Not so much the doctors I guess, the healthcare system just pisses me off in general. Everything is so fucking expensive it's unreal.
I have eczema and it can get really bad at times. Bad as in my skin gets so dry it cracks and bleeds, and nothing over the counter will make it go away. For the most part I'll just deal with it, use the over the counter stuff that relieves the pain and itching, and ride it out. Eventually it goes back to normal.
It's been bad for a couple of months now though, and since I have it on three fingers of my right hand it was affecting both my writing and my typing. So I figured I'd scrape the cash together for a dermatologist visit and get a prescription. The prescription cremes work really quickly, and one tube will last me a long time.
First I had to go through the ordeal of getting a damn appointment. I called last Friday, only to be told they had no openings for at least a month, a waiting list of at least a dozen people, and they couldn't even schedule me at that time. Now, this is for a group of seven or eight doctors. After spending most of my day trying to find another doctor, the first group calls back and says they had a cancellation Wednesday (today) so they can squeeze me in. Shame they couldn't have saved me that seven hours I spent trying to find a new doctor and told me that to begin with.
So I go this morning. The nurse asks me about a million questions, and I'm a bit annoyed. I know it was my first visit but I knew what was wrong with me. I knew I had eczema, and yet she kept asking me about psoriasis and if it ran in my family. Whatever. Finally I get the doctor, who was great. He took one look at my hand and arms and confirmed that it was eczema, and immediately wrote me a prescription. He also gave me a bunch of samples of lotions to use when it got a bit better, so that I won't have so many outbreaks and won't have to use the prescription as much.
That 10 minute chat with the doctor cost me $80. Then I went to get my prescription filled. Holy fuck. $105 for the generic stuff. Not eligible for any of those fun plans where prescriptions cost $8 or whatever, of course.
That might very well be the death blow to my Otakon trip, as that money was covering most of the hotel costs for the trip. Unless I get a job in the next week or two I don't think I'll be making it.
God I need to get insurance. >_<
Showing posts with label medical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Holy SHIT
I just got the mail. I Love This Guy, the fourth Least I Could Do book, came today. <3 style="font-style: italic;">ten thousand dollars worth of bills. That's just today.
I hate the heathcare industry with a passion that words can't even express. >_<
I hate the heathcare industry with a passion that words can't even express. >_<
Thursday, January 31, 2008
I hate the hospital
In my last post, I believe I mentioned that I sometimes worried that my panic attacks were actually something worse. Well, turns out that they were.
I didn't feel well Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. My 'panic attack' didn't go away completely and I was still in pain. It got much worse again on Monday. I couldn't make the pain stop; no matter what I did it kept getting worse. I mean, I was doubled over in pain and crying. My grandmother decided to take me to the emergency room. I figured that I'd probably just get some medication, and maybe have to start paying for a prescription for the attacks. Boy, was I wrong.
After sitting in the waiting room for nearly five hours, they took me in the back. I'd had an EKG, and the doctor came back and said that looked fine, so he didn't think it was anything with my heart. They kept me on a heart monitor, took a chest x-ray, and then a bunch of blood samples for tests. By this time, the pain was pretty much gone, and I was wondering why they didn't hurry and write me a prescription or whatever, so I could go home. And eat, as I hadn't had eaten that day and by this time it was nearly 11pm.
Finally, the doctor comes in, and tells me he has the results of the bloodwork. "Your liver results are abnormal, your gallbladder results are abnormal, and your pancreas is extremely abnormal. We're going to admit you." And then he walks out. What the hell? Nice bedside manner there, Doc. I started freaking out, understandably, but a few minutes later another doctor came in and explained things more fully.
I had pancreatitis, or an inflamed pancreas. One of the enzymes produced by the pancreas should be, under normal circumstances, around a level of 40 units (or slightly more). My pancreas was so inflamed, however, that my levels were at 3100. That in turn was causing some slight issues with my liver, causing those abnormal readings. No wonder I was in so much pain. Anyway, the doctor listed a number of potential causes, but said the most likely scenario was that I had gallstones. If a gallstone got stuck in the ducts connecting the gallbladder and pancreas, that would explain all of my symptoms. After I explained that I'd had these for years, the doctor decided that was probably what was wrong, and if so I'd need to get my gallbladder removed. At any rate, I was being admitted until my blood was back to normal, at the very least.
