…or should I say, ‘excavation.’
I’ve had a lot of blood tests in my life. I’m cool. I’ve had IV’s. Cool. No problem. Went in for my routine test-check (I take thyroid meds, so they’re mandatory, to check levels—kind of like checking my marine tank chemistry.).
Problem #1, realizing how very important a good baseline test can be (witness Jane’s situation, where we have a multiyear history of tests, and a recent one, which helped a lot)—I just wanted the endocrinologist’s office to run the red blood cell stuff, for anemia, just in case, since I had a childhood history of it. So I call the office. Can’t do it, gotta talk to his nurse. Can’t get her. I leave a very clear message for her about wanting that test. She calls when I’m out, and tells me, yes, my test is in the system. That’s not what I flippin’ asked, but one can hope.
Problem #2: if you’re going to have a cholesterol test, you’re supposed to abstain from food for 12-14 hours prior. Now, I routinely do, in case someone’s flubbed up on telling me.
They flubbed up on telling me. Now I had two people telling me it’s ok to eat because they’d surely tell you. Well, I hedged the deadline by a bit, really crowding the 12 hours. So who knows what they’ll find?
Problem #3: they didn’t have the anemia test, the h&h stuff, authorized. That’s scheduled for February. Thanks. Thanks a lot. So much for communication.
Problem #4: I draw a nice cheery lab tech that ignores my advice to use the left arm, and insists she knows right where a vein is in the right. Now, I’ve had this done so much my veins are chancy, and Miss Knows-it-all jammed the thing in deep, and I think went right through both walls of the vein…we got one good vial, and then—nada. A tiny trickle. It took waaaaaaaaaay long to fill another vial, and she could only get half a vial to finish with. So nice. Then she wraps up my arm and sends me on my way, and when I got the bandage off, I’ve got a bruise that makes me look like a junkie. And it’s sore.
I just can’t wait to get to the doc’s office and find out they drew mostly lymphatic fluid and have to run it all again.
If I get a tech who ignores me and insists on trying to take blood from my arm, I refuse and ask for another tech. After 8 surgeries and uncounted blood draws, I know these things and I’m NOT a masochist. But they can usually draw blood from the top of my hands in 2-3 tries; really good techs can do it in one try (especially if I’m well hydrated). IV’s are another matter….typically it takes longer for them to successfully get an IV in me than it takes to do the surgery (little arthroscopic meniscus snips etc). Last time I ended up with an IV in my foot since the surgery was in my ‘best’ hand and they couldn’t use that site. So….I know your pain!
I’ve had 7/8 of my thyroid removed, so have fought the battle of trying to get to ‘normal’ via artificial means. If you show ‘normal’ TSH levels, and still feel run-down, research tissue hypothyroidism and the antagonism of reverse T3 with ‘active’ T3. If you are lacking in energy, it’s not always anemia, although you are right….it’s good to maintain baseline data and check that out. An interesting site:
http://nahypothyroidism.org/deiodinases/
I had a blood test when I went in with kidney stones 12 years ago and came away with a very painful bruise on my arm from the bicep to nearly the wrist. My French Language students kept asking me if I was “mainlining heroin again.”
Yeah, if intravenous drugs use is like that, I’ll forgo, thanks.
Mm. I have drawn that tech (or her clone) a time or two myself. Once, it was both arms, twice each, before she believed me that I have little tiny shy veins. No love, techs who don’t listen. No love.
I consider myself blessed that I have easy to access veins.
When I was younger and thinner I could just make a fist and they could spot the veins bulging.
They seem to be pretty good at drawing blood here in Scotland. I’m on Warfarin (rat poison) for a blood clot in my heart so they’ve been siphoning some off at the vampire clinic (anticoagulant clinic) – every week for the first month or so, then monthly since and nary a bruise yet.
Not so good on IDing heart attacks though – I was being treated for trapped nerves when I had a TIA. The ambulance ran an ECG. Turns out some of the trapped nerve pain was one (or more) MIs. So I’ve an aneurysm & thrombus in the heart plus some dead heart muscle – I felt fine up to the TIA now the side effects from the meds are giving me vertigo and short term memory problems. They tried me on the standard dose of Ramipril & Carvedilol but I crashed out with a BP of 39/19 so now I’m on the smallest dose possible and I’m still floating around waving my arms about and trying to keep my balance while trying to remember what I’m meant to be doing.
