Utter Frustration

Warning.  This post isn't funny.  It's just plain honest.  I am super frustrated.  Fed up.  And I want to share something with you, dear reader, and hopefully you can prevent such foolishness from happening in your little world.

Back in May, my dad broke his pelvis.  He fell at the nursing home.  Long story short, he went to the hospital via an ambulance.  He was seen and it was determined that the fracture was minor, would heal on its own and that he could return to the home and rest and take it easy.

An ambulance was called to transfer him from the hospital to the nursing home.  We got him settled in his room with orders to spend a couple days in bed.  He needed assistance with bathrooming, etc.  He had been given a prescription for pain medication at the hospital.  The nursing home received this order at 6:00 pm but I had to fight for four hours to get the bastards to give him the meds.  He got one dose of a pain reliever at 10:30 that night.  My sister and I left him in the care of the home and thought all was well.

We went to see Dad the next day. And we were shocked and concerned.  He was in a bit of pain but his breathing was terrible.  And he was so, so confused.  I suspected he had too much pain medication.  In talking to the nurse, I found that no, he hadn't.  He was given one dose and it had long since worn off.  As our visit went on, I become more concerned.  I finally called my dad's doctor and he said we needed to take him back to the emergency room.  We called another ambulance and made the trip.  He was seen and again, the pelvis fracture was deemed fine and the actual problems were of a different nature.

Dad spent twelve long days in the hospital.  He was found to have a lot of fluid building up around his heart, got new meds for that, was monitored and seen by his cardiologist.  He was also seen my the lung doc and ended up on oxygen 24/7.  Hospitals love to annoy patients so poor Daddy had to endure physical and occupational therapy.  He was given breathing treatments 'round the clock.  Finally, the staff determined that the had twelve serious conditions and none were directly related to the pelvic fracture or the lung cancer which is basically in remission.  A lot more went on during this time but I won't bore you.

Finally, he was released and went back to the nursing home.  Fast forward to now.  My sister and I are receiving bills for our father's medical treatments.  Remember that non-displaced, minor pelvic fracture?  The same one that let him be released from the ER the first night?  The same one that healed on its own and required no follow-up?  Well, the orthopedic surgeon who saw him in the hospital seems to want $1100 for his services.  My dad would NEVER have seen this guy had he not be admitted for things NOT related to the pelvic break.

My dad was also seen by the radiation oncologist.  The same one he was no longer seeing because there were no further treatments needed.  That doctor has also charged for his services.  He even was kind enough to leave his business card so I knew he'd been by.  My dad had NO REASON to be seen by anyone from oncology.

During the twelve-day stay, my dad was also never seen by anyone from his primary care physician's office.  Not one single visit.  He was managed by the hospital physicians who knew nothing of his history and caused more problems.  But given that my dad never saw his own doctor, why would he have been told to follow up with him after his release?  Screw that.  Just a ploy for another bill.

The $1100 bill is the one that has me saying 

 How dare they?  My dad had NO need for any ortho visits.  Had he not had congestive heart failure issues, he wouldn't have been in the hospital to be seen anyway.  Grrrrrr.  This is just not right.  Please don't ever believe the medical profession has your best interests at heart.  It's money.  Nothing but money.  Profits.  You are not a person, you are a vacation or house payment.

Does this story upset you?  Make you want to scrutinize your own hospital bill for asinine charges?  Tell me YOUR story!

Sorry this post was not fun.  I'm too irritated and fed up to make you laugh today.  But tune in tomorrow.  Same bat time and same bat channel.

Meanwhile, please stay healthy!!!  You can't afford not to.