Updates -- Health

Hopefully, my foot injury is still healing. I loved all the kind words and advice I got from you all on Friday.
On Saturday, I walked a third of a mile before running two miles then walking again at the end. I think walking first helped.
I stopped and bought new shoes on Sunday, getting the exact same kind I had before. I didn't want to try anything new because I was happy with the previous pair and had just worn them out.
New shoes on my feet, on Monday, I walked and ran again. Plus, I took Sally's advice and found a yoga video online to do afterwards.

This morning, after walking at the beginning, I ran three miles without pain. Then I stretched with the yoga video. 

I'm not going to try to increase my mileage for a couple of weeks. I'm just going to run three miles on four or five days a week and keep track of my pain. Yes, my foot hurts  now as I move around the house doing laundry and vacuuming, (it's my day off) but I didn't have pain while I ran. That's an improvement in my book. 

It's probably hard for people in other countries to imagine why I wouldn't go to the doctor after a month of pain and inability to run, but those people probably aren't dealing with the U.S. health system. Unfortunately, it's gotten worse since the expansion of health care.

I am definitely in favor of health care for all and would prefer a single-payer method, similar to that in Europe. Maybe our health care here is only going to get worse before it gets better.

We've always had health care through my husband's insurance. It's something over $100 per week that they take from his paycheck to cover the five of us in our family. 

For a normal doctor appointment, we pay a $25 co-pay, which seems reasonable. 

If we want to go to a specialist, the co-pay is $40. 

We also have a medical spending account that sets aside $2500 per year to pay those co-pays, prescriptions, and other medical expenses. With five people, that money goes surprisingly fast. We've used it to pay for contact lens and dental work plus two surprise costs. 

My husband had a colonoscopy, which is supposed to be no cost since it is considered a screening. But they found a non-cancerous polyp and removed it during the procedure. That meant it was no longer a screening and we had to pay $600 for it. 

Grace's voice teacher was worried about her vocal cords. She wondered if she might have a nodule or if the cords hadn't grown together yet, as they do in the early 20s. Grace made an appointment with an ear, nose and throat specialist.

We paid the $40 co-pay for the specialist, and Grace spent about 10 minutes with the doctor who said Grace's vocal cords looked okay. She used a camera on the end of a wand to stick in Grace's mouth and get a picture of the vocal cords. 

We were really surprised when the bill for the doctor and the facility (which was a typical doctor's office) arrived. Our part was $650. Those two surprise costs ate up half of the money we had set aside for the year. 

Tucker also needs his wisdom teeth out this year, which I think runs around $900 for us. So medical costs really add up.

With an injury, I could go to the doctor, which would probably lead to physical therapy, but I can't really afford it. That's why I self-diagnosed. 

No matter what the doctor diagnosed, I figured rest would be the main treatment. 

I've had stress fractures before and they told me to rest it for six weeks. I've also been doing stretches in case it might be plantar fasciitis or an Achilles tendon.

I try not to turn down the kids when they feel like they need to go to the doctor, but I'm definitely more cautious for myself. The cost just makes it not worth the trip. 

Irritated

Some things that have pissed me off lately: (I'm just writing about them so I can let them go and move on)

Sitting with a friend in a coffee shop, she says, "That darn dog. He's making me lose more weight and I don't have it to lose."
Okay, it's true. She's lovely and slim and my age, but don't flaunt it. (JK if you read this, Leah. I'm just so jealous.)

We're changing auto insurance companies, and I have to drop some papers off at the office. I stopped by this morning at 10:15. The lights weren't on, but I thought maybe people were working behind a wall that separated the front.
The time on the door distinctly said "Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m."
I went to the door and pulled. It was locked.
I went back to the car and called the number on the door. A woman in an office about half an hour away answered the phone. She didn't know why they weren't there.
I said I'd stop by later. That didn't make me mad, but the woman called back later and left a message to make sure I was at the right office. She said she had called the office and three men said they were there working.
Now that made me mad. If they weren't in...whatever.
But don't lie about it to make me look like a liar.

Doctor bills and insurance
Grace's voice teacher says she has lost some range and wanted her to have her vocal cords looked at by an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. She makes the appointment and I go along to pay.
Our insurance charges a $40 co-pay for specialists.
In the appointment, the doctor wants to do a scope of her vocal cords, which means putting a camera in her mouth while she sings.
Grace is freaked out by this, so they get about 20 seconds of video.
They don't see anything wrong, so we leave.
A 10-minute doctor visit.
Then we get the bill. The total bill is $1700.
Our part is only $650 because insurance adjusts some of it.
I  spent yesterday on the phone with the doctor's office and the insurance company, but other than be mad, there's nothing I can do except hope for single-payer insurance someday in the near future, or move to France where the medical costs are reasonable.

Hopefully I'll feel better now and put this all behind me.