They don’t seeem to be bothered about me eating before testing cholesterol levels – never mentioned it and even in hospital they’d come take bloods shortly after breakfast. So maybe its a different methodology.
Carolyn, if I would have had any idea last night that you were going to go through this today I would have said just let me order & draw your labs. Next time, let’s remember this. You can just hand-carry your vials into the lab already drawn and we’ll save all this nonsense.
Bob, ***39/19*** and you are here to tell the tale! I am impressed!
Haika, I agree with requesting another tech when the luck of the draw gives you one who won’t listen. This is good advice for everyone to remember.
Sharon, that would be a good thing: the problem is getting them to tell me what they are ordering.
Carolyn, I’ll just order what I think needs to be ordered & we’ll be done with it, lol! If more is needed, “add on” orders can always be called to the lab up to 7 days later, depending on the test and stability. That’s what I did for Jane that AM when I knew what kind of trouble she was in — I added on the Ferritin & TIBC & she didn’t need to be poked a 2nd time.
secret government testing for the men in black, working for agencies that have no names, in buildings with no windows….:) something special about your blood we should know about ( and be worried:)…?
Yeah tests can funny things. I was offered an upgrade to my employer’s life cover earlier this year and I ‘failed’ the urinalysis test. My doctor’s comment was that it was a test strip and they were unreliable but she sensibly arranged for a proper test. That came back all clear so I passed that on to the insurance company. They refused to accept it. They also refused to pay for their approved doctor to perform a proper test.
Apparently I can apply again if I want to go through the entire test procedure but since they are happy to keep my current cover going I can’t be bothered.
Then there’s the eye tests. I was referred to a doctor a couple of years ago by my optician. Apparently my peripheral vision was a bit below par. Two years later and it’s not getting any worse so the doctor’s conclusion is ‘that’s just the way you are. If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother us’. One more hospital check and I’ll be discharged.
I suppose it’s all part of growing older and at least none of it costs me any money. If I ignore the entry for National Insurance on my payslip that is. ‘Free at point of use’ is not the same as ‘free’ 🙂
National health care certainly has its problems. But worse, I swear, is not having it. We’re insured. But—being a small business, what we can get is crap insurance, or you pay 10,000 a year for it. When Jane got sick this spring, we were faced with 2500 in bills for blood transfusions (2 pints). And several thousand in tests. And if they had found anything worse than what they found, we were facing bankruptcy, possibly losing the house, though that’s usually protected—they take your bank accounts, so you can’t meet the payments, so you’re on the street AND sick. It was worry that we didn’t need at that particular time. As it was, our insurance refused to pay some of it, and treated each test as a separate incident with its own deductible…but their group agreements at least lowered the cost of what we had to pay out of pocket. Everything was technicalities. The transfusion wasn’t given during a hospitalization: won’t pay for it. The endoscopy and colonoscopy were not done at the same appointment: separate deductibles. The specialist charges several hundred a visit: won’t pay above 75.00. But it’s better than the multiple hundred thousand dollar charges if it had been something worse than it was. Many Americans, even with insurance, have to choose to die to protect their families from destitution. People won’t go to doctors until they’re in serious pain because they know they can’t afford the charges. Old people have to choose between food and medicine. And the politicians still chant the mantra, “The US has the best health care in the world.” Maybe. But if you have to stand on the sidewalk looking at it through the show window, it doesn’t cure you, and if you can’t afford it, yes, there are people who commit suicide to protect their spouses from destitution.
Yeah I think I’d rather have a somewhat inefficient and perhaps not quite best in the world state system. Most employers provide additional private cover as part of your salary so if the NHS isn’t fast enough they will usually step in to avoid the queue. It does depend on your doctor though since you have to go through them first. Some doctors apparently hate private cover and will refuse to refer you – others leap at the chance to palm you off to the private sector.
I did some comparisons with my US colleagues a few years back and we concluded that overall we probably paid slightly more but that the service we got was probably about the same. The key difference seemed to be choice.
* They could choose not to pay at all (I think they have to share the cost with their employer) and take their chances.
