That’s awful Rain! I checked just to make sure you were from the US before I shared, and maybe some others on here can speak to this better, but I’ve some close friends in healthcare here and they have always recommended following up for an itemized receipt, as it tends to knock the price down once specific line items are given beyond just a general services description. Not sure if this applies to your situation or if this is the itemization they give you here but maybe that will help. Healthcare is unfortunately something our country does not get right.
Holy Glocamoly Rain. How can people in America afford those prices. We don't have to pay here in the UK. Unless of course someone has private medical insurance or benefits through work. Then they can choose to use private or NHS which means National Health Services. I think the benefit of private is getting pampered, and getting treatment more quickly in non emergency cases. Then there is the snob value of course.
I practically lived on eggs before I had the gall bladder removed and never had any problem. I don't know what acid reflux is which probably means I never suffered from it. The problem with eggs began after I had the operation. Eggs give me tummy ache now. It's not the terrible, searing pain that I had before the operation but it is severe and lasts for hours. At first I could still eat meringues without any ill effects but now I can't although the pain from eating meringues is less severe than that caused by a boiled or fried egg. A spoonful of Gaviscon usually sorts me out after a slice of pavlova. Sometimes I can't resist the longing for an egg (how sad is that?) and have to take a lot of Gaviscon before and after eating it. I only had two severe pain attacks before the operation. The first time I was on the overnight ferry from Liverpool. There was a storm at sea and the ship couldn't dock. Gall bladder pain on top of sea sickness is not a pleasant experience. The next attack came months later. I was at home. It was out of hours so it was the stand-in doctor who came to the house. He sent me to the hospital A&E and I'm afraid that I'm not the type to suffer in silence. I caused such a racket that they gave me a morphine injection to shut me up. That knocked me out so they kept me overnight. They sent me home the next day and I waited six months for the operation. They told me to avoid dairy products while I was waiting for the operation. I can't remember whether they or someone else told me to avoid cabbage. Anyway, I did avoid them and was fairly ok. You should have stayed the extra day in the hospital to give yourself a chance to recover. I think I had an overnight in the hospital after the operation. I think they told me to not do anything strenuous for about five or six weeks after the operation. I took their advice and I don't remember having any pain from the surgery but ten or fifteen years later I still miss my boiled and fried eggs. I was a lot healthier and younger than you. I hope you're going to be sensible, put your feet up and spend the next six weeks reading or whatever helps you relax.
They only wanted to keep in case I had any signs of infection. It was simple cya on their part (cover your ass). When they realized I’m a foot surgeon who can easily identify and comprehend the signs and symptoms of infection, they were happy to send me home. Their protocol is to discharge the next day when there is little chance of infection otherwise. And I rest MUCH better at home than in a noisy hospital where they intrude on your peace and quiet every 2 hours.
Insurance is covering most of it. It'll be something like $4000 to $5000 out-of-pocket. Regardless, I think medical costs are out of control. Imagine how scary it is to be uninsured! The bulk of the cost came from the robot. If I've deciphered the bill correctly, there is a base fee for using the robot around $36,000 for the first hour and additional charges accrue for every 15 minutes beyond that. There is the chance the surgery wouldn't have gone as well without the robot, which could have meant having to stay overnight, and racking up additional charges. So maybe the robot actually saved us money. Anyway, that's what I keep telling myself.
Much better today. The pain from the CO2 they pumped into the abdominal cavity for the surgeon's visibility is greatly dissipated today versus yesterday with no more shoulder pain. I slept the second half of the night in my bentwood rocker because it was the only position I could find where it didn't hurt with every deep inhale. So my feet are unusually swollen today from spending half the night sitting up. Eating and drinking is fine and I have zero diet restrictions now the gall bladder has been removed. I’m taking colace three times a day to counteract the effect of the OxyContin on my GI tract but so far it hasn’t won out against the Oxy. Might have to step up a notch on that.
I’m not laughing at your situation, but the fact that you wrote the sentence “so maybe the robot actually saved us money” just speaks volumes to where we are in this world today. Technology can be wonderful but it always gives me pause to think about robots/machines/tech doing such human tasks. Probably much safer and hopefully less expensive, but nonetheless it still conjures up images of WALL-E as a surgeon for me
I am so glad to hear you are home and mending. You are not the first person to have trouble with oxy. Its a very unpleasant side effect for sure. Drink lots and lots of water. Also in similar straits I found black mission figs to be very helpful.
I was at continuous Rosary and Mass today at Mother of Sorrows Pioneer Shrine in beautiful Mabou and prayed for all your intentions and also lit a candle for all intentions.Thank you all for your prayers also.
