On Mon, 11 Apr 2016 10:49:40 -0400, jmcquown >
wrote:

>On 4/10/2016 10:51 PM, Janet B wrote:
>> On Sun, 10 Apr 2016 19:32:25 -0400, jmcquown >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 4/10/2016 1:10 PM, 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.
>>>>
>>> Not if he was capable of driving.
>>>
>>> My neighbor went to an urgent care clinic last year. They quickly
>>> diagnosed her with an embolism/blood clot in her leg which could have
>>> traveled to her heart/lungs. She was perfectly rational and capable of
>>> driving a few miles further to hospital. No ambulance required. Oh,
>>> and she had insurance.
>>>
>>> Jill
>> It is possible to walk around with a clot in the leg for weeks and
>> weeks and not have it move. (BTDT, I didn't know why my leg had a
>> sore spot) I didn't have to drive myself to the hospital after the
>> tentative diagnosis because the doctor's office was within the
>> hospital campus and I was sent for an ultrasound. They withheld
>> surgery until the next day because I had already eaten several meals
>> that day. Having a blood clot is something to be taken care of but
>> not a 5 alarm fire.
>> Did the urgent care use ultra sound to detect the blood clot or was
>> she sent to the hospital to have an ultra sound done?
>> Janet US
>>
>I don't know the symptoms she had. Possibly a store spot. Something
>prompted her to go to the nearby Urgent Care clinic. They sent her to
>the hospital. Might not have been the ER but they told her she needed
>to have it taken care of.
>
>I hadn't seen her for a few days. It's rare I don't see her. She's
>always out puttering in her yard. Her absence was conspicuous. I saw
>her outside the next week and commented "I haven't seen you around much.
> "Oh, I was in the hospital. Had a blood clot removed from my leg."
>
>I think they did the initial tests (don't know if it was an ultrasound)
>at the Urgent Care clinic. From what she said they realized hey, you
>have a potential problem here. So she drove herself to the hospital.
>Might not have been the ER, I am hazy about that. But she did have to
>have surgery to remove the clot before it had a chace to move. She's 70
>years old so she's got Medicare and probably a Medicare supplement.
>
>I don't want to think about what it would cost to pay for that out of
>pocket.
>
>Jill
I guess I was lucky. I didn't have surgery to have it removed. I did
have surgery to place a 'screen' before my heart to prevent the clot
from getting to heart. I was treated with a blood thinner.
Janet US