Do not go to the hospital unless you are dying!!!!

[santuitman]

$237 just to be seen when our son was sick out of state. Had to be paid up front too.

 

[F1N3ST]

Turning into P&N? Lol.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Last time I was in the ER was when I split my lip open while surfing. I walked into the ER with a towel up to my mouth and the admitting nurse asked me what was wrong so I just showed her my lip. She admitted me on the spot and took me right in to the treatment area and gave me a bed to lay on. I had to wait 2 hours for the on call plastic surgeon but they made me as comfortable as possible, giving me blankets (I was still wearing my wetsuit when I walked in there) and calling my wife for me.

That was over 10 years ago though.

 

[rh71]

I wasn't dying but I had stomach cramps for over a week and the next morning I was to leave on a ship to Bermuda. Not wanting to risk a health problem while at sea for a week, I finally decided I should go check it out but of course at midnight the only option was the ER. With my health plan I pay nothing per month and never really being sick or having to go to the doc's office I assumed it was all covered. I naively asked the clerk at the ER if "it was covered" and she said yes they accept Empire. Long story short, they gave me some meds and 2 hours later I was on my way, with still some slight pain but at least they said it was nothing serious.

Turns out I have a $790 deductible and only after that am I covered. I ended up having to pay that out of pocket. So the one time I use my insurance it ends up like I've been paying insurance all along ($790 for the year). Needless to say I'm now on a different plan come 2010... like $50/mo. but at least there's no more deductible crap and no longer just 50% coverage for surgery, etc.

Lesson: don't take your health or health insurance for granted.

 

[sourceninja]

My friend starting training judo with me. After a few weeks he had his first sparing session. He fell and hurt his ankle.

I have seen hundreds of these injuries, but I am not a doctor. I looked at it, told him it was a sprain and to stop being a baby. We left and went out to dinner. I made fun of him for complaining about the pain as we walked to the car and to the restaurant. I made fun of him even more as we walked into my house. I gave him an ace bandage, ice, and some pain meds.

The next morning he sends me a text message. Inside is a picture of his foot, the size of a small melon and the text "I think I should go to the hospital". It turns out he broke his Tibia where it meets the ankle. The doctor said walking on it made it much worse. It took a surgery to fix and 2 screws.

Long story short, I felt like an asshole.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Last time I was in hospital was the day I got Bell's Palsy. Yeah, it wasn't life threatening but you bet your ass I went to the hospital when half of my face was suddenly paralyzed.

Not that it matters to me, visits to the ER are paid for by my taxes.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Stupid reporter for one of the local papers wrote an article about wait times at one hospital's ER vs. the wait times at another smaller hospital's urgi-care center. Like the idiotic patients, the writer apparently didn't understand that if you had a REAL emergency, the wait time was virtually zero.

We've had the same shit in papers here from time to time. These guys don't understand triage.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I wasn't dying but I had stomach cramps for over a week and the next morning I was to leave on a ship to Bermuda. Not wanting to risk a health problem while at sea for a week, I finally decided I should go check it out but of course at midnight the only option was the ER. With my health plan I pay nothing per month and never really being sick or having to go to the doc's office I assumed it was all covered. I naively asked the clerk at the ER if "it was covered" and she said yes they accept Empire. Long story short, they gave me some meds and 2 hours later I was on my way, with still some slight pain but at least they said it was nothing serious.

Turns out I have a $790 deductible and only after that am I covered. I ended up having to pay that out of pocket. So the one time I use my insurance it ends up like I've been paying insurance all along ($790 for the year). Needless to say I'm now on a different plan come 2010... like $50/mo. but at least there's no more deductible crap and no longer just 50% coverage for surgery, etc.

Lesson: don't take your health or health insurance for granted.

On your period?

 

[destrekor]

It's one thing to play Dr. Diagnosis on yourself as an adult...it's a completely different ballgame to expect the same sort of self awareness performing it on a 5 year old.

It would have been one thing to say if it was a 2 or 3 year old.
At 5, I was able to help my parents diagnose my pains. You just have to communicate in language a 5 year old will understand, with plenty of pointing to very specific locations.

But in general, yes I will agree. With young kids it can be hard to differentiate the small minor-yet-serious injuries from the small not so serious injuries.

I'm fairly certain, somehow, I have strong bones... even when I was a picky eater as a kid (still am, just not as much). I did love milk though, so maybe that helped. I have yet to break a bone yet found myself in serious pain more times than I can possibly count. I was very clumsy as a youngin', how many times I fell and in general bled, I don't know how I escaped childhood with nothing worse than a scrape or sprain.

 

[irishScott]

My friend starting training judo with me. After a few weeks he had his first sparing session. He fell and hurt his ankle.

I have seen hundreds of these injuries, but I am not a doctor. I looked at it, told him it was a sprain and to stop being a baby. We left and went out to dinner. I made fun of him for complaining about the pain as we walked to the car and to the restaurant. I made fun of him even more as we walked into my house. I gave him an ace bandage, ice, and some pain meds.

The next morning he sends me a text message. Inside is a picture of his foot, the size of a small melon and the text "I think I should go to the hospital". It turns out he broke his Tibia where it meets the ankle. The doctor said walking on it made it much worse. It took a surgery to fix and 2 screws.

Long story short, I felt like an asshole.

I had a similar incident, although in my case it was an adrenaline-high leap from 10 steps up onto concrete during an impromptu foot-race around campus. Landed fine on the left ankle, right ankle was hurt so bad I screamed. Was able to limp back to the dorm on my own, put it on ice and went to sleep. Over the next two days swelled to the size of a small grape-fruit and hurt too much even walk to class. Went to student health, was referred to the ER, turns out I half-tore a ligament in my foot. They gave me crutches, but basically said lay off it for a couple of weeks. I did and everything was fine afterward.

Bottom line, in the same position as your friend and sufficient rest was a valid solution. Some combination of factors led to your friend having a serious injury, but IMO he was right to wait a couple of days. The walking on it was the stupid part. Even after a sprain or twisted ankle you lay off it until the swelling goes down.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Well I would make my daughter set up a lemonade stand to help defray the costs of course.

 

[her209]

Yes...so that we can have even more people wasting time and money in the medical system going to the ER for nothing.

For those saying "lolz wow what a dumbz its only $100!!!" think a little harder. How much did his insurance company pay? How much do those worthless ER trips factor into his insurance premium - and thereby, his company's performance/salary? How many people sat in the ER with far more serious problems because of the multitudes of people at the EMERGENCY room because they twisted their ankle, or have the sniffles?

This has nothing to do with health care systems. It has to do with people being idiots. If its not serious, don't go to the ER. If you feel under the weather and are really concerned about it, schedule an appointment with your doctor. If your doctor isn't available on fairly short notice, get a new doctor.

At the same time, I paid thousands of dollars into "the system". Fuck that. I'm using it.

 

[jhu]

You know what you're paying for? The people who go there who are uninsured.

 

[rh71]

On your period?

If I were on my period, I'd know it, as it's about the same time every month. Get a brain moran.

 

[umbrella39]

Next time go to an urgent care center and read your policy.

 

[Farang]

You shouldn't have went to the ER. Most insured people would have paid a $10-$30 co-pay for a physician's office visit, if anything at all.