If it wasn't so horrendous, it would be comical.
The "health care provider" turned her away, referencing the BOLD printed sign reading "PAYMENT DUE BEFORE RECEIVING SERVICE."
My wife is the one who is 22 and had kidneys drop to 3rd stage performance last month. They have improved! they are trying to figure out what is causing the symptoms she's experienced.
We went fishing twice this week. On wednesday, we were up a canyon in Utah and my wife was sitting on the dirt, and she saw the spider. She didn't feel any bite, and didn't think anything of it, because she likes spiders, and didn't know that hobo spiders are any different than the wolf spiders in our house.
Later that day, she saw a red spot, like a mosquito bite on her hip. It grew sort of large, and then started oozing puss.
I grew up in a completely lax family where we don't go to the hospital for anything, etc, and my wife is pretty stubborn, so I said, "It's probably a spider bite," and she said, "yeah," and we went on like nothing. I thought hobo spiders are pretty rare, and didn't know their bites are painless.
Then, today, I drove my 75 miles to work, and put in my 12 hours. I'm staying over at my parents before heading back to work tomorrow all day and then driving the 75 miles back to work. It's 11:37 PM utah time, and I got home 15 minutes ago and called my wife ( work in a restaurant).
She said that she'd finally called the Specialist we've been seeing for her kidney stuff, an internal medicine doctor. He works through IHC, who has put us on their financial assistance program. I haven't told my wife about the huge bills the internal medicine doctor has sent us privately (separate from the IHC bills, for the use of his Deity Like eyes upon her ailments, apparently, while I guess IHC is charging us, and releasing us from payment via their financial assistance program, for the use of their front doors), because I don't want her to stop seeing him, and I'm not as concerned about the massive debt as she is (she'll stop if she sees the bills, 100%).
She'd called him because she called poison control, who had her describe the spider she'd seen and the symptoms, and they said it was a hobo spider bite.
Later in the day (all of this is today, and she just reported it to me. I Literally told her I'd call her back after I wrote this diary), because the headaches and fever seemed to be increasing, she called the specialist. She's sick all the time anyway, so it's hard to distinguish, but she's also having pain in her hip, so she started to suspect it might be something.
The secretary at the specialist's said she should go to an instacare.
So she did. She went to the IHC Instacare.
"I saw the bold printed sign when I walked in, and felt a little nervous," she tells me. "It was pretty intimidating."
And they told her to sign in, and then said it's $120 "to see the doctor." They said they'd bill her the rest, and she asked "the rest?" and they said, "well yeah, for any treatment the doctor might want to do."
We have $95 in our bank account. that's besides the fact that 575 in rent is due next week on the 1st, etc etc etc.
So my wife told them that she "couldn't pay that, but I'm on IHC's financial assistance program, if that might qualify me. the lady told me that it would probably pay for about half of any treatment the doctor might do, and they'd worry about that later, and I'd just have to pay $120 now to see the doctor."
So she asked, "Do you think a doctor could come out and just look at it, just to see if it's serious?
And the woman said no, and that "he wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway," presumably because we don't have enough money.
The woman added that "It sounds like it's serious, if you're saying you are having these symptoms it sounds like you need to get it treated."
Anyway, I told my wife if her fevers and symptoms get worse to go to the ER.
That will cost us a grand, at least.
We currently have 1,600 worth of bills (which my wife doesn't know about sorry she'll stop seeing the doctor if she knows it's that expensive) that are the remainder of our "financial assistance" from the past 3 months.
I'm not emotional over this, just more upset that we live in a country where my wife could sustain permanent damage (according to what I just read about hobo bites- shit!) because she doesn't have $120 dollars.
So, after the american health care plan (Hope you Don't Get Sick) fails, you go to contingency plan A: Hope it's Not a Hobo Spider Bite.
Should-a-been insured. Too bad about them kidneys. My wife should have made better choices.
[EDIT] damn, my wife read this and found out about the dr. bills, and says that doc can go to hell, she's not going in anymore. bummer.