Ever been to the emergency room?

[KingGheedora]

I've been really sick the past few weeks and I really think I might have to go into the ER. The way the doctors are dealing with this so far, it's going so slowly. I've been there 4 times in the past four weeks, and still no diagnosis... just an appointment for an endoscopy which isn't until a MONTH from now. Meanwhile I'm supposed to waste away from chronic diarrhea. I've already lost 12 lbs in around 4 weeks.

Anyways, I've always been weary of medical stuff. Can you let me know what to expect if I go to the ER? I'm pretty sure I'll be in the waiting room all day before they even start examining me. Do they have the right to do whatever they think will fix me? And how much does it all cost? I have insurance and so far I've only had to pay like 30$ co-pays. I'm not sure if there's a limit to what they will cover, and not sure how to find out.

I don't want someone to decide to give me surgery without me being able to explore other options. Will they leave the choice up to me for anything like that?

Also, how do you go about researching which ER to go to? For the doc visits i've been going to the hospital right near where I live, but I don't trust them too much now. What's the best way to research that kind of thing? Like which hospitals may specialize in certain kinds of illnesses?

 

[shortylickens]

Few times.
Once for my kidney stone. That was in a small town in the Mojave Desert. Got treated very well there. They gave me plenty of morphine and I passed it with ease.
Once for some sort of sore throat. That was in a big town in Oregon and they didnt do shit, also misdiagnosed it. Turned out to be Mononucleosis.
Once for another sickness that was never identified. Another big town in Oregon. They fucked that up too. Didnt give me anything and I got sicker and sicker. Didnt get properly treated until I came back east and saw a real doctor.

Overall, I prefer a real doctor to a naturapath doctor or doctor in a town mostly populated by hippies.

 

[keird]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
I've been really sick the past few weeks and I really think I might have to go into the ER. The way the doctors are dealing with this so far, it's going so slowly. I've been there 4 times in the past four weeks, and still no diagnosis... just an appointment for an endoscopy which isn't until a MONTH from now. Meanwhile I'm supposed to waste away from chronic diarrhea. I've already lost 12 lbs in around 4 weeks.

Anyways, I've always been weary of medical stuff. Can you let me know what to expect if I go to the ER? I'm pretty sure I'll be in the waiting room all day before they even start examining me. Do they have the right to do whatever they think will fix me? And how much does it all cost? I have insurance and so far I've only had to pay like 30$ co-pays. I'm not sure if there's a limit to what they will cover, and not sure how to find out.

I don't want someone to decide to give me surgery without me being able to explore other options. Will they leave the choice up to me for anything like that?

Also, how do you go about researching which ER to go to? For the doc visits i've been going to the hospital right near where I live, but I don't trust them too much now. What's the best way to research that kind of thing? Like which hospitals may specialize in certain kinds of illnesses?

What, exactly, is the Emergency?

 

[DrPizza]

Wife works at the hospital. Financial outcome: $0.00. They write it off for employees.

 

[olds]

I went in for what seemed like a blood clot in my head. Intense pain and my BP was through the roof. They gave me morphine and a scan (cat?). It turned out all it was is a new type of migraine that I never had before called an exertion migraine.
My cost, 5 hours of my time and $1000.00

 

[KingGheedora]

Originally posted by: keird

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
I've been really sick the past few weeks and I really think I might have to go into the ER. The way the doctors are dealing with this so far, it's going so slowly. I've been there 4 times in the past four weeks, and still no diagnosis... just an appointment for an endoscopy which isn't until a MONTH from now. Meanwhile I'm supposed to waste away from chronic diarrhea. I've already lost 12 lbs in around 4 weeks.

Anyways, I've always been weary of medical stuff. Can you let me know what to expect if I go to the ER? I'm pretty sure I'll be in the waiting room all day before they even start examining me. Do they have the right to do whatever they think will fix me? And how much does it all cost? I have insurance and so far I've only had to pay like 30$ co-pays. I'm not sure if there's a limit to what they will cover, and not sure how to find out.

I don't want someone to decide to give me surgery without me being able to explore other options. Will they leave the choice up to me for anything like that?

Also, how do you go about researching which ER to go to? For the doc visits i've been going to the hospital right near where I live, but I don't trust them too much now. What's the best way to research that kind of thing? Like which hospitals may specialize in certain kinds of illnesses?

What, exactly, is the Emergency?

Chronic diarrhea (with blood loss) is the emergency. I basically haven't been absorbing nutrients from my food, and on top of that losing blood. When they first tested me I was borderline anemic, and since then I've gotten much worse, I think I'm probably anemic by now. The malnutrition is having tons of effects on my health right now:

severe fatigue
severe joint pain - especially in my knees and upper back.

I don't want to sit around and find out what comes next as my heath continues to deteriorate. The diarrhea itself, or whatever is causing it, gives me the following:

Have to go to bathroom every 30 minutes. Sometimes have to go right back literally 30 seconds after I just finished going.
constant low grade fever
abdominal discomfort

Ironically, this all started when I started trying to eat healthier food. Something with that change in diet triggered this.