* We have an optional private sector ‘boost’ that only costs a few hundred pounds a year but gives you pretty much the best you can expect.
oh, that’s terrible. I hadn’t imagined it was as bad as that! we are very lucky here in Europe …
I need to read the docs for Obama’s new health care plan carefully. Since I’m covered by a federal employee health plan, I have choices in terms of the plan I sign up for and most everything is covered with copays. A lot of the testing is free. My plan has extremely limited dental coverage. Different plans have different levels of coverage, different copay levels…but I pay over $80 every two weeks for high option single coverage. Our co-pays are $25 and some visits don’t have co-pays (especially the preventative/well-patient ones). These costs have gone up dramatically since I was hired in 1982. Additional testing via a naturopath (visit was covered) had to be authorized by my primary care provider in order to covered and I fought for 2 months over that. Ended up paying out of pocket.
I always assumed from what I’d heard that the new US health care legislation would provide acess to a similar group plan system providing options to folks that didn’t have access to group plans before this. I’m probably wrong about that and need to learn more so I can talk intelligently about this topic (blush).
when will the corporate powers that be, ever grasp that it is far more profitable to keep people healthy, than to pay when they are sick. not so profitable for the pharmaceitucal complex.. but i could live with that. and fortunately.. gratefully, I live in vermont. we have bernie, check out sandersunfiltered.com – some people might not like him, but he is informed, articulate, plain spoken and absolutely a champion of the every day people who are struggling with things like medical costs. VT is pretty close to single-payer/ universal coverage. I have state sponsored insurance ( which is a huge relief with a chronic condition), but even without. vermont is probably a decade ahead of the rest of the country, and it hasn’t bankrupted the state. imagine that:) okay- so it gets cold here.. i’ll take the trade-off ( and minor grumble when its -15:)..
I remember reading a book, the burnished blade, great YA medieval-ish story, and it notes in persian(?) culture, people only paid their “doctors” when they were WELL. Their job was to keep them healthy.. if they got sick, they weren’t doing their job, and shouldn’t get paid. therefore the vested interest for the practitioner was in keeping you well- NOT in keeping you sick. now there’s a great premise for a story:)
and yes- the US MAY have the best health-care in the world.. but it isn’t accessible to most, and if it is- it ends up costing them huge amounts. I forget what the statistic is regarding bankruptcies… where the majority of them are medical bill related.. and the majority of those, are people who HAD health coverage.. okay, crap coverage actually… is that better than no coverage? dunno… we live in strange ( and scary) times… most people are about 1 paycheck away from being homeless at any given time.
On the flip-side.. I do believe people need to assume responsibilities for their health and well-being. the vast majority of people get sick as a result of poor lifestyle and diet-nutrition. even pasteur, at the end of his career noted, La germe, ce n’est rein. La terre c’est tout.” healthy hosts, don’t get sick- essentially. We, as a country/ culture, are about the ONLY country that clings exclusively to the medical industry and pharmaceutical drugs. Over 80% of the world still relies on plants for their primary medicine. they are processed by the body more effectively, less side effects, and less body-stress. Additionally, most countries still have their basic plant-lore intact. and know what to do for their own health for a maintenance regime. Far too many in the US run for medical advice and pills for every tiny little twitch ( restless leg syndrome? seriously? dry eye something something? OMG:).. acid reflux.. go eat some ginger..
oh- btw- although this is getting long. re the thyroid- avoid goitrogenic foods. all soy, peanuts/ peanut butter.. and a handful of other foods on the list that I can’t remember right now… they depress the thyroid/ function… 😉 i’ll get to the other Q after, if it hasn’t already been answered:)
I’m surprised that anyone who types as much (and as fast and furiously) as you do has trouble with techs being able to find/hit a vein. I type medical records from dictation for a living (medical transcriptionist), 8 hours x 5 days x 25 years and I rarely have problems with a tech finding a vein (although I’ve been poked in the elbow crease so many times the vein there does tend to roll a little). Of course, my veins may just be closer to the skin surface than yours — anatomical variation, and all that. Same with getting an IV. But then I have very fair skin, so my veins are really easy to spot.
By “red blood cell stuff” I’m assuming you mean the complete blood count (CBC). If you have a history of anemia, in addition to a CBC, you should probably have iron studies ,too – ferritin levels, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), etc. The body’s ability to absorb iron from food declines with age.
