My wife is ill

[lswote]

Yesterday my wife started having great swelling in her private area.  She had been to Fort Lauderdale beach with friends for the day and we thought she might have been stung by a stingray or man-o-war even though she didn't recall feeling it.  Last night I took her to an urgent care clinic and because she is about 6 weeks pregnant they were reluctant to proceed with treatment because most treatments were risky for our unborn baby so they gave her something for pain and a mild cortisone shot and told her to come back in the morning after they got her blood work analyzed.  $275 bucks.

In May by company dropped health insurance for employees.  Even though I have been in my industry for over 15 years and have made over $100,000 a year for over 10 years, in an effort to cut costs for the company they dropped health insurance for all employees.  I was shocked they could do this, particularly because I am a consultant and am just paid an hourly wage and I paid for the health plan our of my wages, so I couldn't see where they were really saving any money by dropping it.  But for some reason they felt it was cost effective and after checking with the Florida insurance board and the US Department of Labor I found out it was legal as long as they dropped it for all employees, and didn't do it only for some employees.  This left me with a bit of a dilemma because the one good thing about the health insurance through work was that it was a group plan with no qualifying based on health.  I have a somewhat serious health condition that while not life threatening, excludes me for qualifying for private health insurance.  And because my wife arrived in the states in March, no major health carrier would give her health insurance in her name until she had been in the US six months (if I could have qualified she could have been on a plan with me, but not on her own plan).  So we were left with no health insurance.  I am a veteran and can get emergency services through the VA if necessary, but my wife was left with no health coverage.

Well today her swelling was about the size of half a grapefruit.  We returned to the clinic and they said she must immediately go to the hospital because necrosis and infection had set in. In wasn’t a sting but rather a cyst of some kind that somehow was spreading very quickly.  They called an ambulance because she had become so weak that she couldn't even stand anymore.  So she gets to the hospital and after a couple hour wait in a lot of pain, we see the doctor and he says that she has to have surgery immediately as the infection was spreading rapidly though her body.  I am pretty much in shock that my wife who was apparently perfectly healthy 36 hours ago is now facing the risk of death if she didn't have surgery.  And because without health insurance I was sort of doing the math and speculating what this all was going to cost.

Well she had the surgery a couple hours ago and the swelling and infection is pretty much gone.   She will have to be hospitalized for a couple days and it will be tomorrow before they can better judge if they have successfully treated all of the problem.  I talked to the hospital accounting person and though all the bills have not been entered yet she speculated that the cost would be somewhere between 10 and 11 thousand dollars.  They will give me a 30% discount if I pay it all at once.  I don’t have that kind of cash anymore as I spent all of my savings on meeting and marrying my wife last fall, but I have access to a line of credit, so I will just pay it off and deal with the line of credit later.

I am rather stunned by these events.  I had hoped to have my wife have our baby in Bogotá next year in part to keep the cost of the baby down.  But now in one short day I have spent more than I had thought in my worst case scenario for the baby.

I guess we will muddle our way through this.  The important thing is that my wife should be fine.  

Man this sure wasn’t in my plan when I thought about marrying a Latin woman.

[lswote]

... in response to My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 21, 2003

Looks like the infection has spread and she has to have another surgery.  Man this sucks!

[Jeff S]

... in response to Another surgery, posted by lswote on Jun 23, 2003

Keep the faith Bruce, we're all pulling for you.

- Jeff

[thundernco]

... in response to Another surgery, posted by lswote on Jun 23, 2003

You and yours are in our prayers.  Stay strong -TNC

[Red Clay]

... in response to Another surgery, posted by lswote on Jun 23, 2003

Praying your wife is well soon.

[stefang]

... in response to Another surgery, posted by lswote on Jun 23, 2003

I feel sorry for the both of you especially your wife she must be really scared right now. Try to keep her calm about this worrying may make it worse and try to stay positive around her, will make her feel more comfortable. Don't worry about the money in front of her this will make her feel bad and she doesn't need extra pressure. Hopefully this is taken care of soon.

[lswote]

... in response to My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 21, 2003

I want to thank you for the outpouring of support.  I have only met or talked on the phone with a few of you guys and have even locked horns with a couple, but I consider you all friends and I hope I can return the favor someday.

My wife is doing better but is still not out of the woods yet.  The swelling is very minimal now and I can't even figure out where they cut her.  But her blood pressure is low (85/59), she is having a little difficulty breathing and some chest pains.  I can't see her coming home for at least a couple more days.

On the upside, (if there can be one in a situation like this) she got to see the baby when they did a sonargram today and she was all excited about seeing the baby's heartbeat.

[Onephd]

... in response to Re: My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 22, 2003

Please know that you are in our prayers and thoughts.  

[rob4050]

... in response to Re: My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 22, 2003

Bruce, good news about the baby's heartbeat. You and your wife are in my prayers.
Rob

[Aaron]

... in response to Re: My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 22, 2003

.

[DOMINGUIN]

... in response to Re: My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 22, 2003


Bruce:

I am in Bogota, read all the emails.  May God bless your wife, the baby and you. Dominguin

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 22, 2003

Glad she's doing better. I KNOW that seeing the baby's heartbeat and knowing that he (or she) is still alive must have raised her spirits emensly.

[Pete E]

... in response to My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 21, 2003

Bruce,
Its scarry your wife could get so sick so fast from such a simple thing.I hope she is OK with no ill effects on the pregnancy.
I have never gotten health insurance for my wife and step son.I have excellent coverage through my civil service retirement but they won't let me add them.So far I have paid out of pocket,which has been cheaper than insurance but there is the risk of a big $$ item.She is getting a new job with benefits it looks like.I have been waiting for that to be the solution.
One of my wifes friends hauled her down to planned parenthood.They told them she was single.She has gotten an incredible amount of free medical attention and medicine from them.All female issue related but not really reproductive related stuff.

Pete

[JR n Atl]

... in response to My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 21, 2003

Bruce,

I'd just like to echo the sentiments of the rest of the guys here. You both have my prayers and best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery.

JR

[colgre]

... in response to My wife is ill, posted by lswote on Jun 21, 2003

Sorry about your misfortune and hope she recovers quickly.
Greg