So they get me upstairs and into my room. By the time I'm done with all of this, it's after 2am. They won't feed me, because that's the best way to get the inflammation down. No food for a day or so, and then nothing but clear liquids. I was quite pissed off, but at least I'd already had a day without food. I barely slept; they of course woke me up every hour or so to either get my blood pressure or a sample. Around 8, I had to go get an ultrasound done of my gallbladder and the surrounding area, so they could figure out whether gallstones were the cause. They finally fed me when I got back to the room, though I got nothing all day but disgusting watery broth and Jell-O.
Got a roommate later that day as well, named Linda. She was awesome. Seriously, she made my stay so much more interesting and tolerable. For the most part I just laid around. Stephen (my doctor, and family friend) came to see me in the afternoon, and told me the ultrasound results showed gallstones, and that they were going to have to operate. He thought they could put it off a few months if I wanted, since I won't have insurance until I graduate and start working again in May. He sent the surgeon to see me though, and no go on that. Hell, the surgeon was ready to sent me into the OR right then. Luckily though, it was booked. I'd just eaten, even if it was broth, and probably would have gotten sick from the anesthesia. Plus, I hadn't seen my family yet and was in no way ready to just go get cut open. Made arrangements to go in the next morning.
Surgery went alright, though of course I was freaking out. I hate being put under for anything. I was out before they even got to the anesthesia part though; I was so exhausted that the drug they give you to relax you put me right out. I had a laproscopic cholecystectomy, which is where they make a number of small incisions, inflate the abdomen with carbon dioxide, and use a camera to see what they're doing. They pull the gallbladder out that way. While it hurts like a bitch, it's not as bad as having open surgery. The recovery time is also much faster, with less chance of complications, and I won't end up with a massive scar.
They had me up and walking shortly after the surgery, as that's apparently vital to getting all of that carbon dioxide out of my system. My surgeon prescribed me no pain medication at all, but the nurses took pity on me and gave me morphine for the rest of that day and overnight. I'm glad, as it still hurt quite a lot even with the morphine. The rest of that day went pretty quickly; I had a lot of visitors and phone calls, and watched a couple of movies with Linda. Fell asleep early too.
I was discharged this morning, and slept the majority of the day. I've felt awful for the most part. Over the counter Tylenol doesn't do much. I've been making sure I walk around and do the stupid breathing exercises, and I talked to everyone and hopped on the forums to answer the big thread of everyone posting their get well wishes. Other than that I've either been sleeping, reading, or watching movies. I have a feeling that's all I'm going to do through the weekend at least.
To be honest though, I need to get working on school stuff. My mom emailed all of my professors, and they're being understanding and saying they'll work with me to help me catch up. I'm not going to contact them until Sunday or Monday though. I'm doing what work I can over the next couple of days, but concentrating on recovering. Then I'll get in touch with them when I'm ready to really get back to work. It's going to be a real pain to catch up. What's ironic is that two of the classes I have are ones I dropped last January whenever I broke my finger and needed surgery on it. That's not an option for me this time though. I'm graduating no matter what.
Another thing. I can't believe that I thought I was dealing with panic attacks for seven years now, and all this time they were actually something else. I guess I understand how it happened. I didn't have any of the big symptoms of gallstones or pancreatitis. I wasn't jaundiced, the attacks didn't happen whenever I ate or mostly at nighttime, etc. And a lot of times I could calm myself down and they'd seem to stop, which was probably coincidence but reinforced the panic attack diagnosis. But still. If they would have figured this out years ago I wouldn't have suffered for so long, and I would have had it taken care of when I still had medical insurance. Oh well, I am grateful it's been taken care of now. At least it's over before it got even worse.
I think that's it for now. It took me all day to write this much, since I'm only on the computer for very short periods at a time. If I missed anything I'll add it in later, though I probably won't be on for a few days. I need to rest. And just a side note...wow is my currently reading list absurdly long. I didn't take any books into the ER, so I started a bunch more, since my mom and Danielle were nice enough to bring me some to keep me occupied. I'll need to try and finish a few while I'm recovering.
I didn't feel well Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. My 'panic attack' didn't go away completely and I was still in pain. It got much worse again on Monday. I couldn't make the pain stop; no matter what I did it kept getting worse. I mean, I was doubled over in pain and crying. My grandmother decided to take me to the emergency room. I figured that I'd probably just get some medication, and maybe have to start paying for a prescription for the attacks. Boy, was I wrong.
