doctor found NOTHING. Sent her home with antibiotics. The next month she had a her yearly dentist appointment. Guess what? She needed a root canal. Fever gone. Hospital stay for three days $60,000 + other charges.
You have my admiration and respect.
Thank you for your sympathy. The reason I cannot obtain health care insurance is risk. A large majority of the people with my type of depression commit suicide each year; no insurer is going to roll those dice.
The type of depression I have is serious, but responds well to treatment. I lived with it for 35 years without treatment of any kind. Thankfully, God strengthened me over during those years, allowing me to live to become a father. I have a happy, wonderful life today.
But my wife and I still live in fear of illness or injury. If one of us is seriously hurt or becomes sick, that’s it for us. With no insurance, the cost of even routine treatment will destroy us. We could lose our house, our car, everything.
As I said: I oppose Obamacare. But something has to be done. The “invisible hand” of the marketplace has swept me into the gutter with the rest of the trash. If I become sick or ill, how am I to live to care for Baby Chan?
The libertarians and Objectivists on FR have a solution: “Get well on your own or drop dead”. But some things cannot be left to the vagaries of free market. Human life is one of those things. I don’t know what the solution to the problem is in this case, but I do know that something has to change.
One hour and a half in the ER? I don’t know *anyone* who is able to get in and out of an ER that fast. They drew your blood and you had a CT scan too?
You must be the governor of your state or a senator.
Cue the little kid yelling "that's racist!"
Wow, I can see why you have a new appreciation for testing!
Exactly!!
Oh, that's horrid...
No, the hospitals, doctors and pharmacies will receive a fraction of the amount charged. It will be based on a scale and negotiated down.
Bizarre! And the only symptoms were fever and blood pressure?? Good to know (because I have Irish teeth, if you know what I mean.)
Anyway... yeah, I don't know what the solution is but the current system is not good and I don't think Obama's meddling is going to make it any better. I sometimes think the problems started with insurance companies. But I'm not really sure how.
How did a Medicare patient get a private room? Does she have a supplemental insurance to cover that?
Were you able to go back to eating what you want when you recovered or still on a strict diet?
No, I don’t believe she has supplemental insurance. Just Medicare and Medicaid as far as I know.
I agree, but I can't control her diet or exercise, only she can do that. I keep telling her she is digging her own grave with a spoon, but she only gets angry with me. She tells me it is not her fault that she is hungry. Her docs tell her she must be on a diet that doesn't include pasta, potatoes, cake & donuts and sodas (not diet).
She just got out of the hospital having another toe removed and guess what she wanted me to bring when I visited her this last weekend - Cheeseburger, Fries and a Root-Beer Float - nice balanced meal there! I brought salad makings instead and she called in for a pizza. What else can I do?
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