First of all I would like to say Happy Birthday to my Big Sis! And Happy Birthday to my Daddy (Who's birthday and birthday dinner was yesterday and I missed it because of an unfortunate incident).
So I am taking a break from my telling my stories of Adventures in Dating Hell to discuss the recent unfortunate incident.
You ever just get in your car and feel like crying out of frustration? Well, I did not just feel like crying, but I did cry inside my car last night, but it did not start there. It actually started upon changing out of my hospital gown into my regular clothes (for the second time that day) and the nurse coming in and saying "we will be charging this as an urgent care visit, not an emergency room visit". Makes sense right? Urgent care SHOULD be cheaper than ER, but with my messed up insurance that is not the case. It had been a long day and that last thing I needed was another expensive urgent care bill.
Let's backtrack a little shall we?
It started around 10:15am yesterday morning. I had a little pain in my lower right abdomen and side. As the morning went on the pain got worse, as in: hunched over it hurts to sit, yet hurts to stand. So I let this go on for an hour. It is just a side cramp right? Finally, I called up one of the doctors in the office I work at and he did a bit of an evaluation. The verdict "You need to go see your doctor. ASAP". The concern? Appendicitis.
So I leave work early, go see my doc, and of course the pain is now subsiding after about 2.5 hours of intense pain. This is good right? Apparently not. This could mean my appendix has ruptured and I am feeling that release of pain. I get to my doctor's office and she states there could be many reasons for the pain: Yes, the appendix may have burst and now I feel better or it was caused by something else. It could be Pyelonephritis (an ascending urinary tract infection that has reached the pelvis of the kidney=serious). It could also be kidney stones (not so serious and I have had them before, but there is usually much more back pain involved). It could also be large ovarian cysts. Or it could also be pre-appendicitis that has 'quieted' itself down. So many things it could be. A urine test was done. Pregnancy=negative (duh! I told them I would need a partner and be having sex for that); but there was a trace of leukocytes (white blood cells) present. That is no good. This could be proof that there is something going on with my kidneys. Blood work was taken, but my doctor stated that she would follow up with me when the results were in (in approx. 4 hours time). In the meantime, I am to go to have a CT scan of my abdomen done in approx. 2 hours. So I go home, rest and then head for my 6pm appointment for my scan.
Once I get there I am notified of some information. Some important information. Some information that would have been valuable at least 2 hours ago. The information was this "Mam... did anyone call you and tell you that your insurance company will not cover this procedure here at our facility?" WTF?! Now what? My doctor's office is closed. My insurance company is closed. And I have something that could possibly causing an infection in my body right now. "You can reschedule this for tomorrow at another facility" (Big smile). Me: "Of course. They should have a telephone near my coffin, right? " (Big smile). Ok, that was a huge exaggeration on my part, but I am pissed, scared, and tired. NOT a good combination for me. So I talk to this person and that person and the end result "Well, I told so-and-so who told so-and-so who thought so-and-so would call and inform you, but so-and-so thought we would just discuss it when you came in...". UGH! So will you be taking the gas I spent to get here off my bill, or what about my time off of work?? Peace out. I am out the door and back in my car heading to McDonald's for my much earned strawberry shake because I have not eaten since 10:15am and have been told not to eat solids for the evening.
I go home. I feel a little tenderness, but overall fine minus exhaustion and frustration. Then I get a call from the on-call doctor. She insists that with my symptoms I should go to the ER and have the CT scan done. That's nice, but I am still not going. Then the doctor at the office I work for calls and yells at me "Go to the ER!". Ok, now I am scared so I go to the ER where I know my insurance is accepted. I get another gallon of blood drawn (I hate doing blood draws. Hate, hate, hate.). I do another urine test (still not preggo...SHOCK!) and then I wait around for all the results. Wouldn't you know? As my luck would have it, I am fine. No elevated white blood cells, no more white blood cells in urine. No CT scan. No explaination of what the hell just happened today.
I change again, grab my keys and get the news about how this will all be billed and that is it. The water works start. I am tired. I am sick of medical bills where I have gone in and received no diagnosis in return. I am sick of being mysteriously sick all the time. The nurse sits me down and talks to me. I do not feel better. I just want to go home.
This is when I get in my car and just let it all out. Total breakdown. I call my mom to explain that I must be loosing my mind and turning into some sort of hypochondriac. She assures me that I am not and that it will all be fine and that it is 'better safe than sorry'. She tells me to go home and get some rest. Which is what I do. I go home and walk my roomie's dog (the fresh air is nice) and then right into bed I crawl.
Another day in the life of T has come to an end. What will the next day bring?!
I am better today. I can still feel a bit of tenderness and a hint of discomfort, but I am praying it will completely dissipate soon. I have been told to eat light and watch my temperature and if the pain gets severe again I am to go immediately to see my doctor again. Uh huh. Right. I might try to wait the next round out. Just sayin'.
No comments:
Post a Comment