A Tad Peeved

Don't you know it.....

Picked up my mail the other day, and lo and behold, I have a bill from a bill collection agency. It's for my emergency hospital stay. All the bill said was that the total was such and such, and I owed so and so. No itemization or squat - no indication of individual items and what the insurance paid, had not paid, or was pending. Just a bill.

From a collection agency.

Made me stew for a while, and I did have plans to call them and ask for an itemized bill, and then this morning, after I fired up my cell phone, I had a voice message.

From the bill collection agency.

Are you f$#@ing kidding me? I just got this bill in the mail about three days ago, no bill before, and already I've got bill collectors after my ass? For what?!?

I have no plans of NOT paying this thing - but I'd like better information. So I called 'em back and told 'em I did NOT get an itemized bill, and before I paid the complete balance, I expected to see one.

I've had this problem before - it's the voice of experience. This time it's the hospital, last time it was a certain medical center in the certain town with Boot Hill and Wyatt Earp Blvd. off to the east. When checking in there, they require you to at least make a payment on any outstanding bills. I was seeing a doctor there fairly regularly. I was paying every time I went in. Each time, they required at least fifty bucks. Finally, one day, I got an itemized bill. They were into me for several hundred dollars - there was no need to keep adding money to my balance. They'd been billing me for the full amounts before the insurance settlements, getting the settlements, and never letting me know I had a balance. So, the next time I went in, I was told I had to make a payment. I asked why? Well - because I owed it. Really? You want fifty bucks when I've got over two hundred on account? You tell me why again.

Oh. Well. We don't look at that.

Well, that little experience let me know that the billing side of their business is set up to draw in as much money as possible, legit, owed or not.

I was highly peeved and let the person know about it. They could have given a rat's ass. They've all justified their despicable behavior so they can sleep at night.

So, this gal today would send my itemized statement right out. I told her I'd put five hundred down (the bill is over $1800) just so they knew I was gonna pay. Of course the next thing was to get me to agree to monthly $500 payments.

Nope, not gonna happen until I get the itemized bill, and make sure the insurance company is through paying.

Honestly, I'm sure that my health insurance had paid off, and this is the final bill. But I don't know that for sure.

Y'see, this whole mess is one reason why I grate my teeth when the subject of uninsured patients come up. Why in the wide wide world of sports do ya think this crap goes on? Why do you suppose that bills are padded, services are overcharged and people who actually pay bills harassed? Why do you suppose that many doctors take cash payments that are severely discounted compared to what insurance companies pay (excuse me - partially pay).

It's to cover the uninsured who do not pay their bills. It's to pay for the illegal aliens who register under a false name and no billing company on earth can track 'em.

This is hardly the most equitable of income redistribution, but it is happening. Most of these for profit health organizations are quite healthy in the ol' balance sheet, and it's not because they're such Good Samaritans when it comes to people who can't afford their bills. They've just gamed the system to have the rest of us cover it.

And now Barry and the Democrats want us to cover even more expenses, and we're gonna have the IRS as the collection agency.

What could possibly go wrong?

I'm Free!

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Well, I feel that free in spirit. I can assure you that I'm not doing all that running around for real, just in my mind.

Ok, so for you that don't know, I'll back up and start at the beginning.

Yesterday afternoon, sitting comfortably in my recliner, I had one hell of a chest pain. It felt like someone was in the chest cavity and slugged out right over my heart (between my left nipple and the zipper incision scar) as hard as they could. Sharp pain that got worse when I breathed deep, coughed or whatever. I have had a pain or three there, and in my old chest incision as well. I've always figured some of that was some sort of bone pain from the surgery some time ago, because my cardiologist has told me that happens.

This time my head started spinning some, I was hearing buzzing, balance was a problem and I just felt completely out of sorts. My vision was even blurry. I was getting pretty worked up and worried.

It did occur to me that perhaps on top of this new pain, I might be going through a low sugar episode. It checked out at 87, which isn't real high or low, but I've always been able to tell if I'm crashing. I figured if I checked it again in five or ten, it would be a lot lower. I've usually got something sugary around, so I had a little box of raisins.

That usually takes care of things, but not this time. Pain the same, still out of sorts, no improvement. So, I fretted for a while and finally decided to get dressed in case I had to go immediately if not before. I called Road Pig to see if he'd drive me to the hospital in Dodge City. I really wasn't convinced this was worth an ambulance ride. Even with insurance, they're pretty expensive.

But RP was pretty skittish about hauling a potential heart attack to Dodge and having no way to help me if something was seriously wrong and go totally awry. I should go ahead and call the 'bolance.

Of course he was right and that is what I did. My blood sugar was up at 107 on their meter, and as I rode over, my head started clearing. Pain still in my chest.

And just to show you how precise and accurate glucose meters are - the hospital's meter had me at 91 when I rolled in and they checked it. Of course they took an X-ray and some blood plus ran an EKG to compare to one they had on file. No difference in the EKGs, and there was nothing there with either the X-ray or the blood work to indicate a heart attack. So, it was off to a room for overnight observation.

I calmed down considerably, and after all things settled down, and consultation with my cardiologist in Wichita, it was determined that I had not had any sort of heart event. My pain was musculoskeletal, in their opinion. Along with low blood sugar, I'd also probably had a panic attack of sorts.

Originally, I had thought that maybe either I'd popped something and was bleeding internally, filling up my cardiac sac, or maybe it was just too full of fluid. I had taken another diuretic, and it had little effect, so if I had a bunch of extra fluid, the diuretic was failing.

