Just an update.
I got the first two invoices submitted to my insurance company - so far, the total is around $130,000 (!). I still don’t know how much I’ll have to pay.
beowulff, I’m so happy to hear you are still with is and that you are willing to share your story.
mind-boggling.
incomprehensible.
HUH?
As usual…us non-American residents are stunned by your insurance system, while the Yanks take it nonchalantly.
But first…Congrats all round! You just survived a critical life-saving moment, and we all wish you the best…
From my experience with family who have had bypass surgery. one of the difficult hurdles is just the exhaustion of the first week or so. Simply sitting upright is difficult, leaves you breathing hard like you just hiked up a mountain. And the extreme tiredness takes a psychological toll, too…
Have you been less effected by exhaustion? It sounds like your body --and your attitude!–are keeping up a positive pace, and you’re on your way back to feeling good. Keep it up!
And now back to my original question:
would it be appropriate to ask you to start a thread about the financial aspects of having your life saved?
Just as a data point in the endless ( interminable?) debates about medical care in different countries.
I’m always skeptical of anecdotal evidence…but it might be interesting and educational to track one specific anecdote in detail.
On the other hand, if this idea offends you, I’ll shut up now.
(Disclosure:I’m one of those people whose only medical expenses are the parking fees at the hospital.*)
*(and no, I don’t consider it an “expense” that I pay a 6% health tax which gets subtracted from every paycheck for my entire life–That’s money that I have never seen, so I don’t notice that it’s missing from my wallet. Just like I don’t notice that caviar which I’ve never tasted is missing from my diet.)
Most insurance policies pay for the complete surgery. Hope yours is one of them. It takes the sternum a long time to heal, but you get to clutch your pillow like a blankie with nobody making fun of you.
Glad that you got it all done so quickly.
I’d be happy to post the financials of this operation as they become available. Instead of starting a new thread, I’ll just continue to post here, if the Mods agree.
Hi.
I am glad you are having a good recovery, and your spirits are good. My dad had a quad bypass 3 years ago, and is doing well now. He was doing errands, had a bit of dizziness and felt “off”, DROVE HOME then got my mother to take him to Emerg. (He is a bit of a hypochondriac, for which I am currently grateful)
No heart attack, no enzyme levels showing up or whatever, but they kept him in overnight then did a stress test in the morning. Uh-oh. Wisked to cardiac cath, then air ambulanced to Hamilton for quadruple bypass.
His surgery was good, no complications and he was home within a week. It was the aftermath that was rough. For the first few weeks he was very weepy and did need to go on a small dose of anti depressants. He has made an excellent recovery though, plays with his grandson, volunteers for local community groups, but he doesn’t shovel snow, cut grass or lift heavy objects.
We live in Canada. I can’t imagine getting a bill for more than my house for life saving surgery. I hope you recover fully from this physically emotionally, and financially.
I celebrated the 13th anniversary of my MI and CABG (4x) last month. My surgery was on a Monday morning, and I was sent home on Friday afternoon.
The worst part, for me, was when they removed the breathing tube in the recovery room. After it was taken out, they kept yelling at me to breathe deeply, or they would put it back in. The problem was I kept falling asleep, so I couldn’t consistantly breathe the way they wanted.
My MI was on a Wednesday, the cath was on Thursday, and the surgery was on Monday. I found out later that my insurance company called my cardiologist several times a day, asking why I could not go home until the day of the surgery.
One good thing - my wife worked for the hospital, so I was not charged extra for the private room or the television.
–SMM
First of all, congratulations.
Second of all: !!! You had a Og-damn heart attack on a Wednesday and your insuarance company wanted you home before Monday?
gulp
Wha?
The insurance company says when you leave hospital? Not the doctor? Okay, that’s pretty amazing, right there.
Also amazing, that they’d send someone home, after such surgery, tell them to avoid stress AND send them a bill for $130,000. Good luck with that ‘no stress’ thing, jeez.
As a Canadian, I cannot fathom a traumatic medical incident topped off with possible financial ruin, talk about a one-two punch.
I am very happy that you came through it and wish you a speedy recovery!
That’s nothing. About 10 days after I got home I was served with a lawsuit - I was being sued for $318,000.
–SMM
And to think that American folks were running scared at the idea of the gov’t deciding your health needs. Hell, we’ve been letting the for-profit insurance companies do it for years. :smack:
Yeah, it’s absurd.
:eek: I’m feeling lucky that when I went for my operation (cancer in the colon) my only economic worry was how much aid I would get until I could work again.
I guess that the government would be more even handed than a company weighing income and expenses.
So, how was your stress level?
Well, the attorney from the insurance company said not to worry about it, and I didn’t. Long story short, the guy settled the day before the trial - for all of $2,000. Unfortunately, he was a member of the same synagogue we were at the time, and it was hard not to walk up to him and spit in his face. Now we’re on two different continents, so there’s no problem.
Well, in the “When it rains, it pours” category, I just got back from a day in the hospital.
I was being driven downtown (in the back seat of a small SUV), when we got T-boned. The car that hit us impacted squarely on my door, and because I turned away at the last moment, the door handle caught me just below the ribs on my back flank. We all walked away from the accident, but I knew I was going to have some serious bruising, and I thought it was prudent to go to the emergency room. They did a CAT scan, and determined that the accident caused no serious injury (although I had some small amount of blood in my urine), but they also detected that I have a lot of fluid in the lining of my left lung. they kept me overnight for observation, and then did another CAT scan, and determined that fluid isn’t increasing, which means that it probably wasn’t from the accident. They discharged me, and I’m most likely going to need to go get a needle aspiration later this week.
Meanwhile, the pain from the accident is WAY worse than the surgery was - I feel like Chuft Captain after Nessus kicked him.
The saga continues -
Today I went in for an outpatient Thoracentesis, where they stuck a needle through my back into my chest, to drain about a liter of bright-red fluid. This was most likely a result of the original surgery (it’s a common complication), and hopefully won’t be repeated. The actual procedure, which I was very apprehensive about, was almost completely painless - there was just a little burning sensation when the doctor numbed my back.
The hospital checked with my insurance company first, and since I’ve met the deductible for the year, they covered all but $5 - so I handed them a 5 dollar bill, and was good to go.
Hiya GUD,
I meant to mention this when you posted this in another thread. Drug-eluting stents are not impregnated with antibiotics, but with immunosuppressants or inhibitors (drugs that stop the progression of the cell cycle) to help reduce inflammation and excessive buildup of smooth muscle cells. Patients are put on anti-platelet therapy post-procedure.
I’m curious how you felt before and after the procedure. A liter of fluid is fairly significant weight. Did you feel pressure in your chest that you didn’t realize was there until they started draining it? I imagine you might not notice a gradual change, but once it was drained did you feel lighter in the chest and easier to breathe?
Glad you’re doing better!
Surprisingly, I really didn’t notice any symptoms of the extra fluid. I didn’t have shortness of breath, and I couldn’t feel anything. I was expecting a significant change when the fluid was removed, but it really didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
Now that the fluid has been removed, I’m experiencing some rib pain - I assume that this is due to my chest being able to expand more than it has for the last few weeks. I didn’t sleep well last night - I hope this clears up by tonight.