You say you are on a thyroid supplement. Is it levothyroxine (Synthroid, Levoxyl, etc)? I had low thyroid and took that, and it didn’t do squat for me. Turns out, there’s two forms of thyroid hormone, T3 (liothyronine, the hormone that circulates in the blood and “does the deed”) and T4 (levothyroxine, a form of the hormone that is stockpiled in the liver, and must be converted by the tissues to T3). Problem is, some of the body’s tissues (brain, for one) don’t convert T4 to T3 as well as others. I got switched to Amour thyroid, which has both T3 and T4, and that has made all the difference. Also, doc’s tend to “over-prescribe” levothyroxine to compensate for its lack of T3. Having too much T4 can actually cause low thyroid levels. I don’t know your family medical history, but you may want to have what they call a hemoglobin A1c, which tells how good your blood sugar control is. If your blood sugar is not under good control (either too low or too high), that can make you feel like you don’t have any energy.
are they the only game in town? one thing many folks have never really had dawn on them ( thanks to the medical brainwashing:).. is that the doc and establishment work for YOU ( umm.. not you personally, madam empress:), vous-you not tu-you:) but that we have the right to ask any particular questions, and it is their JOB, to answer, find out, etc.. since you are paying THEM, not vice versa. doc’s are not gods nor deities nor even demi-gods.. and I have actually found many of them are not really that super smart- just good at functioning in a particular educational paradigm ( rote memorisation:). Further, unless pigeon-holed by an HMO ( do they assign a primary doc?).. shop around. treat a doc just like you would buying a home or a car… kick the tires, take it for a test drive, interview the doc on a first trip and find out if this is someone you’d want and trust… rather than treating them like the gum-ball machine, where you drop your money in, and grab what falls down the shoot:)
hopefully your arm will survive. arnica is very good for bruising, so is calendula/ pot marigold:) tea internal, poultice external;)
The doc is good, and is only remotely connected to this lab. And this is the first time in this lab I’ve had to deal with an incompetent: the techs I usually get are good and efficient, right in, right out, with only a pinprick to show for it. Since I’ve never seen her before, I think she must be new—with a vengeance. If I’d been a person really nervous with a blood draw, I probably would have gotten another tech, but I put up with it—didn’t want to get her in trouble, but probably should have, thinking of the next guy.
We have many choices in Spokane—it’s a regional medical center serving 3 states, but my least favorite lab is probably the best: every time I have dealt with them, however, there has been a big go-round about the billing because the confounded thing isn’t readable. Not by me. And the atmosphere is horrid there. Reminds me of a funeral parlor. I keep thinking there must be coffins in the next room.
At least in my case, I’ve been told by techs and nurses to advocate for myself. And yes, I’ve had this problem since I was in my teens, so I am a bit more anxious than most…conditioned reflex. I’ve held up surgeons because no one could get an IV in. It’s me….my veins refuse to cooperate. Blood draws seem to be easier and I always go to the same lab, if I can, where they know me by now (sigh) and listen. I’m not a masochist so avoid pain when I can. I doubt that vein access has anything at all to do with activity, but more to do with level of hydration and anatomical peculiarities.
Adding turmeric/resveratrol(good synergy), tulsi tea and fish oil to my supplement regime has helped in that clotting is diminished and I seem to give blood more quickly now. These are all anti-inflammatory agents which help me with my situation. And I haven’t gone overboard so that I soak the gauze pad after they withdraw the needle (been there…done that). But I am afraid to add evening primrose oil….naturopath agrees (but she refuses to draw blood from me as I’m more difficult a patient than she’s up to). And I seem to have found a place where inflammation is diminished, my thyroid levels are stable, and I have adequate energy levels (most of the time).
Some people’s veins contract the moment a needle is in prospect. It’s partly a learned response, partly an evolved protection (ie, you spot a lion and your veins go submarine) against blood loss. Positive thinking and heat packs can help; but having small veins to boot makes it a real problem—me mum had that. I had too many blood draws as a tiny kid and my arms are a bit of a mess: I’ve got one good vein, I pointed it out, but you wanna know what I suspect? Ms Tech is ‘handed’. Extremely handed. And she can’t do her job except on the right arm. My good vein is on the left.
I agree and yes, we do the heat pack thing automatically now. I can hydrate up the wazoo for blood draws, which helps but pre-surgery IV’s, less of a help especially if they wait to do the IV until right before surgery when you are a bit more dehydrated.
re coffins in the next room.. do they start running a tape measure behind your back ( sizing you up, literally?:).. asking if you have a preference for pine versus mahogany..
creepy organ music playing in the background…?
and btw- did you say this was the best lab of the three….? creepy but effective.. ?