But it was not, there was just nothing there to work on.

When I woke up this morning, I felt a pain under my left scapula, where I hurt when I've got a rib out back there. It was directly below my original point. I've had that sucker out plenty of times, and my chiropractor (The Young Doctor) generally puts it back in. Not an easy task, considering how much like a barrel (plus sized like one) I am. I've got a huge chest.

My main doctor usually doesn't come on until noon a lot of days, so I had to wait today until she got done at the office and came up to the hospital to see me before she'd let me go.

Turns out I've got atrial fibrillation again. I'd had it before, and the ablation/cryo-maze procedure done during the quad bypass was supposed to take care of that. It did for all these years, but now it's back.

The danger is that when the heart beats out of rhythm, the ventricles never really flush clear of blood. Some always remains behind gathering around the valves. This can build up, then a chunk breaks loose, then it's stroke time, baybee.

So the solution is to prescribe Coumadin, which I call rat poison. Sorry, that is what it is - the stuff liquefies the innards of rodents. Too much of it in ol' Jeffro, and his innards become liquefied. If she and my cardiologist decided that was the way to go, I'd still be there so they could find the appropriate dosage and adjust it until they had it right. Then I could come home.

Or we could try a new drug Xarelto. It's gonna be high dollar - don't think there is a generic yet. I will be dropping Clopidogrel, which is the generic for Plavix. I also have to cut back on the daily aspirin - instead of a full one, gotta get a child's version (81gr, I think). She also adjusted some other meds because some levels were a little off whack.

I like her because she is so damned insistent on checking all this stuff and making me do something about it. It gets pretty irritating at times, but she is really on the ball and knows what the hells she's up to. So, I listen, grumble and go on.

Believe me, when she scheduled me for the procedure where no man had gone before (a little over a year ago), I grumbled a lot.

But I really do appreciate her efforts, and I trust her completely.

If you know me personally, you know I rarely encounter a stranger. I enjoyed talking up the nurses and making them laugh, and just cutting up in general. All that aside, I'm damned glad to be home and leave all that to them. I just try to make the experience easier for them and myself while I'm there. I hate to see the demanding prick in action in similar situations, and don't ever wanna be associated with that behavior.

So, the cat is pawing around at my feet wanting some attention. Best get to it.

Works for Me

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Lots of pink stuff - NASCAR painting their curbs pink, pink cars and drivers in pink driving suits, among other shows of support for the Susan B. Komen Foundation. Is this legit or someone trying to cash in, hoping to set some breasts free for his/ her enjoyment?

Well, you know me - always in favor of keeping our Nation's supply of boobies safe. I'm so easy I'm sleazy.


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All joking aside, ladies: Take care of your assets. You know the drill. If I can suffer through a doctor probing where no man has gone before to check the ol' bowels and prostate for the big "C," you can get yer boobies mashed in a machine to make sure you don't have it, either.

Well, How About That

As we get older, brain function and congnition can be enhanced by searching the internet.

Stand back, the ol' brain is gettin' bigger! And we all thought messing around on Algore's intertubes was a waste of time.

H/T Dave Barry

More Health Information

Remember - getcher nether regions checked! The Poor Farm is always concerned about your health. Yep, I mean you.

There was no Fox affiliate out here on the windy prairie until a few years ago. Clearly, we missed out.

Public Service Announcement

Prostate Cancer is serious news for men. As we get older, regular checkups are in order. There apparently are some preventative measures one can take to reduce the chances of contracting this killer.



I give y'all this because I care.

Yep, We Need National Health Care

From Here

British woman banned from entering New Zealand because she is too fat

A British woman planning to start a new life with her husband in New Zealand has been banned from entering the country - because she is too fat.

Rowan Trezise, 33, has been left behind in England while her husband Richie, 35, has already made the move down under leaving her desperately trying to lose weight.

When the couple first tried to gain entry to the country they were told that they were both overweight and were a potential burden on the health care system.

Mr Trezise managed to shed two inches from his sizeable waistline to fulfil criteria set out as part of his visa application to work as a technician in the country.

His wife however has had no such luck and faces a desperate battle to shed the pounds before Christmas, at which point the couple say they will abandon their overseas plans.

New Zealand officials assess people's weight using Body Mass Index which measures fat by comparing the height and weight of an individual.

Mr Trezise, a submarine cable specialist and former member of the army said his BMI was measured at 42 making him well over the limit of 25 which is regarded as overweight.

"My doctor laughed at me. He said he'd never seen anything more ridiculous in his whole life," he said.

"He said not every overweight person is unhealthy or unfit. The idea was that we were going to change our lifestyle totally and get outdoors and on mountain bikes and all sorts of activities."

Robyn Toomath, a spokesman for New Zealand's Fight the Obesity Epidemic and an endocrinologist said that obese people should not be victimised, but agreed with the restrictions.

"The immigration department can't afford to import people who are going to be a significant drain on our health resources.

"You can see the logic in assessing if there is a significant health cost associated with this individual and that would be a reason for them not coming in."

While the New Zealand Immigration Service could not say how many peolpe had been refused entry on similar grounds, the Emigrate New Zealand website revealed that many people had been banned for being obese.

If you want to be told how to live, fine. Don't expect me to live the way you think everyone else should, and don't expect me to pay the bill for all this "free" advice and health care. I've been diligent in leaving y'all alone, and expect the same in return.

H/T to Andrea