So what we thought was a simple stomach ache turned out to be a bad gallbladder for the Mrs.! Wowzers. needless to say, we’ll be camped out in this hospital 5 star hotel room for at least another day or two until all is said and done, but that’s fine by me – just fix my girl and all is good!

Now, you might be asking yourself why on earth i’d be blogging at a time like this? Well it’s simple. I’m addicted. Also, i’m bored as hell :) We’re going on day #4 now with it all, and i’ve finally finagled a way to convert this nurse’s computer into my personal blogging station! haha…if that’s not sexy, i don’t know what is ;) This whole process has tought me a few things so far, and i’d like to share them.

1) It’s good to go to the doctor’s if you think something is wrong. This “minor” stomach ache turned out to be a potentially fatal issue, which i would have NEVER guessed! you should have seen the look on the doctor’s face when we asked if we could go home and schedule the surgery for later. She about died! haha….she was like, “um yeah….so, if you have an infection, it can cause this and this, and then this and you can die.” and we were like, “hm….okay, we’ll stay” :) that’s some good ol’ fashion McCain straight talk for ya!

2) It’s a HELLUVA good thing we have health insurance! This is the first time we’re using it to this degree, and i’d really not wanna pay out of pocket 100% ya know? It also got me thinking – i wonder how much all of this is gonna cost us when it’s all said and done? A few hundred? A thousand? i haven’t a clue. We’ve spent a total of $17 so far ($10 on a copay and $7.00 on some pain medication) but that’s it…..for now.

So, i’d like to play a game now with you called “Guess how many Washingtons this will cost us?”. (final cost here.)

I don’t know about you, but i have nothing but time here to waste! So if you’re bored @ work, or just really experienced with hospital bills – let the game’s begin!

Here is all the info i can remember so you can do some calculations. Or, if you have massive A.D.D. like i do, especially today, then you can just take a wild guess for the hell of it. or not. whatever, it’s all good. We have Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO as insurance, and i’ve been told that it’s “a good one”. Here are the deets:

• Visit to the Gyno: Not sure exactly what was done here, but the Mrs. says they “ran a few tests” and did some consultations. Copay: $10.00.
• Visit to the E.R.: blood work taken, cat scan done, and doctor consultation. Copay: $0.00
• Visit to a G.I (Gastrointestinal specialist): more blood work and consultation. Copay: $0.00
• Visit to a Surgeon: Just a Consultation. Copay: $0.00 (sugeon actually said he won’t write up anything as he doesn’t accept our insurance, and it was a courtesy call from a good friend of his. i’ll take that!)
• Visit back to Hospital: More bloodwork. Copay: $0.00
• Return visit to the G.I.: Another consultation. Copay: $0.00
• Return visit to the Hospital: Ultrasound, which finally found the problem! Copay: $0.00
• Admitted back into E.R.: Tests and IV setup
• 2 3 nights staying over in this fancy pants hospital suite: around the clock visits, tests, etc…No Copay so far as we haven’t left yet.
• 1 Gallbladder surgery – to remove it! Coming right up…. UPDATE: operation successful! Mrs. budgetsaresexy is now into “recovering mode” According to the doc, it was a VERY good thing it was removed as it was NOT a pretty picture. *bleh* Thx for all the prayers, they worked!
• NEW: 1 Gallbladder scan – The Mrs. was in some major pain after surgery, so they checked to make sure all is well…and it was! FINALLY out now and relaxing on this beautiful Sunday :)
  

And that’s the whole kit & caboodle! So, yeah wow….that sounds like a freakin’ LOT! i didn’t realize until typing it out just now. I’m gonna venture to say that our portion we’ll end up paying will be $500. And the total cost w/out insurance being like $5,000. Think i’m close? At least that’s how much i *hope* it’ll cost, but i really have no idea – totally pulled that one from the posterior.

I am just PRAYING that it doesn’t cost us thousands!!! how scary :( I guess that’s what Emergency Funds are for though, cuz that’s how we’ll be paying for all this! Alrighty homies, i wish you a blessed day! i’m outta here for now…I need some coffee STAT.

*** THE FINAL COSTS ***