Monday, September 10, 2007

Oddities In Health Care

As most of you know, I am having surgery tomorrow. Just a wee bit of orthoscopic slice and dice on my knee... nothing to worry about... I plan to shoot an expert score with my pistol and shotgun before the next seven days are up, but I digresss. I am having surgery tomorrow and when I scheduled the procedure, I was given a detailed set of instructions of things that I needed to do... or not do before the operation.

The instructions told me not to eat after midnight on the night before I report to the hospital (I have to be there at 0600), I am also to refrain from using cologne etc... before the surgery. I am allowed to brush my teeth in the morning, as long as I spit out all of the water (as if I'd swallow that stuff). I have all sorts of instructions, and as a matter of fact, because of my employment by the federal government, I have some seriously boss heaelth insurance.

One of the odd things about my particular plan is this: My surgery is only going to set me back a hundred dollars. Hooray! My prescriptions, for the Vicadin I have now, and the percoset I'll be getting tomorrow, only costs $10 dollars. Not too shabby, eh? Here is the kicker: I have to buy my own crutches.

Crutches.

I can't be released from the hospital without them, but I'll likely only need them for part of a day after the surgery.

Go figure... Am I the only person that finds this strange?

13 comments:

Alyssa said...

Nice blog...

You might want to keep the crutches, just in case :)

cathouse teri said...

It's very strange. Go get some from the local thrift store.

Gunfighter said...

I got them on the way home from work, Teri... easy enough to come by, but it is kind of weird.

Jen said...

This is so typical and crazy! I hope it all goes well tomorrow.

Gunfighter said...

Thank you, Jen!

super des said...

Good luck with everything!

Lady M said...

Too late for this round, but you can usually rent crutches from full service pharmacies.

Best wishes for the surgery!

Anonymous said...

We will be thinking of you tomorrow, friend.

Terri@SteelMagnolia said...

ggrrNothing surprises me w/ health insurance! Especially after our experience w/ Magoo. Certainly sounds like you have a great plan.

I've heard that before about the crutches ~ it's almost as crazy as the NICU/PICU nurses not being allowed to cut the babies finger nails!
Isn't that crazy?

Bubblewench said...

LOL! Actually no, I do not find that odd. I had knee problems about 15 years ago, and they told me I had to provide my own crutches before I would be let out of the hospital or I could buy theirs for $400.

Yes, mom ran to the pharmacy and bought a set for about $40.

Hope all goes well!

Middle Girl said...

Wishing you well. My gf's recovery has been somewhat slow, but that could be due to expectations being rather high. She didn't need to have crutches for her release, but did need a ride home.

Keeping It Real said...

Good luck, though I'm sure everything will work out fine. You might get a good deal on those crutches at Ebay when you're done.

Gunfighter said...

Thanks all, for the well-wishes.

Can I just state for the record that anasthesia is goooood?