$76,483.25

I found this photo postcard a few weeks ago at a local shop... I have no idea what this woman is doing. Circa 1915 -1920.

Sunday was turning out to be a good day. Andrea and I were able to escape for a few hours to an Antique Fair (where I found some great glass negatives). After which, we went out for an early dinner (Indian food with lots of good veggies!!). When we got back home, I resumed some work at the computer. -I started to feel a pain in my side. Within a few hours, the pain had grown into an excruciating stabbing that radiated into my neck and shoulder. It got so bad that I couldn’t breathe, or, find a position that didn’t hurt. Even lying down was next to impossible. We contacted the on-call interventional radiology (IR) doctor Sunday night. He instructed us to contact them in the morning if the problem persisted. Well, after a nearly impossible night in bed, I woke up early and spoke with IR. The head nurse told me to proceed to the Northwestern ER. I was quickly admitted to the ER where they took samples, X-rays and CT scans. Of course, I was also administered pain relief (Dilaudid). As if being in pain was not enough, the nurse was brutal inserting my port… she missed, hit a nerve or bone , and the WORST burning pain ran down my entire arm, followed by a profuse spout of blood that went all over the floor, my arm, the bed, the nurse… basically, it went everywhere and hurt like hell! The nurse was nice enough to leave a puddle on the ER floor for us to clean. (It still burns when I flex my arm… I have had a TON of these ports and blood draws and this nurse surely did SOMETHING wrong.

After the botched vein debacle, the throbbing subsided a bit when the pain meds hit. The basic concern by the IR & ER docs was that there might be internal bleeding, pulmonary embolism, a blood clot, or some other abnormality. Luckily, there were none of those. The pain was eventually chocked up to necrosis within the tumors of the liver. I was advised to check in overnight to manage the pain. However, I had to wait hours for a room, during this time the pain meds were starting to wear off. With that, my head started to ache, I got violently nauseous and the vomiting ensued! At this point, they had taken me out of the room and stuck me in a ER hall space where all sorts of nonsense was going on. So, when the vomiting finally came, I was forced to scamper to the bathroom where I puked into a nasty garbage can. The can was rife with nasty tissues, a used tampon, bandages, and all kinds of other nastiness. ---but the alternative was puking in the toilet, with my knees in a pile of urine surrounded by other feces around the bowl. I took door number one, no toilet. After a few trips like this, I thought it was time to go home. I’d rather puke in my own toilet, writhing in pain, in comfort…if that makes sense?

As soon as I get the scans, I’ll post a few images to the blog. My IR doctor wrote the following:

“In general, there was nothing specific to account for your pain. The CT did not demonstrate any complications from the procedure and the scan was negative for pulmonary embolism or other chest pathology. The timing of this pain is unusual for it to be related to the embolization, two weeks after the procedure…”

“The pain can possibly be coming from your dominant tumor. It is high in the liver, up against the diaphragm. This could explain the pain in your right shoulder and intermittent shortness of breath. The tumor is slightly bigger but has more necrosis in it. The pain you are experiencing is certainly not typical following portal vein embolization.”

“There is some good news: the left lobe of the liver has hypertrophied in the 2 weeks since we did the portal vein embolization. From the scan September 2009: Right lobe + segment 4 was approximately 1400 cc and the left 2/3 lobe was 300 cc. From today's scan: Right lobe + segment 4 was approximately 1450 cc and the left 2/3 lobe was 480 cc. The future liver remnant has increased from approximately 18% to 25%. I would expect further hypertrophy over the next few weeks.”

Today, Monday, I am feeling a little better but the pain is still there. I’m expecting that it will last and be intermittent until the surgery. I’m just going to have to take it easy since it’s very hard to do anything physical right now. We’ll see.

On other fronts, I received the hospital bill for PVE procedure. The amount was mind-numbing! Note that the following figures are for the hospital only, they do not include the doctor’s fees. It should also be acknowledged that I spent less than 3hrs in the recovery room. From check-in to check out, about 7hrs total:

Pharmacy: $1,194.25
Radiology: $11,365.00
Med –Surg-Anesth.Supplies: $46,524.00
Operating Recovery Room: $17,400.00
Total: $76,483.25

For those who have been in the US medical system, this bill will come as no surprise. But, let’s compare this to my hospital visit in Germany:
2 airline tickets (free via points, but worth $1,600), 16 days lodging, food, local transportation, 5 days in the hospital, multiple PET Scans (about 5), Kidney scans, blood tests, overnight hospital stay and staff, radiation (PRRT) treatment, and doctor’s consults:
Appox. $22,000 USD.

Do the math, our medical system is jacked. Is the new healthcare bill going to fix it? Probably not, but I think we need to recognize that something is seriously wrong with an industry that is allowed to levy such insane fees. If I had no insurance, or, was poverty stricken, I would not have the options I currently enjoy. (I’d basically die much earlier, without a fighting chance). So, when people debate the current state of healthcare and say… “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it…” What they are really saying is: I have never had a serious illness, I am not poor, or, I’m completely clueless.

…Andrea says, “Ain’t ain’t a word so I ain’t gonna say it…”