So I found the pending charges for my trip to the hostibule. I’d seen the first part, which was revised up a hundred bucks or so, but knew there’d be more.
Comes out to about $21,000 before insurance. That includes stuff like the $2,600 MRI, $3,000 in drugs, etc. On the upside, the ER component was just shy of a thousand bucks. My usual ER tab is closer to $1,600. So there’s that.
And almost eleven grand for the room itself. If I’d known it was going to cost as much as a small car, I’d have invited some of you out for a gorram party. Hell, I spent a good chunk of the time stoned on dilaudid and vicodin, so why not?
Then there’s the at-home stuff I have to deal with. Nurse every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to change the dressing and check on the infection, plus the wound-vac rental fee.
And then there are all the follow-up appointments. Two so far, with another on Wednesday and two more next week. And probably several more over the next couple months as it completes the autorepair cycle.
No word on what insurance is going to cover, but I’ve more than met my deductible and I was halfway to my yearly out of pocket max, so we’ll see what it gets knocked down to. With luck and assuming I’m interpreting my insurance coverage properly, it’ll be about $3,000. Which isn’t pocket change, but I can make it work using my HSA.
On the subject of the foot itself, it’s getting better. Taking its own sweet time, but getting better. Hopefully I’ll at least be off the wound vac soon.
The pain level is low enough that I haven’t had any vicodin in four days now, and that was half a tab after getting the dressing changed. A few weeks ago I could barely walk because of the constant pain and periodic shooting pains, and I was averaging 2 1/2 dilaudid injections a day in the hostibule. So that’s kind of an important improvement too.