They’re the cadillac of labs, but I instinctively don’t trust them…I think it has to do with 6 months of trying to make their accounting people straighten out a mess. The same people do the hiring….
btw- a lot of the sea vegetables, kelps, esp bladderwrack are ideal with all the pre-cursors the thyroid needs to do its job.. adding that into dietary regimen helps thyroid tremendously ( note to self, low thyroid- take own advice dumbass:)
horsewisevt – there is a thing called plaque-off that I give to my dogs for their teeth, which is seaweed powder … it is available for humans too in capsules – would that be useful for low thyroid do you think?
I’d have to check on that specifically, to see what it is/ does. do you have a website/ product info page? I may have come across it under another name/ info etc..
there is an excellent thyroid resource.. vitaroyal.com lindsey mclean(?).. she USED to have a ton of articles and resources available on the site. a lot of really potent environmental health information as well- she is a bio-chemist(?). has site for both animals/ horses, and for humans. I would recommend that as a resource for anyone with thyroid Questions/ issues. mine is at the low end of normal… has always been, I have been able to “bring up” my levels with diet/nutrition.. but I am not nearly as conscientious of this as I should be. having just piled on an added 8 pounds may change this ( shingles. pain meds. oh, did we mention they cause weight gain. f&*&^%$$kkers lol:)
As a thyroid patient, the best thing to do is to research and become your own advocate, especially if you continue to have problems finding the ‘normal’ place again. My graduate level studies focused on mammalian physiology (including the human model) so it’s easier for me than for others. I read lots of bad info in regard to thyroid function, deal with doctors who aren’t up on the more recent journal articles and research and have found that naturopaths are often more familiar with things like reverse T3 and tissue hypothyroidism. I mention these concerns to allopathic doctors, and so far, all have indicated that they don’t consider those issues important, although I did convince them to do a test to measure my reverse T3 levels (which were elevated). They didn’t know what to do with the results. GAWK!
WOL: “Having too much T4 can actually cause low thyroid levels.” I don’t know what you mean by this. If your T4 dose is too high, and you are able to properly convert this T4 to the active form of T3, then you have hyperthyroidism, which is reflected in a low TSH level. Is that what you mean?
Iodine and Armour – OSG may want to comment as she apparently has more medical training than I (a mere mammalogist)….but these aren’t things to play with. Iodine can help or hurt…depends on WHY you have hypothyroidism. Armour…has a history of inconsistent quality.
Mary Shomon on about.com is a great source of thyroid information. She presents it in a way that is easily understood by the layman but provides references for those who want to verify/go further.
http://thyroid.about.com/
http://nahypothyroidism.org is another good source but can be more technical than some want to deal with
Hope that helps….this is a battle I’ve been fighting since 2003 so it’s dear to my heart and I’m constantly finding new information to consider. Getting doctors to consider new info is harder (sigh). But a supplement regime I fine-tuned with the help of a naturopath, the timing of my thyroid med dose, and going on an anti-inflammatory diet which also avoids goitrogens has helped tremendously!
$2,500 for two pints? Do they have the program where if you replace the blood it is low cost? If so, I am sure some of us would donate.
You’re very kind. We’ve already paid that bill, and the insurance did get it reduced somewhat. I think it does speak to the importance of volunteering if an organization calls for donations of blood in an emergency…
I wish that there were some kind of program where you could donate while you’re young, and have that amount ‘in the system’ for when you ultimately need it. I think blood banks would actually stay well stocked if it were that simple, and if it were explained to people how much the stuff costs.
Not sure how it goes/ is done.. but I know prior to surgeries some people will “donate” their own blood, to be given back to them. so I am assuming if this isn’t something that exists, somewhere.. it might not be that far in the future..
I can’t give blood, for various reasons.. so not sure my own blood would be what I want back anyway lol:)… but I wonder how long blood can safely be stored for, and what the conditions are for keeping it viable, would be…. interesting idea…
My spouse donated blood for himself when he had double hernia surgery. I think it is called an autologous transfusion where the donor and recipient are the same. It takes a few weeks to prepare for it and can really only be used for scheduled procedures.
