I am not...I am not the damsel in distress. I am not some case. I have to work this. I've lived in a cave for 5 years in a world where they killed my kind like cattle. I am not going to be cut down by some monster flu. I am better than that. What a wonder...how very scared I am.

Fred ,'A Hole in the World'


Spike's Bitches 46: Don't I get a cookie?  

[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.


Lee - Aug 31, 2010 5:15:57 am PDT #687 of 30000
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.

When I was sick a few years ago (8 years ago now!! Cancer-free for 7 years, babee!), I ended up paying something like $200 out of pocket and that was it. Considering all the tests, scans, radiation, and 2 surgeries? That rocked. I was truly very very lucky.

This is AWESOME on so many levels.


Volans - Aug 31, 2010 5:17:19 am PDT #688 of 30000
move out and draw fire

The penultimate day of my Aussie friend's stay here, she had to go to the ER with a kidney stone. (Yay for getting it BEFORE the 21 hour flight rather than during).

$6000.

And that was after she negotiated it down. Which I didn't know you could do, but she pointed out that she was a tourist. I just sent her the bills from the ER; hopefully her Oz insurance will cover a lot of it.


Pix - Aug 31, 2010 5:23:58 am PDT #689 of 30000
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie

Yay cancer free!

I don't have many choices with my health care. We have one HMO plan through work, and it's 20/80 for surgical procedures (the most expensive, of course). The copays in network for normal doctor's visits and such are very reasonable, but nsm big stuff. Now I know.

As for the certification, it's completely voluntary. Teachers need state certification to teach in public schools (none needed for private schools), but the national certification is basically a big, expensive feather in your cap. Kat is certified as well, but we are rarities. I don't know what the numbers are now, but when I got certified in 2001, there were only 50,000 of us in the country.


billytea - Aug 31, 2010 5:34:34 am PDT #690 of 30000
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

And that was after she negotiated it down. Which I didn't know you could do, but she pointed out that she was a tourist. I just sent her the bills from the ER; hopefully her Oz insurance will cover a lot of it.

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be covered under Medicare, being outside the country. I always get travel medical insurance for that reason, which should be pretty comprehensive. (I would especially do so for travelling to America, for I have been billed by American doctors before.)


Volans - Aug 31, 2010 5:47:15 am PDT #691 of 30000
move out and draw fire

I always get travel medical insurance for that reason, which should be pretty comprehensive.

She had this as well. I wouldn't have even thought of it.


billytea - Aug 31, 2010 5:51:24 am PDT #692 of 30000
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

She had this as well. I wouldn't have even thought of it.

That should be fine then, she should be covered for the bill (maybe a capped copay).


Fred Pete - Aug 31, 2010 5:52:01 am PDT #693 of 30000
Ann, that's a ferret.

Cancer-free for 7 years, babee!

Yay! That's considered a cure, correct?


Ginger - Aug 31, 2010 6:10:29 am PDT #694 of 30000
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

That's considered a cure, correct?

Past five years, the odds of recurrence drop significantly, anyway. (Go, ChiKat! Go, me!)

If I had to have surgery, I'd be out of pocket $3,000 plus. I am one of those people who has to buy her own insurance, and I had to go to a higher deductible plan this year or my monthly payment would have gone from $500 to $750. Most office visits and tests are set co-pays, but I pay 20% on things like surgery.

In my case, Kaiser's spent at least half a million on me, so I can't say I haven't gotten my money's worth.


brenda m - Aug 31, 2010 6:40:15 am PDT #695 of 30000
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

Go team cancer free!


Trudy Booth - Aug 31, 2010 6:54:19 am PDT #696 of 30000
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart

Well, bless the hairdresser because she kept R for half an hour when my yoga class ran late.

Cuss her a little though, because she told R, "The surgery is today! It's RIGHT NOW!!!" 'Cause I wasn't going to do that. Certainly not "It's RIGHT NOW!!!" -- that causes me crazy anxiety and I can keep it straight in my haid.

Hopefully it will slip her mind quickly and not make her a wreck all day.

(What I've gone with is "Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are busy days with lots of doctors and finally the operation. We probably won't hear from them until Wednesday." That rolls in our skipped phone call with the surgery so its upsetting but not, you know... terrifying. She knows its going down.)