Tfw your concerns have been ignored by your doctors for years so you don't even bother wasting time going to the doctor when something is wrong. You just wait til it gets bad enough to warrant an ER trip
Hello all. I’m going to do my best to be concise and not sound sad or dejected in anyway in this note. And because I personally get annoyed by tl;dr’s being after walls of text I’ll start there.
TL;DR, Swoon worked and studied herself to the bone during the spring semester, and fainted ending up in the ER. Health insurance didn’t pay as much as expected, the out of pocket expenses are $1,275.
Now for the expanded version. This might seem a little disjointed at first, but it all comes together to explain why I wound up in the ER.
I’m trying to get a career in biosciences and started college in summer 2016. Before this I’ve been in the food/restaurant industry for the past 12 years, which is wearing me out. The fall semester went great and while my pursuits don’t require it, my counselor suggested I take a chemistry course for some better science foundation. I was not prepared for the amount of studying chemistry would require. My main classes suffered a little, my relationships suffered a little, and the work I was doing in my restaurant suffered a little as well. I was loosing sleep and not eating a whole lot either trying to grapple these concepts of things that are invisible to the naked eye, while making sure that I showed up everywhere on the right day at the right time.
I have a psychological disorder that I’d rather not get into, which I handle quietly and on my own, getting all the proper psychiatric evaluations and blood tests done yearly to be a less crazy person. And over the past years with the healthcare marketplace here in California, I’ve had several different providers and primary care physicians, and anyone who goes to a new doctor knows that they want their own new set of tests and screenings. So, along with the regular treatments, my new doctor has labs done that check my immunizations. There’s one that I was missing so she sends me an email telling me to go get it done at my convenience.
This all happens in the beginning of May. Meeting my doctor and the labwork was done on May 1st; interestingly enough, as an extra red flag to this whole thing I found out that I’d unintentionally lost 8 pounds between February and May when I was weighed at my doctors office. She emails me on the third to go sooner than later. I think to myself, it’s near the end of the semester, I have to study for my finals and get a project done for my main bio class, but okay. Friday the 5th I wake up at 8am, head down to the lab, get the shot, immediately feel like I need a drink of water, but ignore it. I was planning on getting back to the side of the city my college is on and getting lunch anyway, so I could wait. I get out of the building and that feeling of needing a drink of water magnifies. I reach the bus stop and sit down and start reading through the side effects listed from the shot I got. As I’m reading about dizziness and vomiting, I get dizzy and break out in a cold sweat. The only thing I can think to do is head back to the lab. I make it to the street corner. Holding the light post for dear life. I think I tried to take a step to cross the street, but all I know for certain is I came back from darkness on the ground with a bunch of people staring at me.
A nurse is there talking to me, asking me all the important things. She wont let me go unless it’s to the ER. Luckily it’s right around the corner, and I’m immediately worrying about how much it’ll cost if they try to get me there in an ambulance. Five or ten minutes later we get there on foot, and while I don’t feel like I’m going to faint again, I still feel dizzier then I ever have.
I was in the ER for a total of maybe an hour and a half, they checked my blood sugar, gave me some juice and apple slices, hooked me up to an EKG, and… did some other kind of body monitor thing, I can’t remember. When they let me leave, and I checked out, they had me pay $250. A month later I get a bill for another $1,275. I have a copy of the claims here for you see.
If you’re a little unfamiliar with healthcare terminology, most plans have a % that is covered and a % that has to be paid for out of pocket or by a ‘co-insurance’ because here in America why have one when you can… pay more people. The total charges are what the entire service cost. It’s broken into two parts because the hospital/ER and the ER doctor are billed separately. The confusing part of this is where it says ‘your plan covers,’ and ‘your costs.’ They’re the same number. What ‘your plan covers’ means is in relation to what your co-insurance needs to pay (not what the billing insurance is paying), or if you don’t have a co-insurance, then that’s what you pay out of pocket. All totaled up, the bill is $2,381, what my insurance covered is $856, the remaining is $1,525, and taking out the $250 I paid to leave the ER, leaves $1,275.
I get the cheaper, less helpful plans each year because I’m generally a healthy person, and the cost of my psychosis is cheaper out of pocket then paying for a more expensive plan to cover it. This is the first time I’ve been to the ER. If I weren’t facing what is likely going to be an unpaid internship in the fall, I would worry about this and pay it off on my own. Given how the spring semester went with over exerting myself and causing this, I don’t want to work more than I can handle to pay this off while affording other basic life things and trying to making up for the time I’ll be spending not getting paid to get into my career. It feels clunky and awkward to ask but, I would greatly appreciate help. https://digitaltipjar.com/swoon
Elric swallowed my nose stud on Wednesday. ER trip and X-ray, told that it's in the digestive track so just look out for it. Cut to Friday at noon, he pooped it out. Thank you applesauce.
seems injuries are just a household thing now. abrupt wake up this morning to go sit with a housemate at the er. so much noise and craziness, but they will be ok. and i got to see an old coworker that i've dearly missed.
after finally getting to leave, i got home and had to compound the overstimulation to call my mother as promised. not in the best headspace, but i should be ok.
next big things happening, house meeting and a ton of cleaning. wish me luck.