After sitting in the waiting room for nearly five hours, they took me in the back. I'd had an EKG, and the doctor came back and said that looked fine, so he didn't think it was anything with my heart. They kept me on a heart monitor, took a chest x-ray, and then a bunch of blood samples for tests. By this time, the pain was pretty much gone, and I was wondering why they didn't hurry and write me a prescription or whatever, so I could go home. And eat, as I hadn't had eaten that day and by this time it was nearly 11pm.
Finally, the doctor comes in, and tells me he has the results of the bloodwork. "Your liver results are abnormal, your gallbladder results are abnormal, and your pancreas is extremely abnormal. We're going to admit you." And then he walks out. What the hell? Nice bedside manner there, Doc. I started freaking out, understandably, but a few minutes later another doctor came in and explained things more fully.
I had pancreatitis, or an inflamed pancreas. One of the enzymes produced by the pancreas should be, under normal circumstances, around a level of 40 units (or slightly more). My pancreas was so inflamed, however, that my levels were at 3100. That in turn was causing some slight issues with my liver, causing those abnormal readings. No wonder I was in so much pain. Anyway, the doctor listed a number of potential causes, but said the most likely scenario was that I had gallstones. If a gallstone got stuck in the ducts connecting the gallbladder and pancreas, that would explain all of my symptoms. After I explained that I'd had these for years, the doctor decided that was probably what was wrong, and if so I'd need to get my gallbladder removed. At any rate, I was being admitted until my blood was back to normal, at the very least.
So they get me upstairs and into my room. By the time I'm done with all of this, it's after 2am. They won't feed me, because that's the best way to get the inflammation down. No food for a day or so, and then nothing but clear liquids. I was quite pissed off, but at least I'd already had a day without food. I barely slept; they of course woke me up every hour or so to either get my blood pressure or a sample. Around 8, I had to go get an ultrasound done of my gallbladder and the surrounding area, so they could figure out whether gallstones were the cause. They finally fed me when I got back to the room, though I got nothing all day but disgusting watery broth and Jell-O.
Got a roommate later that day as well, named Linda. She was awesome. Seriously, she made my stay so much more interesting and tolerable. For the most part I just laid around. Stephen (my doctor, and family friend) came to see me in the afternoon, and told me the ultrasound results showed gallstones, and that they were going to have to operate. He thought they could put it off a few months if I wanted, since I won't have insurance until I graduate and start working again in May. He sent the surgeon to see me though, and no go on that. Hell, the surgeon was ready to sent me into the OR right then. Luckily though, it was booked. I'd just eaten, even if it was broth, and probably would have gotten sick from the anesthesia. Plus, I hadn't seen my family yet and was in no way ready to just go get cut open. Made arrangements to go in the next morning.
Surgery went alright, though of course I was freaking out. I hate being put under for anything. I was out before they even got to the anesthesia part though; I was so exhausted that the drug they give you to relax you put me right out. I had a laproscopic cholecystectomy, which is where they make a number of small incisions, inflate the abdomen with carbon dioxide, and use a camera to see what they're doing. They pull the gallbladder out that way. While it hurts like a bitch, it's not as bad as having open surgery. The recovery time is also much faster, with less chance of complications, and I won't end up with a massive scar.
They had me up and walking shortly after the surgery, as that's apparently vital to getting all of that carbon dioxide out of my system. My surgeon prescribed me no pain medication at all, but the nurses took pity on me and gave me morphine for the rest of that day and overnight. I'm glad, as it still hurt quite a lot even with the morphine. The rest of that day went pretty quickly; I had a lot of visitors and phone calls, and watched a couple of movies with Linda. Fell asleep early too.
I was discharged this morning, and slept the majority of the day. I've felt awful for the most part. Over the counter Tylenol doesn't do much. I've been making sure I walk around and do the stupid breathing exercises, and I talked to everyone and hopped on the forums to answer the big thread of everyone posting their get well wishes. Other than that I've either been sleeping, reading, or watching movies. I have a feeling that's all I'm going to do through the weekend at least.
To be honest though, I need to get working on school stuff. My mom emailed all of my professors, and they're being understanding and saying they'll work with me to help me catch up. I'm not going to contact them until Sunday or Monday though. I'm doing what work I can over the next couple of days, but concentrating on recovering. Then I'll get in touch with them when I'm ready to really get back to work. It's going to be a real pain to catch up. What's ironic is that two of the classes I have are ones I dropped last January whenever I broke my finger and needed surgery on it. That's not an option for me this time though. I'm graduating no matter what.
