MY ER VISIT, HOSPITAL STAY, MEDICAL BILLS, & HEALTH CARE
Unfortunately, I had to visit the Emergency Room a few months ago. As I am riffling through the pile of medical bills I have received since my visit, I am reminded of my stay in the ER and Hospital that night. I was in the ER, admitted to the Hospital and released in just less than 24 hours however, I am bombarded with countless medical bills from my trip. I have Insurance so why do I have all these medical bills. One is from so and so who is an out of network provider so now I have to pay this. Well, I didn't authorize this so why do I have to pay? You have my Insurance information so why did you go with an out of network provider. In hindsight, I wish I had never gone to the emergency room. What a dilemma we are faced with today? Should we go to the Hospital to be checked out if we are having chest pains or heart palpitations? Of course, we have to have these things checked out in case there could be a more severe problem and/or so the physicians could detect if there is something more serious with your condition. However, once you start receiving the bills from all the various medical facilities, billing companies, and physician statements, you may have to make a return visit to the emergency room since you might be going into cardiac arrest!
Back to my Emergency Room experience. I arrived on a Sunday evening around 6:00pm to a very crowded emergency room. I provided my Insurance information and was told to have a seat. Well, I am not a people person so I cringed at all the sickly individuals in the waiting room. I was taken back pretty quickly to have an EKG performed since I was experiencing chest pains. I was then told to have a seat. I assumed I must be okay since I would imagine I would have been taken to a holding cell or cubicle if there was a serious problem? I returned to my seat to listen to the young skinny white girl talk to someone on her cell phone about cubic zirconium's. She insisted they weren't worth a dime and she has proof cause she saw it on TV. As the waiting continued on, I noticed a strange looking man walking around the waiting area in an orange vest, something you would see a police officer wear directly traffic or perhaps a school crossing guard inhabit. He walked over to one gentleman to announce he had a big bunion on his toe. I sat thinking to myself, please do not let him walk over to me. I noticed a few members of the medical staff say hello and acknowledge his presence so I assumed he must be a regular visitor to the emergency room. Another lady opted to eat her dinner in the emergency room which left the wonderful aroma of fish throughout the waiting area.
After almost three hours, it was my time to be taken to a cubicle. Actually, I'm not sure what I was taken to - it appeared to almost be an unused storage room that has been turned into a makeshift area for patients. There were three of us crammed into this small space with a curtain separately all of us. I heard one lady discussing she had been in the ER the night before and released and now was back again. She was going to be admitted and it appeared that she needed her gall bladder removed. Another patient next to me was an older lady and her husband and daughter were with her. The older lady kept telling them she needed underwear if she was going to be admitted to the Hospital. The daughter told her that they had an hour drive home and they would bring her some clothes and underwear when they returned the next day. The older lady would wail and moan loudly. I continued to think to myself "Get me the hell out of here!" A little later, I heard the daughter yelling that her Mom just wet herself and now her panties were all wet. The older lady said "Now, you will have to get me some new underwear" The husband and daughter told her no and they would bring new underwear the following day. Finally this lady was admitted to her room and I was left alone. I thought finally, at last, I'm alone. About this time some lady, man, I don't know what but someone starting hacking up a lung in one of the other cubicles. This wasn't a little cough but some ungodly hacking off and on for about 30 minutes. Finally, a nurse came in to this person and said "You okay?" I'm like "Bitch - what the hell! We are in the emergency room and this person just hacked up their breakfast, my lunch, and your dinner then you are asking if they are okay." I mean come on, did you get your bedside manner skills through a drive through window?
