I Guess He Was Supposed to “Take it Like a Man”

Jeffrey had his surgery in November, and the bills are starting to arrive.  It’s amazing how many different things you can get charged for when you have surgery!

We already got and paid the bill for the Doctor.  Insurance paid their part, and we took care of the rest.   Then we got a bill from the hospital – for $12,000.  They hadn’t taken any insurance info from us on the day of the operation, so they billed us for the entire amount.  Once they got the insurance info, they submitted it and sent us a new bill.  The new bill reflects the discount because we have the insurance, but it doesn’t take off what the insurance is actually going to pay.  We’re still waiting on that.

Today, we got a bill from the anesthesiologist – for the full amount, no discount, no insurance payment – just a note at the bottom saying that our insurance had denied the charge.  Really?  They paid the doctor for the surgery, but they’re denying the cost of anesthesia?  I suppose he was just supposed to suck it up, be a man, and have that surgery with no anesthesia.

Well, we’ll get this all figured out eventually.  It’s just funny and a bit frustrating in the meantime.  We pay to have insurance; the least they can do is pay when they’re supposed to.

After paying gor the doctor, I think Jeffrey pretty much hit his deductible for the year, so I’m hoping the final tally won’t be too bad.

Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Beth had her heart surgery today. (In case you missed it - why she needed surgery)

While she knew it was coming up and scheduled time off work to do it, she was a little unsure about going through with it today. Make that a lot unsure, but she went. Once we got there, she did really well. All the nurses and the doctor were really friendly and supportive, doing their best to put her at ease.

The hardest part was probably getting the IV in because they couldn't find her vein. The procedure itself went really well and was over relatively quickly. Then she had to stay in bed, on her back, for 4 hours before she could get up and move around. While she was still sleepy from the anesthetic, it wasn't too bad, but she got pretty uncomfortable after a while. Finally, she tried eating (grilled cheese) and then about 6:00 they got her out of bed to walk around the hall. Once the nurse determined that she wasn't bleeding from the catheter insertion, she was good to go home.

She's sort of sore and tired, and she's supposed to take it easy for a couple days but should be back to regular activity by Friday. And, she shouldn't have any more of those racing heart episodes. That should be a relief, because they were happening more frequently.

Here's an article about the hospital and the procedure. If she had to have a procedure like this, then this was the place to have it done. Her doctor is the Dr. Chapman mentioned.

Weight Loss with the Lap-Band

The other day on Good Morning America, they had a young girl on who had liposuction at 12 and then a lapband procedure at 13, when she started gaining the weight back. There seems to be quite a bit of controversy over a girl so young having the lap band done. Because she was under 18, her parents chose to go to Mexico to have the procedure done.

I'm thankful that I don't have to make that kind of decision for my own kids. Though they may not be as active as they could be, neither one of them has a weight problem. If they did, would I consider surgery? I don't know. Any kind of surgery seems drastic, but, if it's a health issue and needs done, I like the fact that the LAP-BAND® procedure is an adjustable and reversible weight loss surgery. That makes it seem a better choice than some of the others out there.