 

[KingGheedora]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I went in for what seemed like a blood clot in my head. Intense pain and my BP was through the roof. They gave me morphine and a scan (cat?). It turned out all it was is a new type of migraine that I never had before called an exertion migraine.
My cost, 5 hours of my time and $1000.00

Did you have insurance?

 

[Bignate603]

I don't think going to the ER is going to speed anything up. They'll make sure you're stable and then try and send you home. Anyways, this isn't an emergency so its not really the reason why the ER is there. Stuff like this makes ERs overcrowded. You might get nailed with a nasty copay, especially if they say that it wasn't an emergency. I have a $30 copay for an office visit and a $250 ER copay if they don't admit me to the hospital. That's to keep people from going to the ER when it's something that can wait until you can see your normal doctor.

If you're unhappy with your doctor get a new one. There should be others in your area that accept your insurance. If you get your insurance through work you can talk to HR to have them lean on your insurance to move faster. Don't go to the ER for something that can wait until morning. Even for many things where you need a doctor an urgent care place is better than an ER for anything small.

 

[KingGheedora]

The doctor actually told me that what he would do in my shoes is go to the ER. Diarrhea like this can be pretty serious, if you are dehydrating, or if you are losing enough blood.

I thought the fact that I can barely function right now might justify a trip too. Yesterday I thought I was going to have a heart attack. For about 45 minutes every time I took a full breath I would get a pain in my chest. So I couldn't do anything but lie down and take shallow breaths. I'm not sure how that's related to anything, maybe it's another byproduct of malnourishment. Just a couple months ago I was a healthy active guy, working out 5x a week, both lifting, running, and boxing. I would consider myself at that point to be fitter than 98% of the general populace, so chest pain is pretty unexpected for me.

I am still reluctant to go though, and just want to gather information in case something really bad starts to happen.

 

[JS80]

Flu. $100 copay. 5 hours.

 

[RocksteadyDotNet]

Been to public hospital twice. Was treated very well.

$0. (Paid for by taxes.)

UHC.

Been to private hostpital once. Was treated very well.

Probably $500 in excess. I think you call that co-pay.

 

[marrr]

take charge of your life cause those doctors or nurses dont care.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Wife works at the hospital. Financial outcome: $0.00. They write it off for employees.

I blame you for the high cost of health care.....

 

[Red Squirrel]

I had a boile that started to grow on my butt. I went to the clinic to get meds, they did not help as I had waited too long (it felt like a bruise so figured it was a non issue until I felt and realized it was like if I had a golf ball stuck up there).

So went to the ER and they surgically removed it. Had to go in every 2 days as they had to change the packing.

Then conveniently during this process I got C Diff, went in again a few times as I had excruciating stomach pains and constant diarrhea and vomit (at same time). They could not really do too much about it other then give me tips such as trying to get sugar in me and what not. Think I got some Tylenol 3 out of that though that might of been from the boile, I forget. All this happened in my last month of my first IT student job. I felt like a looser missing out my 3-4 last weeks of work.

As for cost well I live in Canada, so that explains everything. Thank goodness I did not have to pay anything.

 

[Mo0o]

This could be all kinds of bad news bears, you should probably go to the ER and at least get some blood work done. If you have too much diarrhea you can get hypokalemia that gives you arrhythmias.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora

Originally posted by: keird

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
I've been really sick the past few weeks and I really think I might have to go into the ER. The way the doctors are dealing with this so far, it's going so slowly. I've been there 4 times in the past four weeks, and still no diagnosis... just an appointment for an endoscopy which isn't until a MONTH from now. Meanwhile I'm supposed to waste away from chronic diarrhea. I've already lost 12 lbs in around 4 weeks.

Anyways, I've always been weary of medical stuff. Can you let me know what to expect if I go to the ER? I'm pretty sure I'll be in the waiting room all day before they even start examining me. Do they have the right to do whatever they think will fix me? And how much does it all cost? I have insurance and so far I've only had to pay like 30$ co-pays. I'm not sure if there's a limit to what they will cover, and not sure how to find out.

I don't want someone to decide to give me surgery without me being able to explore other options. Will they leave the choice up to me for anything like that?

Also, how do you go about researching which ER to go to? For the doc visits i've been going to the hospital right near where I live, but I don't trust them too much now. What's the best way to research that kind of thing? Like which hospitals may specialize in certain kinds of illnesses?

What, exactly, is the Emergency?

Chronic diarrhea (with blood loss) is the emergency. I basically haven't been absorbing nutrients from my food, and on top of that losing blood. When they first tested me I was borderline anemic, and since then I've gotten much worse, I think I'm probably anemic by now. The malnutrition is having tons of effects on my health right now:

severe fatigue
severe joint pain - especially in my knees and upper back.

I don't want to sit around and find out what comes next as my heath continues to deteriorate. The diarrhea itself, or whatever is causing it, gives me the following:

Have to go to bathroom every 30 minutes. Sometimes have to go right back literally 30 seconds after I just finished going.
constant low grade fever
abdominal discomfort

Ironically, this all started when I started trying to eat healthier food. Something with that change in diet triggered this.