The on duty Doctor came in for an examination, soon after I was told I would be admitted for testing and observation. By Midnight I was taken to my PRIVATE room. All I could say was AMEN I had a room to myself. I closed the door to escape from all the hallway noise and the other patients moaning and groaning. I tried to get some rest over the next few hours which was pretty impossible however, I do think I slept for about two hours. By 5am, the nurses started their rounds of checking my vitals so I was basically up the rest of the day with no real rest. I was told at some point I would undergo a stress test. I had no idea what this was and believe me, was I in for a surprise. After not eating and then not being able to eat for about 18 hours, I was served breakfast. By this point, I was ready to eat anything and I will admit the food wasn't too bad. At 11:00am, the Doctor came in and said I would undergo the stress test around 1:30. I thought I could rest until then but I was wrong as an orderly rushed in to take me down for testing. I was taken to the testing area to sit there for awhile until I was moved to the testing site. After testing I was taken to another area to wait for the stress test. Once the Doctor arrived we began the stress test which consisted of me walking on a treadmill while my heart rate and other vitals were monitored. As the testing began to progress, I had to run on the treadmill as fast as I could. I was told when I couldn't go any further to hit the red button which would stop the treadmill. I tried to go as fast as I could while the sweat was pouring off of me. I thought I would alert the Doctor I didn't think I could go much further. He simply stated "Well, then hit the red button!" So, in turn I hit the damn red button. Fortunately, an attendant was standing by and grabbed on to me otherwise I would have gone flying off the treadmill as in a classic America's Funniest Home Videos moment. I was drenched in perspiration and this Doctor looked at me like I was insane. I guess I should add that I suffer from a thyroid problem and one of my side effects is increased perspiration which is pretty severe in my case. After I toweled myself off, I was treated to some juice and crackers then returned to my room. At this point, All I wanted to do was find the nearest exit and get the hell out of the Hospital.
By 3:00pm, I was told that all my tests had returned normal and I should follow up with my regular physician in the next few days. I was excited that I would be released so called my wife immediately to pick me up. I was happy that everything was normal - well, as normal as they could be with my medical issues. I suffer from a disease called Torticollis which has caused my C1 vertebrae to rotate so I have constant neck and back pain. I endure tremors daily in my face, neck and head area where I feel like a bobblehead. I have been through so many various treatments, therapies, and procedures over the past four years. I have tried chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, trigger point therapy, spinal decompression therapy, acupuncture, botox injections, and radio frequency lesioning treatment. Unfortunately, all have only provided only short term temporary relief. Needless to say, I was happy to be leaving the Hospital as it can be a very depressing atmosphere. It reminded me of the time I worked at an Animal Shelter years earlier. As much good that comes from seeing animals being adopted into good homes, you feel a sense of depression from being around an equal amount of loss due to euthanasia, abandonment, and cruelty.
With feeling a sense of being overwhelmed with my medical bills from my ER visit, Hospital stay, and from all my treatments, procedures, and therapies over the past four years, I can definitely say I am for a universal health care plan. I don't necessarily agree with the current plan being proposed but I do believe we need some type of plan. I realize we have to pay higher taxes for this but every legal American citizen should have the right to health care. Also, I believe individuals with higher incomes should be taxed higher to help the middle class. We live in such a great country and to survive this national epidemic we have with health care not to mention poverty, education, unemployment, and many other important issues, we have to help the citizens of the United States. Until then, I have to figure out how to pay all these medical bills.
Back to my Emergency Room experience. I arrived on a Sunday evening around 6:00pm to a very crowded emergency room. I provided my Insurance information and was told to have a seat. Well, I am not a people person so I cringed at all the sickly individuals in the waiting room. I was taken back pretty quickly to have an EKG performed since I was experiencing chest pains. I was then told to have a seat. I assumed I must be okay since I would imagine I would have been taken to a holding cell or cubicle if there was a serious problem? I returned to my seat to listen to the young skinny white girl talk to someone on her cell phone about cubic zirconium's. She insisted they weren't worth a dime and she has proof cause she saw it on TV. As the waiting continued on, I noticed a strange looking man walking around the waiting area in an orange vest, something you would see a police officer wear directly traffic or perhaps a school crossing guard inhabit. He walked over to one gentleman to announce he had a big bunion on his toe. I sat thinking to myself, please do not let him walk over to me. I noticed a few members of the medical staff say hello and acknowledge his presence so I assumed he must be a regular visitor to the emergency room. Another lady opted to eat her dinner in the emergency room which left the wonderful aroma of fish throughout the waiting area.
