The tale of a hernia repair

This last month has been a roller coaster ride for sure. I have been through a lot and figured I would share some of that with you. I will try to do a readers digest version, as to not have a 10 page long blog.

To begin this tale we start with the problem...I got a hernia (a tear in the tendons in the stomach) right above my belly button about a month and a half ago. It was bulging out, hurt, and was making me constantly feel nauseated. Before the diagnosis was positively made I went to the ER to see what I could find out. The doctor at the ER was something else. Her response was that "maybe it is a part of your anatomy that you have never noticed before." She only gave me numbers to hernia specialists because I insisted I thought it was a hernia.

Next step, I went to see the hernia specialist. The specialist took a look, felt it and the diagnosis was officially made...hernia repair surgery was in order.

Here is where it gets tricky. I have insurance through my work, but have never been told much about or used insurance. Needless to say I was a little clueless...and will forever do research in the future before anything that requires insurance.

The specialist I had chosen to go with was out of network and had told me over the phone that the total cost would be $2800, and that I had to pay the $1500 deductible before I could get the surgery. I called the county hospital to see if they could work something out that was a little more money friendly, and they told me that normally I would qualify for low income help, but because I have insurance I have to use that and they don't accept my insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield).

Quick note, I thought the difference between in network and out of network meant just a slight difference between the amount I was responsible for...and I had a specific referral to this doctor and trusted his work so I figured it was worth paying a little more.

I somehow magically came up with the deductible and scheduled the surgery.

The surgery was outpatient and lasted only an hour. They basically went in and pushed the intestines back into place, sewed up the tendon, and put a piece of mesh over it for strength. When I woke up I felt ok, but standing up to get in the wheelchair was massively painful. They didn't want to give me a pain killer before I left because it increases nausea and since I just had surgery on my stomach vomiting would be extremely painful and bad for the stitches.

So I just had to deal with the pain until I got home where I basically passed out in a drug coma for two straight days. After that I slowly started feeling better and was completely off pain killers within 2 weeks. I started walking around as much as possible to keep the blood flowing.

Everything is going great until I get the bill from the surgery stating that the total cost was $13000...a little more than $2800. After some reserach I found that to be a reasonable price for the surgery but was just a little upset I wasn't made aware of this price when I originally asked. I also found out at a later point that had I gone in network I would have been responsible for nothing after the deductible, but now I am responsible for 30% of the $13000...ouch. Not to mention I had to take a full month off work for recovery.

I will admit this whole thing really got me down for a while and that the recovery process has been hard. But in the end, now coming out on the other side, I can say that life is great. Things always work themselves out, and as long as you learn the lessons that come along with hardships that is the best you can do. Not to mention how great Gabriel DeVine was throughout the whole process, helping me, staying by my side to make sure I always had what I needed, watching endless amounts of movies with me, teaching me chess, and helping me to remember the good things in life. It is appreciating the small things that makes your whole life great...every moment.