Recently, I had such terrible back pain that I fainted. The pain was so hard that I couldn’t walk or talk. I thought it could be a kidney stone or something worse so I called a friend and went to the emergency room.
My symptoms included [general] pain, constantly feeling the need to urinate, headache, and very sharp pains in my lower back. I got to the emergency room at 6:00 PM and three hours later, they gave me a room. They served me around 10:00 PM.
They gave me morphine but that wasn’t helping. Around 11:00PM to 12:00 AM I had an MRI and then waited for results. I asked for results many times with no answer. Then, around 3:00 AM, I asked for the results again. They told me that they didn’t have a doctor to read the results and that it would be sent to my primary doctor.
I was disappointed and I asked them to let me go. The next day, I made an appointment with my primary doctor, they scheduled two weeks after, and what did she do? Nothing, nothing. She looked at me while she read the results and told me, it’s arthritis. What!?
I still had that pain and was taking 600mg of ibuprofen. I still had the urge to urinate and she recommended physical therapy. Really? Physical therapy?
I couldn’t work for more than two weeks. It got worse. I went to Patient First and they immediately served me, tested me and made a diagnosis. I had a UTI – a severe UTI. I took an antibiotic for 10 days and felt much better. The hospital sent me a Medical bill to pay and it was more than $2000. Patient First only charged me $60.
I am a self-employed Massage Therapist and pay for marketplace insurance with United Health Care. Because it was impossible to work, my finances took a hit. I am trying to dispute the hospital payment because I feel that they didn’t do what they were supposed to do to help me. I don’t know how I can afford to pay this!
I am struggling so much financially that I need to look for extra work. I think it’s not fair that we are paying for insurance and the hospital inflated the cost of service without even asking me or telling me what they were going to do. They even prescribed me OxyContin… I rejected it! I am so dissatisfied that I’m expected to pay for a worse service.