I'd seriously get a new doctor, you on welfare or something where you can't pick another doc?

I only got to the ER for emergencies. So far they have all been covered at 100% including me biting off my tongue as kid.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I was in a car accident. I had them take me to the hospital in an ambulance because of the severe impact of the wreck (40mph impact whiplash).

$700 2 block ambulance ride.
$1500 ER visit
and I think another $300 for incidentals
+ $100 in medication

I'm not sure what was actually paid out by the girl because my uninsured motorist insurance through Geico paid the bill. (they took the chick that hit me to court over it)

Experience:

I got moved from the ambulance to the hospital ER. I was rolled in and moved to a room where I waited about an hour and a half for a doctor on staff to get to me. I got Xrays about 20 minutes later....perscriptions for hydrocodone and muscle relaxers. I was in the accident at about 10pm. I got home from the hospital by 1:30am. I should have gone to a different hospital.

 

[Sealy]

I was floating down the river channel that flowed between two lakes in Penticton BC. I was drinking long island ice teas, far too much alcohol....in 40C heat. Got off the air mattress got up onto the grass and fell down. Don't remember anything else but waking up in the hospital with an iv in my arm. I apparently puked a few times en route to the hospital...nice.

That was about 17 yrs. ago. I'm much smarter now sort of....

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I was in a car accident. I had them take me to the hospital in an ambulance because of the severe impact of the wreck (40mph impact whiplash).

$700 2 block ambulance ride.
$1500 ER visit
and I think another $300 for incidentals
+ $100 in medication

I'm not sure what was actually paid out by the girl because my uninsured motorist insurance through Geico paid the bill. (they took the chick that hit me to court over it)

Experience:

I got moved from the ambulance to the hospital ER. I was rolled in and moved to a room where I waited about an hour and a half for a doctor on staff to get to me. I got Xrays about 20 minutes later....perscriptions for hydrocodone and muscle relaxers. I was in the accident at about 10pm. I got home from the hospital by 1:30am. I should have gone to a different hospital.

you obviously did not have an emergency though.

People bitch about ER's but behind the scenes they are dealing with the dude that is bleeding out because he fell off a ladder and was impaled rather than whiplash incidents that could wait for a normal doctor to look.

 

[SilentZero]

Yep..once for myself and once for my son in the last few years.

Wasn't that bad overall...the ambulance cost for the one trip was free (insurance), and both times I only had a $50 co-pay per visit (MRI, Echocardiogram, nuclear stress test, lab work...all covered without a cost).

Good insurance == win

 

[RedArmy]

That's a negative

 

[Jinru]

I was in 1st grade, I remember it as a rainy day when I came home from school. I only remember bits of it as I was unconscious most of the time, but I went to my parents bed and fell right to sleep right when I got home. Opened my eyes to my cousin and sisters taking off my shirt and putting a wet cold towel on my forehead then went back to sleep. Opened my eyes again to my dad holding me in the family doctors waiting room then passed out again. Woke up this time in the ER with all my family and relatives in the room. I spent a total of 3 days in the Hospital before I was let go, I was told I had some sort of Virus. I'm still not sure what exactly happened to me to this day.

 

[Black88GTA]

I put a Dremel with a sidecutter bit spinning at probably ~15k RPM through the palm of my left hand about a month ago. When it happened, I didn't really think much of it - I could look into the wound and see bone :Q but there wasn't much blood and it wasn't all that painful, so I put a band aid on and went about my business.

Maybe 9 - 10 hours later, I went to take a shower and noticed my whole hand was red and swelling up, hurt to make a fist, and the skin felt spongy (like there was air under it). So I checked myself into the ER. They gave me X-rays, an IV antibiotic, a tetanus shot, a prescription for a pill antibiotic to take for the next week, and some other stuff.

The ER bill came to $2100, plus over $500 for a hand specialist that I was referred to. I ended up paying ~115 total out of pocket when all was said and done - unless there are more bills that I just haven't received yet. Insurance covered the rest.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I went in for what seemed like a blood clot in my head. Intense pain and my BP was through the roof. They gave me morphine and a scan (cat?). It turned out all it was is a new type of migraine that I never had before called an exertion migraine.
My cost, 5 hours of my time and $1000.00

Did you have insurance?

Yes. They covered most of it.

 

[Locut0s]

Had a stomach ache a few years back that just kept getting worse and worse. I decided I must have eaten something bad and to sleep it off. Round about 1AM I couldn't stand it any more and went to the emergency room. They gave me this supper antacid drink, real thick pink stuff like Malox x1000. Didn't do much for me. They couldn't find anything else wrong with me at the time and the pain started to get a little better. They gave me 2 Tylenol 3s and told me to see how I was the next day. Woke up groggy but pain free the next day.... Canada here so it didn't cost anything out of pocket of course.


Wow that was a boring story wasn't it.