Day 27: Monday, October 25th, 2004
When I woke (assuming I
even slept) the next morning I felt even worse. It took several attempts
to even sit up. I seemed fine if I was in a sitting position but any other
movement was extremely painful. After awkwardly showering and dismantling
the tent, I decided that I only had a few options. One was to simply head
for home as quickly as possible and get this checked out back in Canada
where it wouldn't cost a thing. I could probably make it in three days.
The next idea was to simply ignore it. It would get better on its own.
Besides, I don't like doctors. And the third option was to forget about
all the horror tales of uninsured doctor bills in the States and get it
checked out.
Eventually I decided on what seemed to be the most sensible decision: biting the bullet and going to the hospital. I went online beforehand, trying to find a site that would give me an idea of what such a thing would cost, but they all directed me to a particular web site which contained nothing useful at all. Regardless, there was no point hanging around the Keys. I was in too much pain to enjoy anything there and I did not want to spend another fortune on a campground here. So, I headed back towards the mainland and eventually came across a hospital and decided to go in and get checked out. I suppose I should've actually asked them how much it was going to cost beforehand. (Seems like such a sensible thing now.) But I had it in mind that it would be maybe $500 at the most and I really did not want to leave this unchecked any longer. So, right away I had a nurse come and check me out. Blood pressure, all the standard medical history questions. Take a deep breath. Hold. Let it out. Then I sat around the waiting area for about an hour. When I got called in another nurse came and basically did the same thing the last nurse did, listening to my breathing to see if all seemed fine. Another half hour of waiting. Then I finally see a doctor. He says hi and then (surprise surprise) he pulls out a stethescope and checks my breathing. I should note that of the three times it was done, he did the poorest job. I must have seen him for all of 2 minutes. Then it was off for X-rays. I felt like I was posing for some raunchy magazine cover. Lie this way. Put your left leg up like this. Hold your right arm over your head. After about a dozen X-rays in various positions there was another long wait and then a nurse came in and said all was fine. I just had a bruised rib and that I should apply a heating pad to the area and they had a couple prescriptions for me. Oh, and don't forget to pay on the way out... A whopping $1400. Almost as much as I had spent on the entire road trip so far. No warning beforehand. No apologies for the prices. A little itemized list showing $540 for the checkup and the rest for the X-rays. Completely unimaginable that anything could be so expensive. And, of course, all I had gotten from it (aside from the prescriptions) was the peace of mind that I was not going to skewer myself on a shard of bone next time I made any dramatic movements. To add further insult, what is the difference between the treatment for a bruised rib and a broken rib? Nothing! Maybe they could've told me that right off the bat and saved me a few bucks. I spent most of the rest of the day freaking out over it. I'd drive past a sign at a toll booth saying "$100 fine for not paying" and I would think "Ha, that's nothing!" I could probably get a handful of speeding tickets and still pay less than what I dished out for my few minutes of quality American healthcare. I should point out that in the end I actually paid a little less than $1200. The lady seemed to take pity on me and since I was not insured she gave me a seemingly arbitrary 20% discount. I heard a lady in back say "Give it to him for free", but they didn't pay attention to her. What a mess! Desperate to put as much distance between me and the scene of the crime, I left the Keys and took the "Alligator Alley" interstate west across northern Florida and over to Naples. I stopped at another KOA campground. This one was a little cheaper ($35) and this time it actually had a decent internet connection that I could access from my tent. More importantly it had a good pool and a hot tub. The perfect location to recuperate, especially now that I was coming down with a cold... |