All things Razing Ruth

[snarkyjan]

I'm glad you got the care you needed.

(I think the American medical system sucks. Sorry. Just being Canadian.)

No apologies needed. We think so too.

[gypsygirl22]

I'm so sorry to hear about your trip to the hospital. I hope you're feeling better now. Hopefully the hospital will reduce the bill for you, it can't hurt to ask.

[kolga]

A twisted ovary is NOTHING to screw around with, so I'm glad you got seen ASAP even with the financial stress.

[Lillybee]

Ruth will you get a check this month or in July. If in July since your medical bills are in June and you have no income for June, you should be eligible for Medicaid. So please apply for Medicaid, the hospital should help you with the application and if they don't call Social Services immediately.

[tuckerphez]

These articles have some advice about lowering medical bills. I don't know how much can help, but maybe these articles can give you some ideas. If you can't access the TIME article just PM me.

http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/t ... cal-bills/

http://money.usnews.com/money/personal- ... ical-bills

I'm glad you're no longer in pain and I wish you all the best in the world.

[moodygirl86]

Glad you're feeling better, Ruth. And it sounds like you've got at least one colleague who's got some concern for you (providing she's not one of the lunch bitches!) so if you're going to talk to anyone, talk to her. I'm going through something similar at work - nothing as major, and partly my fault as well as hers - but if you feel like getting stuff off your chest, you're welcome to send me a PM.

Take care

[hywelis]

Glad you're ok now.

As I said before, I'm not a USA citizen so I can't advise about bills and such, but please take the advice of those users who are knowledgeable in such matters and try to have the bill reduced if you can. Worst thing that can happen, they'll say no.

Hywelis

[countressrascal]

I don't know what type of hospital you went to profit vs nonprofit. If it was a for profit hospital you can demand that they reduce your hospital bill to Medicare rates, which would be about one third of what they billed you. If you ask, it must be done in writting, they have to honor your request. Either they accept you request or they could lose their medicare license. Nonprofit hospital, especially a teaching one, has a pool of funds that they use to cover uncompensation care. You have to complete a financial aid form, provide that you are not eligble or that medical insurance is not offered by your employer, they will either write the bill off or reduce it.

Don't let them bully you into paying the cash pay rate.

If you need any help PM me and I will give you tips. I live in AZ however Medicare laws are federal, so it will work in IL.

Good Luck

[nokidsmom]

Second what countessrascal said as well. They can bully people into paying when they don't need to or can't.

It sounds like there's one person at work in your corner so that has got to be reassuring.

[Rescinded and Mended]

Ruth, I'm so glad to hear you are okay.

This might sound a bit personal, but I hope you might consider meeting with some of our Free Jingerites who live in your area. I know it's a huge step (and I don't know if you have already), but if I was in your shoes, I'd feel better knowing I could meet with a few of the people who were supporting me in this forum, if only for coffee and advice. :)

I hope you do well in all your endeavors in Chicago!

[Peas n carrots]

Hi Ruth, ugh I had a friend with the same issue last year, it sucks. I hope you are feeling better. And don't go back to the dark side...look how far you have come already!

There is a free festival in my part of Chicago tomorrow, and they are serving a free lunch (if you like Indian cuisine). I believe our local Hare Krishna temple is putting it in but the HK's in my hood are pretty chill and don't evangelize (I'm a non believer so if it passes my muster it's ok :D ). Plus the beaches here are free, so bring a book and blanket and chill after lunch. If you feel like having me join pm me but don't feel like you have to if you decide to go.

http://chariotfestival.org/

[snarkykitty]

I'm so sorry. I had a problem and I couldn't get on line for several days.

I had been feeling very uncomfortable in the pelvic area for about a week and thought it was the move (my periods were off and I just felt odd). I went to work on Saturday morning and the discomfort turned into pain. By the end of the day, a coworker noticed that I couldn't really stand up straight and she recommended I go to this urgent care facility next to the school. They ended up sending me to the ER and that led to testing and surgery. I had a twisted ovary that was kind of beyond saving by the time they got in there. I'm totally fine now- in fact, I feel physically better than I have for a while. But, of course, with no insurance, it's becoming a monster stressor. They're ok letting me make payments but it's ridiculously expensive to need care without insurance and I am now in a huge pickle. But, it could be worse, I was told that it could have been much more serious and could've ended up in a hysterectomy if I had waited much longer to seek care. I was without internet for several days in the hospital and have decided to give up my internet at home in the meantime to save money. I can check it during lunch and break here at work. My employers were very understanding and thankfully I did not lose my job. Thank you for caring enough to worry about me during my absence.

Wow, how does an ovary get twisted? That sounds incredibly painful. Did they take out the ovary? You were lucky that your coworker was so observant. How long were/are you out of work? It's great that your employer was understanding; often non-salaried employees don't get sick days.

