Expensive chicken dinner

[guroo270]

I had a chicken dinner Thursday night that made me vacate every ounce of water and food in my system all throughout Friday, but as it's subsiding I'm drinking as much water as I can. On one of my last heaves, though, I got a cramp in my back and three real strong ones down my chest, rib cage and stomach. I go to work on Saturday, do my job, but am feeling funny.

I go home to relax, put my feet up, but my abdomen feels puffier, my thighs are knocking way more than they should, my shit had turned black, and when I stood up it felt like some fluid ran all the way down to and around my knees (Inside the skin), lots of gurgling and pulsating on my right side around my stomach.

I head over to Walgreens to get a free blood pressure screening and it's high. 188/144 with a 70 pulse. I'm normally at the top of the "Low" range.

Head to the ER where they think I could have a leaky stomach, or upper gastrointestinal hemmorage or some shit. They send me home with a piece of paper saying diagnosed with "abdominal pain", and say I'm fine.

$10 grand later. Oh, and have the decency to tell me I need to be in the ER again for a follow up visit 4 hours from now. I have shitty insurance that is probably going to label this a pre-existing condition because I had hernia repair surgery for "abdominal pain" 5 years ago.

I was there for 3 hours, which is good that I wasn't waiting all day and night, but seriously… $3k plus an hour?

[Crampedon]

At a restaurant? Call the manager, you are likely not the only one affected.

Hope you feel better. Vibes+++

[Rip'nStick]

That is insane. Hope you get some piece of mind and feel better but wtf with $10k

[guroo270]

At a restaurant? Call the manager, you are likely not the only one affected.

Hope you feel better. Vibes+++

Well, if it really was the chicken, it was my dinner, but it could have also been something from the meal before where my roommate brought home a Hardee's cheeseburger, and he ordered his bacon cheddar cheeseburger ketchup only, and this confused the girl quite a bit, and he said, "What is so hard to understand about ketchup only? Bacon, cheddar, patty and ketchup!" I guess it's possible I could be reaping some of the effects of that.

There is some solace here. I have some very close connections with a non-profit organization where this Dr. just goes around lobbying with these hospitals for outrageous hospital bills and gets them knocked waaaay down. As in, lots of times he can get the hospitals to just accept insurance money… if there's going to be any… But I know, 10K? Most invasive thing they did was put an IV in me, and send me through a CT Scan. I don't get it.

FYI, I do usually eat much better than Hardee's and poison chicken.

[Shadam]

campo-bacta I think its called, its the main "bug" we get from chicken and tradgicly I'm all too fairmilure.

I was flying back from france on singapore airlines and after the stop over in singapore they served us a meal. yes yes I probably shouldn't have had the chicken dish eh? how ever my sister sitting beside me did too and she was fine. its not like shes travelled to 3rd world countries and has built up an imune to it or anything.
thank fark I got home before it all started. when they woke us on the plane for a breakfast meal of ham and cheese crosonts I took 1 look at it a my stomach said no. then when dad was driving us home I felt conjested in the stomach.
I never thru up once but shiting blood is concerning to say the least. thankfully 4 days and some pills on the last day and I came good. but wot was weird is how it was in my lower gut not my stomach. doc said once you've had this bug you never get rid of it and it can reoccur randomly. well isnt that something to look forward too!
after each shit I felt soooo drained that I had to go and sleep. 1 hour intervals.

sorry for the shity rant ...

[TomCrac]

Wow, that sounds horrible on so many levels. Guess you'll be testing yourself on greens and blues for a bit or maybe its an opportunity to pitch a "depends" type garment to The North Face, Patagonia, Marmot etc.

Feel better.

[old goat]

Two things that can turn shit black--blood (the iron in the blood, also iron pills) and bismuth (Pepto bismol). Were you taking an antidiarrheal like Pepto-Bismol or generic equivalent?
Sounds like the diagnosis you should have been given was "gastroenteritis"--campylobacter is one of many causes. There is absolutely no way this had anything to do with your hernia surgery. If your insurance company gives you grief the ER doc should write them a letter stating same (if he wants to get paid).
The ER visit sounds completely appropriate.
These things usually get better on their own in a few days, hope yours does too.

[systemoverblow'd]

How do you have a bill from the ER on Sunday from a visit on Saturday?

I'm calling BS.

[guroo270]

How do you have a bill from the ER on Sunday from a visit on Saturday?

I'm calling BS.

It was a $60 co-pay. I said, do you know how much the tab is going to be? She said I have an estimate, but the bill will come in the mail, it could be more, it could be less. Ummmmmmm, $9650. Or something like that. I rounded, sue me. Why would someone make something like this up? It's not politically slanted or anything. It's just what fucking happened, Jesus Christ, man.

[systemoverblow'd]

Why don't you come back and start a RAGE thread when you have the bill in hand. Right now you are talking to some lacky and getting all worked up.

[guroo270]

This wasn't very ragey. I'm quite a calm person. You must have missed the pulse reading part.

[Hugh Conway]

cheaper than a diet. pussy. just keep some cipro and an immodium around.

[guroo270]

pussy is not cheaper than a diet, douche.

[skiJ]

This Sucks . I am Sorry.

figure it was Two Grand in-the-door , and

another Five for the CT. $7K - $7.5K Just to Start ;

20% fudge for 'Insurance variance' get you to Nine Grand .


it ain't Health Care --


chicken is likely Salmonella ;

the Burger is likely E. coli .


Campylobacter could be - -


... Be Well .


skiJ

[Toadman]

I'm sure you will get an itemized bill for that $10k. Will be interesting to see what the lionshare of it was for. They do an x-ray. Or just feel your tum tum, and make a diagnosis off of that?

[grskier]

I'm sure you will get an itemized bill for that $10k. Will be interesting to see what the lionshare of it was for. They do an x-ray. Or just feel your tum tum, and make a diagnosis off of that?

Um, he got a CT scan....

[old goat]

Unfortunately 10K is not surprising. I saw a bill for for 26K for putting stitches in a kids head. He was admitted as a major trauma patient because he had been ejected from a vehicle. (The vehicle was a tricycle--really.) If your insurance has to pay the bill most likely it will get knocked way down. It's only poor people with no insurance who have to pay full price. It's your fault for not being rich.

[chal3oye]

Releases a white, fluffy, pillow on top of the most forbidding mountain landscapes, allowing people to travel over them with ease and relative abandonment of concern for safety. It's incredible."


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[PB]

"relative abandonment" - I don't think that means what you think it means

[skideeppow]

Is English your first language?

[guroo270]

This is making my head hurt. What's going on here?

[Toadman]

Um, he got a CT scan....

You sure it was a CT scan? Sounds like he was charged for an anal rape, like they do down in NM.Still would be nice to see an itemized bill. I bet they charged him for lube, but didn't actually use any...