I asked the nurses at the Community Blood Center where I donate platelets how much a full unit of platelets cost and was told it was around $500.00. Now, I know that I don’t get paid for my platelets, and I wouldn’t consider taking money for them. But that’s a heck of a markup for such a specialized part of the blood. Every whole blood donation yields 1/3 of the 3 components needed for a full unit of each. $1250.00 for a pint of blood! I don’t think the oil companies should hear about that, or they’ll try to move in on the business and take over or else apply the same price logic to gas and oil as the medical community applies to blood and blood products. The safest donations are the ones you make for yourself as a bank for when you need it, but that’s a very short term thing, since the blood doesn’t “keep”. They use a 16 gauge needle to draw the blood for apheresis, you are sitting in a chair that resembles a chaise lounger for over an hour, and you can’t move your arm. It is not the most pleasant experience, but it is one that I will do every time I can, because I can do it. I refuse to watch when they put the needle in, because I know I’ll tense up and just make it more difficult for the person doing the draw. They know that right arm is scar tissue from all of the other pokes I’ve gotten there, and it’s usually painful when they get the needle in and the blood starts to flow. Only rarely do I bruise, though, and they do make sure that the draw and return rates are calibrated so that they don’t blow through the vein. When I get done, I have to leave the bandage on for at least 24 hours, because of the anticoagulant they throw into my system. I cheat and replace the big chunk of gauze with a regular adhesive bandage, since the wrap they use catches on everything and pulls my arm hairs painfully. So, anyway, the pain I experience is nothing compared to what the people who are awaiting these platelets go through with chemo- and radiation-therapies. I guess I’m caught up with an overly active sense of volunteerism, but as long as I can do it, why not help as many people as I can?
Well, it was what they call ‘packed red’, or blood with lots and lots of red cells. So that may have run the charge up considerably. But still!
Seems we all have a tale to tell! Mine was 35 years ago when my GP tried to do a draw, and to make a long story short (because I’m due to leave to see my current GP for sciatica or piriformis syndrome), I fainted after the doctor left. They threw me up on the table and I went out again and wasn’t all that interested in coming back. “Yeah, that’s ammonia, so what?” Lasting impression, get a good nurse/tech to do it, and the ears ARE the last thing to go! (Be careful what you say!)
Oh, we understand piriformis syndrome. Also I’ve found a little link between my sciatica and allergy. A combo of walking, Benedryl and Aleve have helped a lot!
A colleague at work told me that there was a link between hypothyroidism and autism/ aspergers.
Now I know what’s been going on! I’m Rain Woman!
Louize-
very interesting. I hadn’t heard that one. I WAS just reading about the other heavy metal, that is implicated in a lot of neurological disorders: aluminum, which is ALSO in a lot of vaccinations. oi! I have also read a lot about the connection between the GUT, and autism. Have not come across thyroid connection. am now curious:)one thing is certain, the body is not a collection of isolated organs. Candace Pert’s book, Molecules of Emotion, was truly ground-breaking about that whole deal ( as well as a woman’s experience in a very male and male politics field of bench chemistry at the NIH)
thanks
In preparation for my knee replacement surgery, I was going to make an autologous donation, but our local hospital referred me to the Red Cross in Tucson (75 miles away) and said that in order to donate I had to take off from work, go up to one specific location, have the blood drawn, then have the hospital here in town ask “pretty please” to send the blood down from Tucson, and oh by the way, they didn’t deliver on Sundays for Monday surgeries, I would have to reschedule my surgery. I’m really hoping I don’t need any blood products because I couldn’t take any more time off from work, and the attitude frankly stunned me.
Over the years I’ve donated almost 5 gallons of blood (six blood drives a year, for several years) until I was deferred because I spent five years in Germany when the cause of Mad Cow Disease was just being identified. I’ve been back in the US for twenty-six years now, but even though I have no symptoms, I might just be a carrier… I hate to think that I might have passed it on to some unsuspecting blood recipient. Since the average incubation period is between 2 and 7 years, what are the chances?
Anyway, all my labs have come back normal and I have been medically cleared for surgery. I have the go-ahead from my insurance carrier to have the surgery performed by the surgeon of my choice and I have paid all the co-pays. The hospital has already estimated the total bill will be north of $60,000 for which I pay a total of $600. Times like these make me happy I can afford “Cadillac” health care.
Physical therapy bills after surgery are still to be determined but I’m not going to let the bills stop me from getting the most out of the “experience.” Fortunately I have enough sick leave and vacation time to see me through until January, and I can retire at any time if I can’t manage to go back to work (or just don’t want to). I enjoy my job too much to seriously think about not going back, but when I jurt this badly, it is hard to imagine what it would be like to be pain free enough to lead a “normal” life without pain meds. Cross your fingers for me on 3 October!
Fingers will be duly crossed!