[Histonet]Hospital costs/new topic

[Jodiputnam <@t> aol.com]

I had to write when I read the post on hospital charges. A few months  agao, 
my husband was having what I was pretty certain was appendix pain so we  went 
in to the ER. After they established that he did in fact have a very ripe  
appendix that needed to come out, we were in the ER for over 8 hours. He was  
admitted after he came out of recovery and was there for ~27 hours. I always  
like to take a look at the itemized bill after you are released. Its rather  
amusing. There were so many charges for the nurses coming in and changing his  
bandages and bedding and I did most of that myself. Sometimes I had to call and  
practically beg them to come and change the bedding do drainage etc. They 
rarely  came by except on scheduled rounds. We had to empty his drain tube, etc. 
If I  had a spare IV bag laying around, I would have changed that too since the 
alarm  wouldnt shut off (alarm silence button was broken). I asked if we 
could have  some items to give him a sponge bath so he would feel a little more 
clean, get  the betadine and other stuff off. They were real quick to inform me 
that that  was MY job not theirs. Times have changes. Long story short, 
unruptured appendix  , 1 day in the hospital all total ~30k. They said that if it 
had ruptured  it would have been closer to 5-7 days and we dont even want to 
think about that.  I was so thankful to have insurance. We only ended up paying a 
few thousand  dollars.
 
 
Jodi