Another thing. I can't believe that I thought I was dealing with panic attacks for seven years now, and all this time they were actually something else. I guess I understand how it happened. I didn't have any of the big symptoms of gallstones or pancreatitis. I wasn't jaundiced, the attacks didn't happen whenever I ate or mostly at nighttime, etc. And a lot of times I could calm myself down and they'd seem to stop, which was probably coincidence but reinforced the panic attack diagnosis. But still. If they would have figured this out years ago I wouldn't have suffered for so long, and I would have had it taken care of when I still had medical insurance. Oh well, I am grateful it's been taken care of now. At least it's over before it got even worse.
I think that's it for now. It took me all day to write this much, since I'm only on the computer for very short periods at a time. If I missed anything I'll add it in later, though I probably won't be on for a few days. I need to rest. And just a side note...wow is my currently reading list absurdly long. I didn't take any books into the ER, so I started a bunch more, since my mom and Danielle were nice enough to bring me some to keep me occupied. I'll need to try and finish a few while I'm recovering.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Anxiety
I had an anxiety attack Thursday evening, around 5pm. First bad one since July, when I was at Pat's. It lasted all damn night. I woke up at nine Friday morning feeling fine, but after I'd been up for a little while I realized that it wasn't gone completely yet. Ended up going back to bed, and didn't get up until after 1pm. I think the only reason I even got up then was because I had two papers to write for Advanced Accounting Issues. Managed to get those done at a reasonable time, but I'm not sure how good they were. I'm not used to writing memos and business letters so I'm hoping I did them correctly.
God, I can't stand getting these things. I should be grateful that they're so few and far between, instead of happening four or five times a week like they used to. But still, I just with they'd go away. Most times they aren't caused by anything in particular, that I can tell. And they always worry me in that case. I get nervous that they're something worse. I'm just being paranoid. It's late and I'm out of it.
I'm still not feeling that great. I'm not tired, probably since I slept so much. I haven't managed to get anything else done though, work-wise. I wish I could; I just realized how slammed I am with schoolwork. It seems like I have something due nearly every day for the next couple of weeks. I have assignments and exams for both my regular accounting class and Quickbooks due when I'm supposed to be in Philadelphia. Other than that, I've got to catch up in my writing class and get through the next section of Advanced Accounting Issues. I have two weeks for that one, but I've glanced at the assignments and they're going to be much more difficult this time. Oh yeah. And learn four chapters of tax law so I will be ready for that exam.
And instead of doing any of this work, or even trying to get it all organized so that I can complete it all without going nuts, what am I doing? Staring off into space, writing here, or watching Lost. Figures, haha. First thing tomorrow though, that's what I'm doing. Setting up a schedule for myself for all of this work. If I can figure out a way to get the accounting and Quickbooks done early, which shouldn't be too much trouble, then I have to figure out Avenue Q. Hmm, and I should probably test my laptop battery to make sure it still holds a decent charge, so I can take it on the train with me on the way to Philadelphia.
So much to do, so little time. Here's where that goal of managing my time better is going to come into play. Hopefully I'll manage to work it all in without losing too much sleep.
God, I can't stand getting these things. I should be grateful that they're so few and far between, instead of happening four or five times a week like they used to. But still, I just with they'd go away. Most times they aren't caused by anything in particular, that I can tell. And they always worry me in that case. I get nervous that they're something worse. I'm just being paranoid. It's late and I'm out of it.
I'm still not feeling that great. I'm not tired, probably since I slept so much. I haven't managed to get anything else done though, work-wise. I wish I could; I just realized how slammed I am with schoolwork. It seems like I have something due nearly every day for the next couple of weeks. I have assignments and exams for both my regular accounting class and Quickbooks due when I'm supposed to be in Philadelphia. Other than that, I've got to catch up in my writing class and get through the next section of Advanced Accounting Issues. I have two weeks for that one, but I've glanced at the assignments and they're going to be much more difficult this time. Oh yeah. And learn four chapters of tax law so I will be ready for that exam.
And instead of doing any of this work, or even trying to get it all organized so that I can complete it all without going nuts, what am I doing? Staring off into space, writing here, or watching Lost. Figures, haha. First thing tomorrow though, that's what I'm doing. Setting up a schedule for myself for all of this work. If I can figure out a way to get the accounting and Quickbooks done early, which shouldn't be too much trouble, then I have to figure out Avenue Q. Hmm, and I should probably test my laptop battery to make sure it still holds a decent charge, so I can take it on the train with me on the way to Philadelphia.
So much to do, so little time. Here's where that goal of managing my time better is going to come into play. Hopefully I'll manage to work it all in without losing too much sleep.
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