Hospital bills!

[Amy]

I don't know how many of you know this, but three weeks ago I was in the hospital for surgery - I had to have my thyroid removed. I was scared out of my mind, but was in the hospital only 3 days and it was much easier than I expected.

I had a Bilateral Subtotal Thyroidectomy due to hypothyroidism. I was in surgery for 6.5 hours. The hospital bill has rolled in. I've not yet gotten bills from the surgeon or anesthesiologists. The hospital bill alone is just shy of $25,000. Now I understand why insurance is through the roof. It's crazy.

[Mad For Martay]

Amy I hope your feeling better now

the funny thing about hospitals and insurance is my husband had heart surgery last Novemember.....the proceedure took 7 hours to do and he didnt even stay over night the bill was $101,645.00 .......the insurance company allowance for that proceedure was $14,000.00
What I dont understand is if the insurance company can get away with paying that small % of the bill why does a person who has no insurance have to pay the $101,645.00
All I can say is thank God we have insurance

[Ayesa86]

Christ Amy!

Meh, I know what you mean though. No surgery (yet. knowing my luck though...) but the sheer amount of bloodwork, MRI's, EKG's, and such I go through is crazy expensive too. So yeah.

[Joan S]

Amy,

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles! I'm glad your feeling better!

[rachael]

Amy, Hope you have a speedy recovery and glad that the procedure went better than you expected. Take Care!

[Amy]

Thanks for all the well wishes! I believe I'm recovering nicely. The incision was HUGE but is healing nicely also. There for a little while I looked like FrankenAmy. LOL I still have a small amount of incision swelling. And my voice is hoarse....very hoarse. Before surgery the doctor said I'd be hoarse "about a week." At my 2 week post-op follow-up I was still hoarse and then he changed it to 4-6 weeks. There's always the possibility that I could have permanent damage to my vocal chords, but I'm not really thinking about that right now - I'll cross that bridge if I come to it. But it's frustrating to be so hoarse and people have trouble understanding me when I speak.

I'm now in the process of trying to get my thyroid hormone under control with medication. It's way, way too high right now which causes lethargy. It'll probably take several months to get my bloodwork where it should be - it's all a process of finding what dosage of medication will get me to the right place.

I'm still a bit in shock over the hospital bill.

[beachgirl]

Amy, I'm sorry about your illness. I hope you start feeling better really soon.
And yes, hospital bills are insane and criminal. It's no wonder people fear the hospital so much that they would rather be sick than go to one.

[needy]

Amy, I'm so sorry you needed to have surgery. I hope you heal quickly and get your blood work in order soon. Don't worry about looking like Franken Amy, it's October and think of the fun you can have with it. Just get some fake blood and one of those phoney axes and then answer the door that way when the Trick or Treaters come calling.

[rockfan]

Oops, I totally missed reading this thread.

Amy, I hope you are getting stronger everyday. Hope you will be 100% by the time HJ is here.

Sorry you got hit with a double whammy; the surgery/after effects and the ridiculously high hospital bill.

[keysunset]

Amy, dear! I've just now read this thread.

I hope you are doing much better - recovery, hoarseness, and dealing with the hospital bill.

positive waves and prayers coming your way from NC