(no subject)
I am going to be sooooo broke soon ...
Spent the afternoon and evening (got out around 11pm) at the Urgent Care & ER with chest pain. This was a stabbing pain that worsened when I tried to breathe. Of course, the first thing anyone thinks of is a heart attack, so I got an EKG first, then an X-Ray to rule out pneumonia or such. Then the Urgent Care clinic decided they weren't qualified to do all the tests they wanted, so they shipped me to the ER. Thankfully, at that point, the EMT gave me some pain medicine (fentanyl), which knocked the edge off the pain. I swear I was thinking blood clot by this time.
At the ER, I (eventually) got a CAT scan -- they had a 2-3 hour wait for that -- and blood tests for those enzymes that show you've had a heart attack. They also looked at liver and pancreas enzymes for some reason. Everything came back totally normal so they essentially threw up their hands and sent me home with some Motrin and an Rx for a muscle relaxant. Once I posted all this on Facebook, one of my writing pals said it sounded exactly like a pleurisy attack she had once -- extremely painful & didn't show up on any of the tests. Fortunately, she also said it resolved itself in a few days. I'm taking the Motrin and Flexeril on top of my regular pain tablet (I'm skipping my main anti-inflammatory because of the Motrin) and it's bearable. I might double up on the Flexeril tonight so I will doze off more easily. Any time I move my chest, it stabs me again.
So my copay for the Urgent care will be $100. The ER will be $600. God knows what all the tests will cost and I'm not even sure my insurance even pays for an ambulance ride! Pray for my wallet!
Spent the afternoon and evening (got out around 11pm) at the Urgent Care & ER with chest pain. This was a stabbing pain that worsened when I tried to breathe. Of course, the first thing anyone thinks of is a heart attack, so I got an EKG first, then an X-Ray to rule out pneumonia or such. Then the Urgent Care clinic decided they weren't qualified to do all the tests they wanted, so they shipped me to the ER. Thankfully, at that point, the EMT gave me some pain medicine (fentanyl), which knocked the edge off the pain. I swear I was thinking blood clot by this time.
At the ER, I (eventually) got a CAT scan -- they had a 2-3 hour wait for that -- and blood tests for those enzymes that show you've had a heart attack. They also looked at liver and pancreas enzymes for some reason. Everything came back totally normal so they essentially threw up their hands and sent me home with some Motrin and an Rx for a muscle relaxant. Once I posted all this on Facebook, one of my writing pals said it sounded exactly like a pleurisy attack she had once -- extremely painful & didn't show up on any of the tests. Fortunately, she also said it resolved itself in a few days. I'm taking the Motrin and Flexeril on top of my regular pain tablet (I'm skipping my main anti-inflammatory because of the Motrin) and it's bearable. I might double up on the Flexeril tonight so I will doze off more easily. Any time I move my chest, it stabs me again.
So my copay for the Urgent care will be $100. The ER will be $600. God knows what all the tests will cost and I'm not even sure my insurance even pays for an ambulance ride! Pray for my wallet!