That stinks that your hospital doesn't offer free wi-fi for phones or laptops, or internet-connected laptops in the lounges on patient floors for patient use , especially in/around a big city like Chicago. In several of the hospitals I have been in, even in the late 1990s, I could connect (in the 90s, I used a dial-up service like Netzero, which was like $10 for the month) and even worked from my hospital bed. It was really helpful then, as I could continue to work, and nearly a necessity now when I'm in for 2-3 weeks at a time. I need some way to contact the outside world. Perhaps when you're better, you might look into campaigning for internet access for hospital patients. Social interaction can be very important to healing, and perhaps something you did might benefit thousands of people!

[Artemis]

http://www.ovariancystcenter.com/twisted-ovarian-cyst/

Interesting comment, snarkykitty.

[mrs]

I have to agree that internet access is a great way to pass time when in the hospital. I have personally thanked Curious for running this site. I was in the hospital for almost a month. It is incredibly isolating being a long term hospital patient. It also allowed my husband to work from my room. The first day I was "awake " enough to read, I almost cried when I saw the whole Alecto-gate. ( I was afraid the site was going to shit down).

Perhaps Ruth didn't bring her lap top. And since she is new to the city she had no one to go home to fetch it for her. And with such a tight budget I doubt she has a smart phone.

It wold be great for hospitals to loan out tablets to patients.

[Dysfundamental]

My hospital in high-tech center Cambridge, Mass. doesn't have wi-fi on the patient floors! It was so annoying when I had my appendix out; at least that wasn't a long stay.

[Jana814]

So sorry u r having health problems!!

[snarkykitty]

http://www.ovariancystcenter.com/twisted-ovarian-cyst/

Interesting comment, snarkykitty.

It is sometimes difficult to understand intent behind comments online, so I have to ask what you mean by "interesting comment"? I was being sincere.

I have to agree that internet access is a great way to pass time when in the hospital. I have personally thanked Curious for running this site. I was in the hospital for almost a month. It is incredibly isolating being a long term hospital patient. It also allowed my husband to work from my room. The first day I was "awake " enough to read, I almost cried when I saw the whole Alecto-gate. ( I was afraid the site was going to shit down).

Perhaps Ruth didn't bring her lap top. And since she is new to the city she had no one to go home to fetch it for her. And with such a tight budget I doubt she has a smart phone.

It wold be great for hospitals to loan out tablets to patients.

I don't know the specifics of what type of communication devices she owns or to which she has access.

I like your suggestion of tablets for medical Facilities that don't already offer patients use of devices or access to Wi-Fi. More portable and less expensive than a laptop. I am actually going to research the availability of access to wi-fi or devices to see what it's like in various parts of the U.S. I know plenty of people who spend a lot of time in hospitals.

My hospital in high-tech center Cambridge, Mass. doesn't have wi-fi on the patient floors! It was so annoying when I had my appendix out; at least that wasn't a long stay.

.

That is crazy! My husband and I worked in the tech industry in and around Boston for almost ten years; heck, even McDonald's has wi-fi! Glad it was a short stay!

Edited bc of So many riffles.

[countressrascal]

I have a hard time believing that hospital in a major cities do not have internet access-I live is bumfuck no where we offer internet access in our clinic. Also the Kingman Regional and Flagstaff Regional Hospitals offer internet access, these places are not the hotbed of technology.

[SheWoreLemon]

I have a hard time believing that hospital in a major cities do not have internet access-I live is bumfuck no where we offer internet access in our clinic. Also the Kingman Regional and Flagstaff Regional Hospitals offer internet access, these places are not the hotbed of technology.

CountessRascal, I was in a major teaching hospital in Seattle a couple years ago. There was no wi-fi in the rooms, but there was a computer with internet access out in the lobby that anyone could use. Hospitals are usually very conservative with new technology, especially if there is any chance your wi-fi could interfere with their equipment. (My ex-husband was helping a hospital update for the year 2000. The computers that are used to monitor a pregnant woman's contractions was still running on DOS--why? because they knew the DOS system worked perfectly and didn't want to mess things up by bringing in a new program that had unknown bugs).

[SheWoreLemon]

I also had an ovary twist on itself and die! I walked around with it a lot longer than you did--I'm glad you were much smarter about that than I was.

While I am sorry you lost your ovary, there is a small silver lining in this cloud. It helps explain why you have had such a hard time with the move and your new job. When you're in constant pain (and possibly starting a nasty infection), *everything* is harder and more overwhelming. Plus, you'll get some sympathy from the people at work!

Take care and keep healing.

