Brooklyn1 wrote:
>
> On Sun, 10 Apr 2016 09:45:29 -0400, Gary > wrote:
>
> >Dave Smith wrote:
> >>
> >> I spend 4 days in ICU and another 3 nights in the hospital. I was billed
> >> nothing for all that.
> >
> >My God. If that was in the USA, you would face a bill of (just
> >guessing) over $20K.
> >
> >That night 7.5 years ago that I had severe asthma and was stuck
> >sitting on the toilet all night - very labored breathing and even a 7
> >step walk to the phone to call for help would have killed me. After
> >spending about 8 hours on the damn toilet with very labored breathing
> >all night, I was finally healed enough to get up, dressed, and I drove
> >to a "minor emergency clinic." Very labored breathing even for that.
> >
> >As soon as they heard that I had no insurance, they treated me quite
> >shabbily (imo). They didn't want me there and acted like I was some
> >bum off the street after free medical care. I was told that the doctor
> >was running a bit late and I should go to the emergency room.
>
> A clinic would not have told you to drive to the ER, they would have
> called an ambulance.
>
> >I told
> >them that I was doing ok just sitting there and waiting but to get up
> >again would be a hardship. I'm not leaving.
> >
> >So then she told me, "You know, this could be expensive"
> >I told her, "I've got money, I'll pay for this today"
> >She still didn't seem convinced. Again, I was made to feel like some
> >bum.
> >
> >So I finally got to see the doctor. They treated me there and I was
> >good to go plus I got prescriptions. Funny how just 1/2 hour treatment
> >in the doctors office fixed me when I really almost died of asthma
> >attack
>
> That's why you need medication at home, you should have an Albuterol
> Sulphate inhaler on you at all times, and a nebulizer at home... with
> a neb treatment at home you'd be fine in ten minutes.
>
> >just hours earlier in the bathroom and then ferrets in cage
> >would have died too, if I did.
> >
> >Doctor visit was $75 plus treatment...total $150. No big deal and I
> >paid before I left.
> >If I had gone to the hospital's emergency room for that, it would have
> >cost way over $1000.
>
> Had you dialed 911 an ambulance would have arrived and the EMTs would
> have treated you and/or brought you to the ER. If you had no
> insurance they'd still have to treat you.
> If you're an Asthmatic why didn't you have a rescue inhaler?
> You really shouldn't have driven a car in your condition... don't you
> have a neighor who could drive you in an emergency?
> Why don't you have medical insurance, if you're over 55 you can get a
> very inexpensive plan through AARP... it would cover your Asthma meds.
> which aren't very expensive to begin with, the pharmaceutical
> companies will supply meds for free too, and your primary care doctor
> has samples, ask. With AARP insurance many of the basic Asthma meds
> are free, no co-pay... it's a lot less expensive to give you a dollars
> worth of meds for free than paying your hospital bills. Sitting on
> the toilet all night struggling to breathe is a definite indication of
> mental illness.

Sheldon. You assumed way too much and failed with most of your
guesses.
Don't be a putz. It was the night from hell for me and all was true.
I had prescription drugs and they quit working.
The doctor gave me Prednizone, the extreme reaction fix. That's what
fixed my problem, plus I got many free drugs and prescriptions for
more.

Sitting on the toilet all night, deep breathing was survival.
Thankfully, I had a book with me.
As one point, I accepted that I was probably going to die
right there. Then my concern switched to my 2 ferrets in a
cage in the bedroom. I didn't want to die and have them die
too.