coffeegyrl
12-22-2009, 05:21 PM
I am having a minor surgery tomorrow (removal of cysts in my left upper arm and left leg) and I am freaking out. They told me not to take my anti-inflammatory meds for a week prior to the procedure. I called the surgery resident and told him that I wouldn't be able to walk if I didn't take them, and he said just stop them the day before. Today I am in pain and crabby because of it. I never realized how much they helped until being off of them for not even a day! As far as I know, I'm only having local anesthesia, so my anxiety is not going away until it is over.
Perhaps if I was going to an actual hospital it would be different. I have no insurance, so I am going to the clinic that the City of St. Louis runs. The surgeon is a surgical resident from Washington University Medical School, but I've never even met her.
I have been going to the surgery clinic for about 7 months for another problem (too delicate to discuss) and still have an open wound from that. I got myself into the wound care center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (applied for financial aid, waited a long time, etc.) and the nurse practitioner there told me last week that I may need to have a big surgery to re-excise the area before it will heal. I will be examined by their surgeon on Jan. 4. After that, I will probably be referred back to the clinic. For months I have suspected that the small office procedure I had in June was not adequate to treat this problem.
I have little to no confidence in the attending physician at the surgery clinic. He is arrogant and dismissive. He acts like he just met me every time I see him. He has given me multiple diagnoses that don't quite fit. At least he doesn't do the surgery, the residents do. Some of the residents I have seen are really good, but they rotate in and out every two months. And when you need a big surgery they do send you to Barnes-Jewish Hosptial where I am confident that there is good care.
If I had health insurance I wouldn't be in this situation with the clinic. I could just go to another surgeon that I trust. At this point I am uninsurable. No insurance company will take me. And if they would, the premium would cost more that I earn in a month. I make too much money to get Medicaid. I'm just screwed. At the rate the folks in DC are working on healthcare, I will be uninsured until I am eligible for Medicare. Even if they changed the eligibility age to 55, that's still over two years away.
Oh, and did I mention that I have a hugely enlarged thyroid that they want to remove? That is another story altogether.
Send those vibes, my friends. I really need them right now.
thanks,
Sally
Perhaps if I was going to an actual hospital it would be different. I have no insurance, so I am going to the clinic that the City of St. Louis runs. The surgeon is a surgical resident from Washington University Medical School, but I've never even met her.
I have been going to the surgery clinic for about 7 months for another problem (too delicate to discuss) and still have an open wound from that. I got myself into the wound care center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (applied for financial aid, waited a long time, etc.) and the nurse practitioner there told me last week that I may need to have a big surgery to re-excise the area before it will heal. I will be examined by their surgeon on Jan. 4. After that, I will probably be referred back to the clinic. For months I have suspected that the small office procedure I had in June was not adequate to treat this problem.
I have little to no confidence in the attending physician at the surgery clinic. He is arrogant and dismissive. He acts like he just met me every time I see him. He has given me multiple diagnoses that don't quite fit. At least he doesn't do the surgery, the residents do. Some of the residents I have seen are really good, but they rotate in and out every two months. And when you need a big surgery they do send you to Barnes-Jewish Hosptial where I am confident that there is good care.
If I had health insurance I wouldn't be in this situation with the clinic. I could just go to another surgeon that I trust. At this point I am uninsurable. No insurance company will take me. And if they would, the premium would cost more that I earn in a month. I make too much money to get Medicaid. I'm just screwed. At the rate the folks in DC are working on healthcare, I will be uninsured until I am eligible for Medicare. Even if they changed the eligibility age to 55, that's still over two years away.
Oh, and did I mention that I have a hugely enlarged thyroid that they want to remove? That is another story altogether.
Send those vibes, my friends. I really need them right now.
thanks,
Sally