[FlorenceHamilton]

First and foremost, I am happy to hear that you are feeling better, Mary/Ruth. Since the cause of your ovarian torsion was likely an abnormal cyst. (The ovaries actally work by producing a perfectly normal cyst called a follicular cyst and then after ovulation, changing it to a perfectly normal luteal cyst. When one phase or the other gets "stuck", it gets too large and can cause the ovary to twist around.) These cysts do produce hormones. It may have partially enhanced your emotional reactions as well.

You should find out the name of the social worker/care manager who was assigned to your case when you were admitted to the hospital. He or she may be able to help you get resources to address the hospital bills. There are all sorts of little hidden programs, including charity care provided by individual hospitals. In order to get government aid (and ALL hospitals do get government aid unless they are "cash only"), each hospital must provide some charity care. The hospitals are not usually very open about this.

As a general comment concerning Wifi in hospitals, having public Wifi varies for hospital to hospital just like it does in other places. The Wifi that is used by the hospital staff is specially encrypted. There may be several different encrypted systems working at one time. If the hospital provides Wifi to patients, it would need to be a seperate system. Often these systems have robust firewalls as well. Also, hospitals often charge a fee to use the public wifi, just like hotels do.

[snarkykitty]

As a general comment concerning Wifi in hospitals, having public Wifi varies for hospital to hospital just like it does in other places. The Wifi that is used by the hospital staff is specially encrypted. There may be several different encrypted systems working at one time. If the hospital provides Wifi to patients, it would need to be a seperate system. Often these systems have robust firewalls as well. Also, hospitals often charge a fee to use the public wifi, just like hotels do.

I must be really lucky, because my hospital provides free wi-fi to anyone in the hospital, patients, staff, visitors, and to every area, including patient rooms, doctors' offices, cafeterias, etc. They also offer laptops for use in patient lounge areas. There is a splash page with Terms and Conditions that you have to check "agree" to, but 99% of sites I visit were allowed.

I have been on specialty monitoring equipment but my phone never caused a problem. In fact, inpatient, I sleep with my phone under my pillow, usually attached to the charge cord plugged in behind the bed. I take it with me during transport for tests (which are often in the middle of the night), procedures, and pre-op, for two reasons:

1. I often spend more time waiting to be escorted to and from tests and procedures than the event itself, so I need a diversion, and also because my condition can and has gone from stable to critical in short time, and if I am conscious, I'm may be able to at least send a text message to my husband or family.

2. As soon as cell phones became common, I used it entirely for phone calls in the hospital, because otherwise I would need to enter a credit card to make out of town phone calls (this used to be called long-distance).

As soon as technology allowed me to do so, I would bring in a laptop (and dialed through the phone via modem way back in the 90s). At the time, it cost $5 a day to rent the TV in the room, and I had to use a credit card to make out-of-town phone calls. Now, I use

Youtube, Hulu and Netflix streaming for entertainment.

If your hospital does not provide free wi-fi patients and visitors, you might ask why not. It's not that costly or difficult if you already have it available to employees.

[August]

An ovary gets twisted when it has a cyst on it, the twist cuts off the blood supply and the tissue dies. It happens all the time to 20-40 year old women.

i know three or four people who've either had the same thing as Ruth or a ruptured cyst. It's one of my principal arguments when someone says healthy young adults don't need health care.

I have a hard time believing that hospital in a major cities do not have internet access-I live is bumfuck no where we offer internet access in our clinic. Also the Kingman Regional and Flagstaff Regional Hospitals offer internet access, these places are not the hotbed of technology.

I was an inpatient last year in a big regional hospital and had wifi, but was blocked from many sites, including blogger.

[snarkykitty]

I have a hard time believing that hospital in a major cities do not have internet access-I live is bumfuck no where we offer internet access in our clinic. Also the Kingman Regional and Flagstaff Regional Hospitals offer internet access, these places are not the hotbed of technology.

Especially in/around Chicago. I looked up several of the hospitals in the city and they all offer free wi-fi. Perhaps Ruth had the misfortune of being in "the one" that doesn't provide service or access. It's such a benefit for patients to be able to communicate with the outside world, especially those who don't have a lot of family or friends nearby (or people can't/don't visit).

[martian]

Ruth said she was without Internet, but maybe that's just because she didn't have her laptop with her, not because the hospital doesn't have wifi. It was a sudden hospitalization.

I think I left my laptop home when I stayed in the hospital with my daughter a few months ago, or at least I don't remember ever looking at it, but that was a planned stay. Just one less thing to keep track of. The hospital definitely had wifi access, but it's a very new facility. The older hospitals downtown, I don't know about. I think it was Northwestern's ER I was in about two and a half years ago, and I would testify under oath they were communicating with tin cans and strings over there. The resident who finally saw me was personable and seemed quite competent, but the facilities had been rode hard. There seems to be a great disparity in accomodations in Chicago hospitals going by my very limited experience