After almost three hours, it was my time to be taken to a cubicle. Actually, I'm not sure what I was taken to - it appeared to almost be an unused storage room that has been turned into a makeshift area for patients. There were three of us crammed into this small space with a curtain separately all of us. I heard one lady discussing she had been in the ER the night before and released and now was back again. She was going to be admitted and it appeared that she needed her gall bladder removed. Another patient next to me was an older lady and her husband and daughter were with her. The older lady kept telling them she needed underwear if she was going to be admitted to the Hospital. The daughter told her that they had an hour drive home and they would bring her some clothes and underwear when they returned the next day. The older lady would wail and moan loudly. I continued to think to myself "Get me the hell out of here!" A little later, I heard the daughter yelling that her Mom just wet herself and now her panties were all wet. The older lady said "Now, you will have to get me some new underwear" The husband and daughter told her no and they would bring new underwear the following day. Finally this lady was admitted to her room and I was left alone. I thought finally, at last, I'm alone. About this time some lady, man, I don't know what but someone starting hacking up a lung in one of the other cubicles. This wasn't a little cough but some ungodly hacking off and on for about 30 minutes. Finally, a nurse came in to this person and said "You okay?" I'm like "Bitch - what the hell! We are in the emergency room and this person just hacked up their breakfast, my lunch, and your dinner then you are asking if they are okay." I mean come on, did you get your bedside manner skills through a drive through window?
The on duty Doctor came in for an examination, soon after I was told I would be admitted for testing and observation. By Midnight I was taken to my PRIVATE room. All I could say was AMEN I had a room to myself. I closed the door to escape from all the hallway noise and the other patients moaning and groaning. I tried to get some rest over the next few hours which was pretty impossible however, I do think I slept for about two hours. By 5am, the nurses started their rounds of checking my vitals so I was basically up the rest of the day with no real rest. I was told at some point I would undergo a stress test. I had no idea what this was and believe me, was I in for a surprise. After not eating and then not being able to eat for about 18 hours, I was served breakfast. By this point, I was ready to eat anything and I will admit the food wasn't too bad. At 11:00am, the Doctor came in and said I would undergo the stress test around 1:30. I thought I could rest until then but I was wrong as an orderly rushed in to take me down for testing. I was taken to the testing area to sit there for awhile until I was moved to the testing site. After testing I was taken to another area to wait for the stress test. Once the Doctor arrived we began the stress test which consisted of me walking on a treadmill while my heart rate and other vitals were monitored. As the testing began to progress, I had to run on the treadmill as fast as I could. I was told when I couldn't go any further to hit the red button which would stop the treadmill. I tried to go as fast as I could while the sweat was pouring off of me. I thought I would alert the Doctor I didn't think I could go much further. He simply stated "Well, then hit the red button!" So, in turn I hit the damn red button. Fortunately, an attendant was standing by and grabbed on to me otherwise I would have gone flying off the treadmill as in a classic America's Funniest Home Videos moment. I was drenched in perspiration and this Doctor looked at me like I was insane. I guess I should add that I suffer from a thyroid problem and one of my side effects is increased perspiration which is pretty severe in my case. After I toweled myself off, I was treated to some juice and crackers then returned to my room. At this point, All I wanted to do was find the nearest exit and get the hell out of the Hospital.
By 3:00pm, I was told that all my tests had returned normal and I should follow up with my regular physician in the next few days. I was excited that I would be released so called my wife immediately to pick me up. I was happy that everything was normal - well, as normal as they could be with my medical issues. I suffer from a disease called Torticollis which has caused my C1 vertebrae to rotate so I have constant neck and back pain. I endure tremors daily in my face, neck and head area where I feel like a bobblehead. I have been through so many various treatments, therapies, and procedures over the past four years. I have tried chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, trigger point therapy, spinal decompression therapy, acupuncture, botox injections, and radio frequency lesioning treatment. Unfortunately, all have only provided only short term temporary relief. Needless to say, I was happy to be leaving the Hospital as it can be a very depressing atmosphere. It reminded me of the time I worked at an Animal Shelter years earlier. As much good that comes from seeing animals being adopted into good homes, you feel a sense of depression from being around an equal amount of loss due to euthanasia, abandonment, and cruelty.
With feeling a sense of being overwhelmed with my medical bills from my ER visit, Hospital stay, and from all my treatments, procedures, and therapies over the past four years, I can definitely say I am for a universal health care plan. I don't necessarily agree with the current plan being proposed but I do believe we need some type of plan. I realize we have to pay higher taxes for this but every legal American citizen should have the right to health care. Also, I believe individuals with higher incomes should be taxed higher to help the middle class. We live in such a great country and to survive this national epidemic we have with health care not to mention poverty, education, unemployment, and many other important issues, we have to help the citizens of the United States. Until then, I have to figure out how to pay all these medical bills.
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